I finally remembered to pick up a pocket magnifier loupe from the International Spy Museum store to try as a macro lens on my Sidekick color camera. It works great as you can see. Normally, the focus in the center of the image goes soft when the camera is about 1" from the subject. This makes it difficult to photograph snipets of text for example. Sliding the magnifier in front of the phonecam aperture puts everything back into focus. The magnifier is a triplet lens design with a 20.5mm diameter, which provides an ample enough field of view that positioning the phonecam in relationship to the lens isn't too critical, and there's no vignetting. The magnifier is a pretty common item that can be found at many hobby or science stores. I paid the $30 tourist ripoff price for this one, but I'm sure you will find it cheaper. Now to go exploring for more close-up photo ops!

- mike lee - washington, dc

Links fixed from the previous post.

Hotel Monaco accommodations

My photos of the hotel from two months ago

About the pet goldfish

High profile web consultants

User Experience Week 2004

I'm saving reference photos here of the magnificent 4th floor of the Hotel Monaco. I must get back here to use the staircase and ballroom for a photo shoot.

We're staying the night so that we can go to an early meeting at our office, which is across the street. Photo 1 is the hallway outside of our room, photo 2 and 3 are of the spiral staircase at the end of the hall, and photos 4 and 5 are of the grand ballroom on the opposite corner of the 4th floor. The accomodations are very fine, and there's free wired-based Internet access. But despite asking twice, we never got our pet goldfish.

In a eight days, a group of high profile web consultants will descend on this building to present User Experience Week 2004. I hope they get their goldfish, or it's likely they'll trash the place.

- mike lee - washington, dc

It's a true test of our love of books and antiques to endure the back-straining job of moving them in heavy boxes to self storage. We're clearing all non-essential stuff out of our house so that we can finish repairs, and begin showing it to prospective buyers in a few months.

- mike lee - baltimore

- mike lee - baltimore

- mike lee - at patterson park, baltimore

We're here in Patterson Park watching Fluid Movement, a Baltimore-based performance art group as it presents Earth, Wind and the Baltimore Fire, a recasting of the historic conflagration as a funktastic flamenco-flavored fantasy. It's a perfect night for several hundred people to gather on the hill in front of the pagoda. Baby Cianna learned how to clap last week, and is getting lots of practice tonight.

- mike lee - baltimore

- mike lee - baltimore

This is what sleeping through the night looks like!

Previous views:

#2

#1

...sank into twilight as we approached Baltimore City on our evening drive home. This is the tail end of a cold front that is giving us a break from the heat and humidity.

- mike lee -