1. You
can take publication-grade photos with your phone: Perhaps this is obvious
to others, but I
assumed the only way I could get publication-quality versions
of images for my book that I took at the British Library (pictured) would be to order
images through the BL’s Imaging Services. Unfortunately, the BL was hit with a
ransomware attack in 2023. BL leadership refused to pay the ransom, and their
online catalogue was destroyed as promised. It took the BL several years to
recover (they are still not back to how things were before), and their Imaging
services were essentially shut down so they could concentrate all their efforts
on reconstructing the catalogue. For about a year, I thought this meant I could
not include about a third the images I planned to use for my book, which was
devastating. But then my IT colleague showed me how to use my phone to re-take
the images at the BL (I could still go there and order up the original items,
fortunately). By putting the phone on a stack of books to avoid any tilt or
handshaking, and by adding 1-2 light sources, I retook these images and they were
good enough to publish. The BL gave me permission to reproduce these for free,
happily.
More after the jump.
