For Christmas my in-laws bought me a set of umbrella lights for use in my blog photography.  I haven’t been happy with many of my photos lately, especially with the CSA photos.  The time change has a lot to do with that.  You really want nice natural light for photos.  The problem is that natural light isn’t always available, especially in Cleveland.  When I couldn’t take photos until later in the evening, the pictures were terrible.  It was still nice to document what we got in the CSAs, regardless of the photo quality.

A photo with the old set up would look something like this:

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With the light stands, a photo looks like these.  The difference between these is the setting on the cameras.  I’m no expert, but I like the second one better since the table looks more natural.  I’m pretty brain dead this late in the day, so Stephen was helping me.  One afternoon this weekend when I am more alert, we can review the camera settings.  Either way, it’s so much better than the above photo.

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I just use a Canon point and shoot camera and this option for improving the photos in much less expensive than a digital SLR camera would be.  As long as I figure out how to take manual photos with my point and shoot camera, I think I’ll be very happy with the photos this winter.

I’m not sure how easy the stands will be to take up and down, but I’m sure they will be used for every CSA pickup beginning this Thursday.

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It’s such a fun Christmas gift.  I’m sure we will get a lot of use out of them.  Since Stephen has been taking photos of circuits for his blog, he’ll be using them too.

Now, I am even more excited for Thursday’s CSA pick up!