Ok, JDatE is loosing my attention because it's starting to not be as cool as it was. But it was cool, for two nights or so. And no, it's not the Jewish dating service, but close.

Thanks very much for the photo tips! My goal was to get an absolutaly honest photo with no Photoshopping, but thanks to the "human eye exposure lattitude" that Dan mentions, this is tough. I've got a great set of lit-room-lit-buttons shots, slightly under exposed with accurate colors. Unfortunately, the fascias show up featureless thanks to the recessed lighting not casting enough ambient light (um, I guess). Because of this, I can't do the dark+light combination in Photoshop.

I'm going to try placing a 120 Watt industrial drop light in the room for ambient light. If that doesn't work, I'm taking the big white flourescent light from the work area in my basement and dangling it above my empeg. The buttons can look as bright in a lit room as they do in the dark, and the lit room shows the fascia features, giving the picture some meaning.

Man, I just want photos that are this good. Oliver, you are the man! My little Canon S50, resting precariously on my Pelican case which is resting on a chair, can make it happen. By noon tomorrow, I stop photographing, using whatever I've got and that's that. (can you tell I've spent way too long on this?)