[Ansteorra] Why aren't we doing this?

[SoldierGrrrl]

On Tue, Nov 2, 2010 at 12:49 PM, Haraldr Bassi
<ansteorra at haraldr.drakkar.org> wrote:
> Oh, and while we are at it, can we also address flash photography and
> smoking in the primary areas of our events? I was somewhat disappointed at
> War of Ages to be sitting in a wonderful open barn structure only to be
> regularly blinded by flashes, when the area had been reasonably well lit
> with an indirect spotlight on the upper balcony.
>
> As an alternative, could we look into what it would take to setup a couple
> very very discrete video cameras and make the results available to anyone
> who wishes to have a "record" of their friend's moment in court? Using WoA
> as an example, nobody would have noticed or cared had their been a camera
> running on a tripod on that balcony recording everything in court, yet the
> resultant video would have been wonderful to have as a memory aid.

I can address some of the video/photographic aspect of this.  While
video is lovely to have, the pictures you can pull from a video are
usually of abysmal quaility and not something to hang on the wall.
Normal jpegs are usually 300 dpi, and video frames are 72 dpi (this is
standard video.  I don't have the conversion rates for HD).  72 dpi is
acceptable for a picture about an inch square.

Also, what is considered reasonably well lit for general viewing is
usually not going to work for photography.  Generally, the further
away from the action you are, the more light you need.  If you're
shooting from any distance in a darker court, you're going to end up
with blurry or grainy photographs.  Using a tripod can help with shake
issues and reduce blur on the photographers end, but unless your
subjects are wiling to stand perfectly still for you, your shots are
going to blur. It's highly frustrating because onboard flashes on P&S
cameras aren't usually strong enough and hotshoe flashes are annoying
to bystanders.

If you want to get good shots in lower light, you need to be up in the
middle of the action, and that's not usually possible in court.
(Well, it is, but it's not usually considered acceptable.)

You can compensate with a higher "film" speed, but after a long
exposure or a few croppings, you end up with a ton of digital trash in
your photographs.  (By digital trash, I mean those green and purple
pixels you see when you blow up dark pictures.)

Faster lenses with bigger apertures are helpful, though.

However, here are some links to tutorials to help out any aspiring
photographers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1FpG4t1lro

http://photocritic.org/low-light-photography/

I hope those help!  I know I'm going to be taking notes from that second one!

In service to Country and Crown,
Helene Dalassene
Stronghold of Hellsgate
-- 
"Whatever their fond sentiments for men and women in uniform, for most
Americans the war remains an abstraction – a distant and unpleasant
series of news items that do not affect them personally."- Robert
Gates, Secretary of Defense.