Submitter's name:	Andrew Scott Beals
Title:	A man and his Dulcimer
Gear used:	Olympus D620-L, external zoom/bounce flash, tripod, flashhandle
Diaphragm:	Whatever the silly camera picked
Shutter speed:	Ditto (camera picks it; I have no control)
Film used:	none.
Technical information:	I shot this with the flash bouncing off of the ceiling and fiddled with the flash power until I got a good exposure. No post-processing was applied.
Subject information:	me with my McSpadden-built Mountain Dulcimer (aka the Appalachian Dulcimer). I took this photo for inclusion in the Sweet Music Mailing list's member's gallery. Definitely the best self-portrait I've shot.
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Comment left by: Olaf Greve (olaf_greve@hotmail.com)

So, I think this is the very first entry that has been made with a digital Oly (unless I'm forgetting something?!?). It seems to give pretty good lighting/flash control.

Comment left by: Hans van Veluwen (hcvanveluwen@chello.nl)

Beautiful instrument, this D620-L, uhm, this dulcimer I mean ;) Funny that the little digicam itself is visible in the mirror. You could have rotated the image 1 degree clockwise to put it straight.

Comment left by: Andy Beals (bandy@cinnamon.com)

Actually, the mirror is level, more or less, perhaps a wee bit out -- note that its edges are parallel to the thingies on the wall. The back of the couch gives the illusion of the photo being way off. All that aside, it's still the best self-portrait I've done, so I let it stand.

Comment left by: Andy Beals (bandy@cinnamon.com)

Also note the apparent distortion near the edges of the photo. [Hm. Could be my monitor. Will have to double-check it on the laptop's screen.]

Comment left by: Siddiq (no e-mail specified)

where's das digicam? can't see it...

Comment left by: John A. Lind (jlind@netusa1.net)

Good job with the flash, especially with a mirror behind you! Looks like a bit of barrel distortion (top of mirror). Guessing you had it pulled back into a wide angle and the lens axis was not perpendicular to the wall behind you. The clues are the arms of the couch and relative size of the two candle holders on the wall. The "tilting" is perspective lines from the film (CCD??) plane not parallel to the plane of the wall. Since you are using a digital and not burning up film, you could experiment with vertical versions and zoom settings (crop top/bottom if needed). I've never been able to get zero flare from a flash into a mirror like this, bounced or not. Looks like you had a pair of friends jump onto the couch with you for the photo. :-)

Comment left by: Kerrigan McCarthy (kerriganm@earthlink.net)

Very narrative and descriptive of the subject. A kind of "here I am and here's my stuff." Nice layout. I like things looking a bit crooked. And who is that cute guy?? ;-D

Comment left by: fannie (fannie217@sbcglobal.net)

Years ago I knew the Mingus Mountain Luthiers and they made dulcimers. The last I knew they were in Tucson. I remember one of their names, Bill Bland.

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