A simple, novel method for nail photography To the Editor: We read the work, ‘‘Clinical photography of nail diseases: A simple method to include all fingernails in a frame’’ by Ashique and Kaliyadan1 with great interest. We appreciate their effort to provide excellent clinical guidance on nail photography. Nail photography is difficult especially when we want to have all fingernails in 1 photograph, and more so when a patient is not able to flex fingers properly because of an underlying joint problem or sclerosis or thickening of skin. The authors advised to keep both hands side by side for all fingernails. Our view on this point is that keeping hands side by side creates a broader area out of focus, which may compromise the clarity of minute details. A better alternative to this may be keeping the hands one over the other in such a way that fingernails are not covered (Fig 1). This view provides better clarity. The overall length-width ratio of the photograph is smaller, thus the chances of peripheral areas getting out of focus are less. Sanjeev Gupta, MD, DNB,a and Somesh Gupta, MD, DNBb Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Maharishi Markandeshwar Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Mullana, Ambala,a and All India Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, New Delhi,b India Funding sources: None.

J AM ACAD DERMATOL

Fig 1. Photograph of nails keeping hands one over the other.

Conflicts of interest: None declared. Correspondence to: Sanjeev Gupta, MD, DNB, Department of Dermatology and Venereology, #B2, Maharishi Markandeshwar Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Mullana, Ambala, India E-mail: [email protected]

REFERENCE 1. Ashique KT, Kaliyadan F. Clinical photography of nail diseases: a simple method to include all fingernails in a frame. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2015;72(1):e25. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaad.2015.01.049

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