TECHNICAL

Cameras etc

I am not a professional photographer, which is probably obvious to anybody reading this who is. My job is made a lot easier as the lady is a professional model who knows almost instinctively which poses to take. She requires only general instructions.

Images up to 1161 were taken with a Canon Powershot G1. The vast majority were taken in auto mode (it's the basic trade off of quality vs quantity, and quantity won. A fewer number of shots which may be better, or a larger number the faults of which could be largely removed in photoshop by those with the inclination and ability). All maximum resolution (2048 X 1536) and using minimum jpeg compression. Studio lights were available in some of the earlier shots as the cameras own flash is fairly weak (it does have a hot shoe for a proper flash, but I never bothered). The low lighting in some of the shots did have its effects, and reddish and yellowish blooms can be seen.

And not all are in sharp focus. Initially, I didn't have a tripod (although I have had one for the past couple of years) which explains a few. Others which are not in sharp focus was simply the result of not allowing the auto mode sufficient time to compose itself.

Images from 1162 were taken with a Canon Powershot S1 IS. The four years of further development really shows (and it was less than a third of what I paid for the G1!) It has a 10X zoom against 3 for the G1, and a very effective image stabilisation system, which means that the tripod can be dispensed with for certain shots. And (the real reason why I bought it) a vastly superior movie mode

Images from 1840 were taken with a Powershot G6, which has 7.1 megapixels (I do like Canon) and are even larger as files..

Dyes:

I did try my hand a dyeing, using the hand dyes available from Dylon (www.dylon.co.uk, the dyes are widely available, woolworths stock them this side of the pond. However, the more exotic colours - the turquoise for example - tend not to be stocked by the usual high street outlets, but they are obtainable online). Very easy, just follow the instructions in the pack. All that is needed is hot water, salt and the dye (as well as rubber gloves and patience. It takes an hour or so of tedious stirring of the items in the dye mix). Colours used:

01 - Yellow

07 - Baby pink

26 - Royal blue

30 - Deep violet

75 - Scarlet

79 - Vivid turquoise

The vivid colours only really become apparent on cotton and similar fabrics. The various man made materials do dye, but not in the shades shown on the box. And metals and plastics do not take the dye at all. For example, the Rago OBG was dyed using the deep violet and it came out a sort of lilac colour and it can be seen that the plastic and metal garter tabs did not dye at all. The diamond shaped front panel was obviously some sort of man made fabric and that didn't either (which created a rather pleasing effect). The playtex "fits beautifully control brief was dyed using the turquoise, and it only got the lightest of colours. The white damart OBG was dyed using the scarlet and it came out a sort of pink.