“If it doesn’t make the world better, don’t do it.” ~ Brad Montague
Crystal won the fifth-grade science project yesterday (her words). For the first time, as part of Research and Innovation Day, posters were presented. Crystal set the bar high for all future poster presenters when she brought lenses from digital library services with a rare mold growing on them. Kentucky is a place where these molds find a happy life. I discovered this phenomenon with my first enlarger nearly 40 years ago. Within two years of printing, I noticed an unusual shadow on my prints. After some research (pre-internet), I discovered the cause to be dust. If that dust has mold spores and is left in a moist (humid) environment, those spores begin to grow. They can get pretty gnarly, virtually etching into the glass, and near impossible to eradicate. Crystal ran into a severe case of this on some of her high-end gear last year after a particularly wet, humid period. She was not a happy camper, and who could blame her? It was completely preventable and completely out of her control. Still, it made a great poster and talking point during breaks. Below is Laura Hall giving me a funny face as she looks at the moldy lens. She cracks me up.
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