Taking pictures of key hole

[kezzy1966]

Hi guys,

I am a newbie.

Any ideas on how to use a phone camera to take a picture of a mortice key hole ?
This is so I can have a good look and work out what lock it probably is.
I am having problems getting enough light into the hole. The flash is near the lens but a circle around it.

I have a sony experia SP.
Thanks,
K

[MrAnybody]

Hi K,

Welcome to the forum.

Try illuminating it with a LED flash light. Experiment with different angles. As your flash is so close the lock, it will probably be too much glare.

Or take a hi-res pic from a distance and crop it.

Other than that, experiment, experiment.

[GWiens2001]

Try covering half of your flash with a finger. Usually works for me.

Gordon

[cheerIO]

I am having problems getting enough light into the hole.

You shouldn't need to get light into the hole. You just want to get the shape of the keyway in most instances.

Try covering half of your flash with a finger. Usually works for me.

Gordon

This is a good tip. You can also try putting a piece of Scotch tape (the kind that looks like frosted glass) over the flash opening. I used to have this permanently installed on my old phone as the flash was always blowing the pictures out.