I’m a bit hesitant to add “10 Most Common Digital Photography Mistakes & Bad Habits” 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:
10. 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.
9. Better Body Instead Of Better Lens
I guess it is just a human nature but every time a new camera is released we have all tendency to become green with envy and deep down we should know that we would be much better investing in a better lens than in a better camera.
8. 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.
7. Deleting Pictures Too Fast
Well I’m writing this specially for myself! I delete pictures faster than I take them sometimes…
The LCD on your camera lies. You got that right - the LCD on your camera lies. As of this posting, there is no way to calibrate the little screens at the back of your camera. Even if there were, there you can’t always control your ambient light - and that can sometimes make a gorgeous image look like crap on that tiny LCD. Wait until you get to a larger screen, then make your judgement.
You can’t trust your fingers. If you delete images straight from you camera, you will, at some point, delete an image you don’t want to erase. Call it clumsiness or plain bad luck - but whatever you call it, it will give you a headache. Yes, you can try to recover it when you get back to your computer, but in the meantime, you can’t use your memory card.
Your batteries are weak. That LCD at the back of your camera is a power hog, and the more time you spend reviewing, trimming, and deleting images, the less time you have to shoot. If you keep deleting images, before you know it, you’ll end up with an empty battery and an empty memory card.
You’re too slow. Even the best multi-taskers cannot shoot and review images at the same time. If you keep deleting images from your camera, you’re going to miss everything you want to shoot. At the end of the day, all your shots will be reminders of the ones that got away.
6. 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.
5. 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.
4. 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.
3. Not Double Checking Your Gear Bag
It never happened to you? It sure did to me! I can’t remember how many times I went shooting just to notice later on that I forgot the CF cards at home. Just a few months ago I took a photography trip to Hong Kong and I totally forgot to pack the battery charger with me! So if you are as clumsy as I am, maybe you should trust your wife in packing things up for you.
2. I’ll Get This Straight Later
Let me first say that I have nothing against Photoshop or any other kind of photo retouching I even pointed out some times ago an easy way to correct tilted pictures in the digital dark room. However I believe that if you can get it right on the field it is better.
1. Blaming The Material
And, of course, on the TOP of the list “Blaming the material”! When we do not manage of getting a decent picture we go like “AH if only I had that lens!” but if someone looks at a nice pictures of ours and says “Wow you should have a nice camera!!!” We go crazy… Anyway, remember folks, it is always the photographer never the Camera.
