Friday, October 7, 2016

Never Scan Another Document Again

Sometimes It's Something Valuable

 

 


It took a few years of where the flip-flops meet the road to get this one.

And, I've learned that a high resolution photo beats a scanner, every time.



Page 6 of a historical record in Japanese language

It doesn't matter if, I'm doing research for a folk story or, historical event.

I like to go out there and see, whatever I'm writing about; take photos if possible.

It pays, to get out and sniff around, talk to locals and, get a feel for the culture.

This document will help me verify some facts, I've been chasing, for a long, long time.

enlarged section of a Japanese historical document


When, I hang the page with a clipboard, on my door, it's easy to enlarge, what's important.

The image is taken at 7360 X 4912 pixels, using a Pentax K1 digital camera.

I'm not really worried about anyone stealing this valuable information, from me.

That's because, not many people can read it and, I've seriously lowered the resolution.

What I'm doing is tracking down the life history of a Ryukyu king, from way back.


Camera on tripod, aimed at document on door

The guy was a commoner, living on another island and, I went there, too.

Over there, I found out where he was born and, where his family is buried.

There's even a spot (I call) where his belly button got buried. OK, it's his umbilical cord.

Well, he left that island in a hurry and landed in this northern village on Okinawa.

And, I obtained this paperwork, I'm shooting, about a 30 second walk from his home, here.

The photo above, shows the setup, used, to digitize this prize piece of paper.


Camera close-up to document


The most important stuff, on this page, I have to move closer, to capture with the camera.

To me, it's secret and, I don't want anybody else, to see what I have here.

Anything, you put on the internet, can become available to the whole wide world.

So, I make sure, nobody gets a copy of things, I want to keep hush about, until I'm ready.



What's My Not Scanned Document Look Like ?

 

 



Just to show you, how it comes out, when enlarged, I'll give you a sample.

Below is a screenshot, taken from a portion of the RAW photo file, when cropped.


screenshot of enlarged Japanese text, image of document


The squiggles, you see, came from a paragraph of the document hanging on my wall.

They are legible but, have absolutely nothing to do, with the story, I'm working on.

It' just to show everyone, why you'll never see me using a scanner again.

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