European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 22, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse Protecting your camera from heat by Andy Grunberg new York times a t some Point in the course of taking High school physics Learned that heat and Light Are related forms of those of us sweltering out the dog Days of the summer of 1988 Don t need physics to comprehend the link when the Sun s out it gets hotter than Blue blazes. Light it goes without saying is the sine qua non of photography. The word photography literally Means writing with because there is plenty of Light around this time of year even though the Days have been getting Shorter since Jun most of us figure that this is an Ideal time to take pictures. Statistics compiled by the photographic Industry show that summertime is the Peak time for picture taking in the United states rivalled Only by the Christmas holidays. Partly this is because we often go on vacations in the summer and vacations and photographs Are firmly linked in our minds but even when we stay close to Home there Are occasions for recording our lives family get together picnics trips to amusement Parks Beach and Mountain jaunts and usually a wedding or two. As someone who once had a camera s Bare Metal freeze to his skin in february i can testify that it s also infinitely More pleasant to take pictures in warm weather. But for most of us the weather lately has t been warm calling it hot May even be an understatement. And As much As plenty of Light is Good for photography plenty of heat is bad. For photographers the trouble with High temperatures in t a matter of possible Sun stroke or heat exhaustion although we have to be Alert to their symptoms As much As anyone else. The really dire problems have to do with the temperature of our equipment and our film. It has been said countless times that one should never keep a loaded camera in the Glove compartment or on the dashboard of a car. A dashboard behaves in summer like a stove and a Glove compartment like an oven. The microscopic layers spread across film emulsions Are not Only Light sensitive they Are also heat sensitive. Give them a Good frying and they will give you All sorts of unpleasant colors. Baking a camera does As much damage As baking film especially when the camera is an All electronic Marvel that relies on heat sensitive circuit boards memory chips and other components. If you Are Lucky All you will lose is the use of the built in exposure meter. At worst the entire camera will crash. But you have to be really careless to damage a camera that badly it s much easier to degrade the color and contrast of a Roll of film. Take my word for it. Of course cameras with fashionably Black professional housings will absorb much More Light than the lowly Chrome topped models of Yore. As we All know from exposure lesson number one Black absorbs Light while White reflects it. So you have to be careful with All Black cameras All the time. Put one Down uncovered on the Beach in the morning and by afternoon it will be ready for use As a charcoal starter. The Black plastic containers and lids Kodak wraps around some of its films Are ideally suited for overheating what s inside them they re like dutch ovens for film. I wish the company would go Back to the Metal cans it used in the 60s, which reflected most of the Light that hit them and also were customarily recycled. There Are ways to avoid baking cameras and film thank goodness. The neatest is to pack them in an insulated bag or Chest. On the Beach that also will keep Sand and surf away. Some pros throw in a Frozen Container of chemical Blue ice or similar pre packaged material to keep their outfits extra Cool. If you do the same just make sure the camera and film Are stored in plastic bags to keep the condensation from the ice pack out of Range. Spi Ratone the Flushing supplier of photo accessories once sold a photo fridge designed especially for keeping camera equipment Cool in cars. It was powered by the car s Battery via a cigarette lighter connection. This cold Chest sized unit was an expensive solution to the problem which May explain Why it does t appear in the company s current Catalon. But it shows the lengths to which some photographers Are willing to go to beat baking your camera and film in the sunlight should be avoided. Is Brenda Hosier the heat. If you Don t have room in your cold Chest for photo supplies or Don t own a cold Chest do the next Best thing. Keep the camera covered up with a White or Light coloured Towel and if you must leave it in the car put it on the floor under the seat. Won t life be easier this Winter when All a photographer has to worry about is keeping the camera from freezing i think i la dream about it tonight. Erma Bombeck in a recent column i challenged people to come up with a cute name for today s yuppies who by 2010 will be Well on their Way to becoming the largest elderly population Ever to live in America. The response was underwhelming. Seven Lousy letters Patrick o Driscoll who did a cover Story on the aging of America in Usa today referred to them As elder Boomers. A writer from Plainview Texas said columnist Harry Rosenthal called them puppies mature upscale Post professionals. A woman in Elko nev., said that since they re the largest group Ever Why not Call them baby Boom booms. Another suggestion came from a Man in los a ice Les who said Why not Call them Ger puppies and three readers sent word that a University of Florida gerontologist Stephen Golant labelled them weepies Page 16 the stars and stripes Youthful energetic elderly people involved in everything you Don t seem to understand people this is important. Do you seriously want to go to the dog races and hear Over the Loudspeaker will the person who lost his Weepie pass please reclaim it at the information Booth think for a moment How it s going to ook in a supermarket tabloid with a picture of an aging Sean Penn and a headline be Ruppie sick of being in fishbowl attacks i made it an Issue Only because i Don t know a person Over 55 today who does not Blanch when he or she is referred to As a senior citizen. Golden Ager is worse. Second 50s is too descriptive. Twi lighters. Of please. My Mother hates All those labels. For a while i called her a love Boater because she was the Only one who monday August 22,1988 could name the cast every week. She did t like that either. You see the present group of. Older persons. Did t plan. They waited around until a newscaster put a Label on them or a reporter had 14 spaces to fill in a headline. Let s apply ourselves Here. Tomoi Row s elderly Are going to be Well educated influential leaders one of the yuppies told me that. They re going to have a lot of political clout because there will be close to 30 million of them. They la have robots to do their chores and take care of them if they become incapacitated. Thanks to cosmetic surgery and better eating habits they la look half their age. They re too sophisticated to go for hormone washers or wrinkle Buster How about seventy somethings c 1968 Erma Bombeck
