I’m a bit reluctant to add “5 Most Common Digital Photography Mistakes” to the blog as it speaks to things that are for most common sense. Regardless it’s fair to say that most everyone has made these mistakes even if we’re too proud to admit it. So for the experienced photographers I apologize in advance if these mistakes bring back bad memories or spur flashbacks. For those new to photography take note and learn from the mistakes of others:
5. Not Having A Second Battery
There are two things that can frustrate a photographer to no end while in the field, both will stop you from taking a single photo. Not having a spare memory card did not make the list, but not having a second battery did. Digital SLRs require power and not planning around this can be a tragic mistake. As most probably know colder temperatures will shorten the life of a battery. When in the field keep those batteries warm and always have a spare. In general, temperature aside, it’s best practice to always have a spare battery on hand. Choosing not to take a photo is far better than not having the option to when out of power.
4. Not Double Checking Your ISO Setting
One of the most painful experiences is taking photos and then realizing that you never set your ISO setting back from say 1600 to 100 between shoots. If you’re lucky your exposures will be fine and you’ll have more grain than normal. If you’re unlucky you’ll suffer exposure problems. Over time I’ve become so methodical in my approach when in the field that before shooting I’ll always verify my ISO setting. None-the-less there are always times that I get so caught up in the moment that I forget to do this.
3. Not Reformatting Your CF Cards Between Use
This is so simple to do, yet so often overlooked. Over time a CF card can corrupt files if consistently erased versus reformatted after downloading ones images. Corrupt files translate to unreadable or irrecoverable photos. Reformatting unlike erasing will uncover damaged or unusable internal data sectors and not allow files to be written to the bad sectors on your CF card. Avoiding the prospect of corrupt files should be a priority and the solution is an easy one… reformat your card instead of erasing it.
2. Not Cleaning Your Sensor
It’s easy to give in to laziness and not clean your sensor. Unfortunately the cost of being lazy in this way translates to the loss of data on each photograph. Sure you can use a clone or healing tool in Photoshop to remove spots, but you’re ultimately filling in gaps of data that your sensor was unable to record. Going into a shoot with a clean sensor will not only avoid this problem it will save you a lot of work during post-processing.
1. Shooting JPEG Versus RAW
Of all the setting changes that can go wrong, accidentily shooting JPEG versus RAW can be the most disasterous. RAW files, a digital negative if you will, provide a photographer the greatest latitude in post-process. RAW converters support nondestructive editing where by color temperature, exposure, contrast, etc. can be adjusted with out ever impacting the source file. JPEG files on the other hand do not afford such benefits. When I discover that I’ve made this mistake my stomach usually goes in my throat. For me if I’m not shooting RAW I might as well not be shooting.
[tags]digital, photography, mistake, dslr, RAW, JPEG, sensor, cleaning, CF, card, reformat, ISO, setting, [/tags]
Thanks for this blog! It is very helpful. Until now I always had a spare battery, but running out of memory cards was a bigger risk. That is also the reason that I shooted JPEG instead of RAW part of my trip to India, which ofcourse I regretted again afterwards (I brought a small external harddisk, but I was afraid also there was not enough space and I couldn’t check properly which photos I could delete immediately).
Then ofcourse nr 4 happened to me several times.
Thanks for nr 3: I didn’t know that yet!
And nr 2: last year I let my sensor clean for about 60 euros (=80 USD?) and after a few days in India it had to be done again. But I don’t know how exactly. They always warn you that you shouldn’t do it yourself. So, how can I do this?
Ilse
Ilse glad you enjoyed the write up. Cleaning your sensor is actually a pretty easy thing to do. You might want to look into the following site.
http://www.copperhillimages.com/index.php?pr=products
They provide instructions with their product. Also an air blower will address clearing the majority of dust on a sensor.
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Oh man. Yesterday alone I did 2, 3 and 4. I intentionally shoot jpegs when I need the speed and bigger buffer. usually for fast moving birds or event shooting. on my camera I think the buffer is like 8 RAW v.s. 24 jpegs.
Richard… too funny. Amazing how these things trip up even the most experienced photographer.
Hmmm, a few of these sound a bit familiar! 🙂 I might add not backing up is one of the biggest no-no’s of all.
4. Not Double Checking Your ISO Setting & WB
Guilty for this now & then but I am getting better.
I now have a list to ovoid these mistakes.
ABC
Mark I was thinking in terms of camera related versus post-production related. Although your comment gives me a new idea for a blog post.
ABC best of luck. Even knowing these things I still succumb to them from time to time.
#4! i really hate that. if only camera makers put iso reading in the view finder.
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I’m guilty of all but number 1, especially the ISO thing and the sensor cleaning bit. I’m getting better about formatting my cards though. Also, I rarely forget my 2nd battery, but I sometimes forget to charge it — talk about killing a day of shooting.
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I’ll add another to the list. Forgetting a memory card on your computer desk at home.
I’m the most guilty of sensor cleaning. I really need to get on that, but I’m nervous about doing it.
Andrew cleaning your sensor the first time is pretty nerve racking, but you’ll find it’s really easy. It’s not like you’re going into your camera with a chisel or iron wool. The equipment used to clean sensors is well made and when used properly is quite safe to use. Start slow with a blower bulb to see if you can remove dust that way, then move on to swabs and solutions. You might be surprised how effective a blower bulb can be.
Hi Jim,
Great list! Thanks for sharing and thanks also for visiting my blog.
Sherri
Kool list.
I’ve heard many pro’s and con’s on raw vs jpg. I guess it boils down to what you are doing, who your audience is and what you will do with the photo as an end result…
@Jim: yeah, everyone tells me that it’s really easy once you get the hang of it.
I guess I just need to get over it and go pick up a blower. Probably sometime this week; we’ll see.
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Inherent to Flash memory technology is the fact that sectors will inevitably fail eventually. According to wikipedia, “most commercially available flash products are guaranteed to withstand 100,000 write-erase-cycles for block 0, and no guarantees for other blocks… a typical user using a commercial device, such as a camera, with a flash drive will probably not wear out the memory for the effective life of the camera”
Of course, we may not be “typical” users, and the heavy use of the card increases the risk of data loss. Formatting the card regularly will instruct the card to find and skip over failed blocks.