For the " Handles" Totally Informal Transglobal Challenge
more entries can be see in the forum here

::Part of my Thursday Challenge Collection::

This was one of my most interesting set ups, especially as I was now limited to using a mobile phone camera,
having had to abandon my DSLR when my car broke down on Monday

The equipment list for this shoot -

1 x Ian York (that's me)
4 x Hotel Bell boys
1 x Concierge
5 x angle poise lamps
1 x hotel Bathroom
1 x a kindly American lady from the room next door and her daughter
1 x Camera (generously loaned by the afore mentioned American lady)
1 x mobile phone – which turned out to be pretty poor in the end
2 x extension leads
1 x a great time

I knew the shot I wanted, I had already had a go in available daylight early in the morning using my mobile
I was therefore confident that the composition was possible. I just needed lots of light.

After a late session in the office I finally got back to the Hotel and
at 10:00pm last night I asked the concierge if I could borrow some desk lamps, and after I explained why
he sent up to my room a number of lamps, extensions leads, Bell boys and himself.

Whilst we were trying to set up the lighting, ( and were obviously making some fuss and noise,
the lady in the room next to me asked what we were trying to do
-six men,a couple of extension leads and 5 lamps in a bathroom does look strange
(….my hotel room door was open to the corridor, so it was easy to see in)

She then offered her little compact camera – a Canon PowerShot s230
it seemed to be identical to my Ixus V3 which is at home somewhere..
Anyway this was a god send in the circumstances

3.2 mpeg and manual override. A very simple cam, but I knew I could use it with all the light we now had.
I set it in manual, set the ISO to 50, set it up to underexpose by 1/3 stop,
turned off the flash, put it in Macro mode. Then played…..

The outcome is this, with some neat image to tidy it up – and has resulted in one of my most pleasing images.
Not bad for a camera 5 years old and smaller than a cigarette packet,
with a sensor about the size of my fingernail