04 Feb Nothing But WInd…
You may be forgiven for thinking that the modern world is a fraud. In addition to some politicians we seem to elect, we always seem to be packaging up things and selling them to ourselves needlessly. The bottled water business – at least in clean western society – seems somewhat of a doodle. So are sun lamps in summer – and so might this can of compressed air be. After all, air all about us is for free…
Well, there are times when the bottled water, sun lamps, and canned air really are a boon – and a salable one at that. That’s why we sell air on a shelf.
Look down at your computer keyboard. Those dark lines between the letters are not put there by the manufacturer – they are put there by you. They consist of bits of dirt, dried skin, coffee granules, and remains of Tim Tam biscuits. There are worse things but people may be reading this at the table. Nothing that you added to the interstices of that keyboard improved it. If you cannot dunk the thing in hot soapy water…and you cannot…at least buy a can of air and blow the biscuit crumbs out.
Open the back of your computer – it’ll have a cooling system for the electronics – either a set of fins or a fan. See all the dust on fin or fan? it prevent the dissipation of heat – blow it off and get better performance.
Have a look inside your inkjet printer to see if there is a rat’s nest in there. Ditto your camera case or gadget bag. That’s what the nozzle is there for.
Keep a can of it in the studio:
a. If you must change lenses, blow the gudge off the outside of your camera and lenses before you pop the seal. DO NOT blow into the camera body with the canned air.
b. Dust off the subject of the studio shot before you press the shutter button. Saves spotting later.
c. If you need to get the propeller on a Morane Saulnier 406 fighter plane turning, blow the air on it.
d. If you need to cool Saul off, blow the air on him.
e. If you need to simulate boiling water, run the tube from the can down to the bottom and press the button gently.
f. Ditto if you need a wind-blown strand of hair in a portrait shot. Foosh.
In the past this sort of thing has cleaned negatives, lenses, double dark film holders, and no end of small models. In fact you are only limited by your imagination and the amount of compressed air in the can. Generally one or the other will run out first but that’s what photography is like – you either run out of money or inspiration eventually – but not together.
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