On the subject of improving photo quality, I've really enjoyed using an Inova X5 Tactical LED flashlight to illuminate subjects for close-up photos in situations where there is little or no ambient light. I picked mine up at Sharper Image in New York City for $39.

In my previous HN posts, you'll see some examples of night shots indoors in a hotel room, a pub, and of a 9-11 memorial. I particularly like how the close-ups of my Powerbook came out.

So how is this toy any better than a regular bulb-type flashlight (besides looking cool)? It isn't really--the light output is actually a little less than comparably powered conventional flashlights. It's the long lasting and constantly regulated white light that's useful.

If you can't find the X5, most sporting goods stores stock a variety of LED lights for bike riding. See how my LED bike light looks in action.

While the X5 casts clean white light that is close to daylight in color balance, at night you'll be around spill light from very orange incandescent bulbs or greenish flourescents. So you'll sometimes get some strange color mixing. I've noticed that the little SK camera does some kind of primative white balancing, so May's tip to hold your breath before clicking is even more spot-on because you'll also get more vivid colors by waiting a few more seconds. You can see this white balancing in action in the first row of pictures of this panaorama. The first shot is balanced correctly for interior lighting, and there's blue spill light from the outside. The middle two frames are color compensated by the camera for daylight after waiting 5 - 15 seconds for the exposure to stabilize before shooting.

Some of my night shots have a deep ocean sub dive quality about them, which is kinda appropriate as the Sidekick kinda looks like a robot sub when closed.

OK, physics lesson over...

-- mike lee --