Pandemic webcam obsessions: MANUAL FOCUS!!! and more to strive for...

Since locking down in March 12, 2020, I've pretty much spent ALL my time at home.

In the summer we did go on vacation and I did bring a camera, actually two (and, sorry, I haven't yet developed the photos yet).

But most of the year has passed without photography being a priority. I mourned the loss of searching for used cameras and trying them out. It has been one of the costs (albeit minor) of the pandemic.

Then today I realized I have been doing photography ALL year or, rather, web-cinematography.

 

You see I now teach online, hold my writing group meetings online and even have helped mount international writing conferences...again, online.

To do that, I've had to turn my bedroom/writing space into a webcam studio. I wrote about my inner writing space to the len for the magazine Montecristo.

The gist of it was I've been quite obsessesed and self-conscious on howpeople's spaces, their backgrounds and my own appear through the webcam lens.

During the course of the year, like many folks, I've read a few articles on how to improve my own appearance and the backgrounds appear on the camera. And I will confess, I have not been very successful. 

On top of that, I've been fluffing my digital nest/desk. Fancy new spring activated keyboard, new USB mics, and, of course, webcams, like the Logitech C920 above. It's a pretty nice camera.

Some of the solutions, like the C920, I could just buy.

But I also resorted to building my own ring light.

It's a thrift-shop-find lamp shade (Ikea, I suspect) to serve as the parabolic dish on which I attached a light socket. Then I mounted it on an old tripod with a ball head.

The dish is a soft aluminum, so I used big washer to distribute the pressure over a bigger surface.

The black circle is just construction paper. Behind it is an aluminum pie dish to reflect light back. It also serves as a heat shield. They both are held up by some metal strapping.

My teaching colleagues have reported they see no difference between the ring light and a regular light....oh well.

But my biggest complaint about the webcams are my usual complaints about all camera...I WANT FULL control.

Today I came across this great hack - HOW TO SET A WEBCAM TO ACTUAL MANUAL FOCUS by Lloyd Metcalf. It's pretty cool.

I definitely going to try it AND I'd like to change the aperture too. So look for it. I'm going to take stab on YOUTUBE soon.

Stay well, keep others well.