Camera as tool

Of course, the camera is the tool of choice for photographers,
but as the digital era develops, it's looking more and more like
an accessability tool for blind and low-vision
individuals.

I've pointed out a few times that, as I'm walking about, my
camera comes in handy when I encounter something unusual. I just
pop it out, snap a pic, and then show it to a sighted individual
later in order to find out what was there.

Also, if there's a sign, or something else with a written
message, I can snap a picture, and then go home and use my OCR
(optical character recognition) software on my computer to read
what was previously unaccessable.

But, today, I found out the digital camera can actually help
improve my access to, what else? other digital cameras ...


If I snap a shot of my XSi's display panel with my SX120, I can
then zoom in and maneuver my way around the information to figure
out what all the settings are set to. While not exactly
foolproof (can't use it outside most of the time), I'm
anticipating this technique will give me a great deal of control
over aspects of photography I previously needed sighted help to
manipulate.

Now, if I can fine tune the technique a bit, I might even be able
to use it to compose certain types of shots (ie: better layout
of still life shots might be possible by adding grid lines to
LiveView and then examining the shot with my second
cam).

I knew there was a reason I bought this SX120!

http://www.blind-apertures.ca/images/ScreenReader.jpg (Full
Size)

http://www.blind-apertures.ca/images/ScreenReaderSmall.jpg (Fast
Loading)

Take Care,
Dudley