Equipment faults

Equipment faults

Over the years I have been involved with digital photography, I have come a cross a number of faults associated with my camera and digital photogarphy. I have found that on the whole digital cameras if properly looked after will give you years of error free service provided they are treated with respect and not abused

Surprisingly the majority of faults found with digital cameras are mainly caused by user error. Secondly, neglect is one of the biggest factors that attribute to a camera's malfunction


Listed below are some of the faults I have come across


Temperature.

Although some cameras are designed to survive harsh temperatures, most cameras are not. Do not leave your camera in a sunny vehicle, where temperatures can quickly become extremely hot in minutes. Avoid leaving the camera in direct sunlight, which can damage the plastic. Also avoid extreme cold, too, which could damage the LCD. Extremely low temperatures can also have extreme effects on a camera's functions. Battery power can  easily be depleted under these conditions which cause a whole host of malfunctions on the camera 

Do not point your camera's lens directly at the sun for any length of time, especially with a DSLR camera. Sunlight focused through the lens of the camera could damage the image sensor or even start a fire inside the camera as the rays of the sun are magnified throught the nens glass

One of my cameras the canon 400D always becomes very temperimental in very cold conditions. The metering sytem in the camera tends to fault giveing error codes that point to the battery being faulty. On checking the batteries,they still have a full charge. When I take the camera into a warmer environment and the temperature rises again the error ceases

Memory cards


Fail and loose data. This has been a common fault with all of my canon cameras. They tend to freeze the camera up and stop all  funtionality of the camera. You cannot even switch the camera off,you have to remove the battery to turn the camera off

I have looked into this type of fault and found that the reason for failure points to fake inferior Memory cards that cannot handle the read write speeds that the camera is sending to the card. This process causes the card to crash or loose connection with the camera's image sensor resulting in loss of images or a corrupt file

I have now started to use the equally as good Lexor professional CF cards which prove to be very good with good read write speeds. They seem to be very reliable and very fast, I haven't come across any  faults with these cards yet

This link takes you to a page on the site Ebay which details and and highlights fake memeroy cards and how to detect them

http://reviews.ebay.co.uk/FAKE-SanDisk-Extreme-Compact-Flash-Cards-Exposed_W0QQugidZ10000000001456526

Avoid dirt sand and foriegn bodies

Use care when cleaning dirt particles and sand from your digital camera. Do not use canned or pressurized air to clean the sand, as you might just drive the particles into the camera body even further. I f you need to clean the camera sensor use a special camera sensor cleaning kit especially made for this kind of procedure. Using cotton buds and tissues could ruin the sensor or soil the sensor surface making it even harder to remove foreign bodies

Cheaper priced camera bodies are not wearher sealed, making it easier for grit and sand to penetrate the camera and cause damage to the interior. Gently blow out the grit and sand to avoid this problem. Use care when shooting photos on a windy day at the beach, too, where sand can blow with excessive force. Avoid opening the battery compartment on such days or changing lenses in these conditions.

Faulty image Sensor.

This is not a common problem but it does occur from time to time. Shown below here ares ome of the symtoms that point to the camera having a faulty image sensor

• Poor images with strong tints or color casts.
• A series of strange lines running across images.
• Distorted images.
• No images at all .
• Exposure and focus errors.
• Camera locks up.
• Potential fire hazards.

This image shows a Crop of an image taken from a digital camera with a faulty sensor

Faulty Leads


I have been having some problems with my Canon 7D when I am shooting images with long exposures. I use a Harnel wireless shutter release system and on a few occasions my camera has totally locked up or frozen when this device is being used

I have looked into this fault and found it to be a faulty lead from the wireless transmitter that connects to the camera. I have used excactly the same lead from a friends camera with no problems evident


On inspection, the connecting interface of the lead has proved to be a loose fit connection at the camera end, which has lead to an intermittant connectivity problem
whch then crashes my camera. The only way to resolve this issue is to take out the batteries of the camera to turn it off


My advice when buying a camera, I find it is best practice to pay for the extra warranty that comes with the camera. Camera repairs are very expensive and out of reach of most people's pockets. Most cameras come with a standard 1 year guarantee,take out a 2 or 3 year extra 
warrantee

Firmware updates

To ensure the best performance from your digital camera, it pays to have the latest version of the camera's firmware. Camera makers release camera firmware updates occasionally, designed to fix problems or improve performance.

Firmware is the basic software used to operate the camera that's installed at the time the camera is manufactured. Firmware controls the most basic functions of the camera, such as what the camera should do when the power button is pressed.

A firmware update could fix a software-related problem that's causing the camera to be unable to connect with a computer

Error codes


Shown below are a sample of error codes that become evident in the LCD on most canon cameras. The codes become evident when a fault occurs in the camera.These codes are very basic and only give a rough indication of what fault the camera is producing


I would assume that canon only want you to take your camera for repair at a recognised canon dealer,so they don't give much away in their error codes


These codes were taken from a Canon 5D manual

0 - Malfunction related to files has been detected.

20 - Malfunction related to the mechanical mechanism has been detected.

30 - Malfunction related to the shutter has been detected.

40 - Malfunction related to the power source has been detected.

50 - Malfunction related to the electric control has been detected.

60 - not used on 5Dm2

70 - Malfunction related to images has been detected.

80 - Malfunction related to the electric control of images has been detected.

90 - not used on 5DM2

Other common problems include broken hinges on memory card doors, broken battery covers and scratched or cracked LCDs.Memory contacts can become damaged if a card is forced into the slot the wrong way.

         

The Definitive moment

The Definitive Moment

To capture the definitive moment, a photograph must  be technically superior. Elements such as composition, focus and exposure play an important roll in allowing the story to be told. However, sometimes one or more of these elements can be weaker if the others are strong enough to make up for it.

The definitive moment often happens in a split second and always requires a trained eye to recognize and capture it.

Great photographs always capture the definitive moment, and that’s the difference between a good photograph and a great photograph.

A definitive portrait captures the personality of a person, not just what they look like at any given moment, but also who they are. From a portrait, you should be able to learn something about that person.

This also applies to landscape photography,when all the elements are correct,lighting,composition ambiance etc and a little bit of luck

Equipment use techniques

Equipment use and Techniques


Highlighted below is some of the Equipment and techniques I used to capture my images


I have produced a certain amount of landscape material to add to my portfolio of images for this course using the equipment shown below

The majority of these images were shot on a 5 day vacation up in the Lake District. The first location I stopped at to take some photographs was a beatiful area of the lake district called Grassmere which has extensive Vista's set on the side of a large lake surrounded by small mountains

I decided to try and get some early morning shots as this is the time of the day when the lighting is at a premium for photography,so I was up and out the hotel at 6am

It was still very dark, so the only way to record images was by using a tripod as I was using really slow shutter speeds. I set up my Velbon Sherpa tripod, a very lightweight tripod but still very sturdy and it caters for all photography needs.




Tripod

I chose this tripod for it’s portability which is not to heavy. I carry this tripod with me everywhere. It is a very versatile tripod and can also be used at very low levels if needed as the legs splay out very wide as shown in this photo enabling usage at virtually ground level

My tripod at 22" fully folded, this a great tripod to pack in a rucksack

Level Indicators

I have 3 spirit levels indicators built into this triopod which is a must to get your shots level for Landscape photography. 


I also have a electronic level indicator built into my 7D camera,another very useful feature of this camera. This feature is very accurate and verifies when the camera is level by turning a red leveling line to green when the horizon becomes level, see diagram.

This very useful feature of my camera is shown as a graphic viewed  on my 3”LCD screen on the rear of my camera

I first set I set up my 7D  first on my tripod with an ISO of 400 as it was still very early morning and the light levels were just beginning to rise. I began taking images with different Iso’s until I started getting the right exposures. As the ambient light became brighter I lowered my ISO’s from 400>200>100 respectively

I prefer to use 100 ISO all the time in my photography as this always gives you the best amount of clarity in a photo with hardly any noise evident. As ISO' levels are increased noise will become more evident

Histogram

I used my Histogram a very useful tool built into my camera which shows a graph of my exposures as I took them. This is a another very useful tool for any photographer


I always check the histogram feature on my camera after every shot to check my exposures were taken correctly. Getting the peaks of the histogram in the in the middle of the graph and the ends of the graph tapering out to the zero line always give me a good guide to confirm I was using nearly the correct exposure

A typical histogram taken from a Canon 7D showing high and low peaks of the histogram graph

            

Photographic Software

Photographic Software


These are computer programs that enables us to connect our cameras to computers or other devices to which allow us to manipulate,print,scan or view our images

Digital cameras nowadays come supplied with software that enable them to communicate with a computer. This piece of software enables you to connect your camera to a computer and perform a variety of tasks and functions to enable you to view,edit and manipulate images using digital photography.


I use a USB (Universal Serial Bus) 2 connection lead to download my images from my camera to my laptop. This is the industry standard method of data transfer reaching speeds of up to 480 Mbps. Firewire leads are used to download images from a camera to a Mac with similar speeds to usb

Canon Photo Professional

In my case, when I bought my first Canon camera it came supplied with a piece of software called "Canon photo professional" a very useful and easy to use program. I use this software all the time and I prefer this software as my main image browser program

Without this piece of software the camera and the computer cannot communicate 

Shown above here is a screen grab of my software which shows a file browser on the left,an image viewer on the rest of the page and tool bars on the top of the page which allow me to perform a variety of functions that can be applied to your images. Some of these include crop,rotate and alter such things as white balance if the image was recorded in raw


I have compared this software with Adobe bridge and feel that the Canon software is a lot more versatile and user friendly. Menu's are easy to follow and buttons are self explanatory. Canon opens all kinds of files including Raw,Png, Dng etc. Bridge tends to react far slower than the Canon software and is very restrictive at what files it can open






Photoshop


This is another piece of software that I use. This is the major software that every photographer uses. This software is absolutely brilliant and no photographer can afford to be without it. It is the market leader for image manipulation. This software is classed as the "Digital darkroom" by many because you can perform every single task that was performed in a darkroom in the old days apart from making your image appear in a dish of chemicals

I use version CS3, it caters for all my photography needs allowing me to manipulate and transform my images.It is renown the world over for it's outstanding "Layers" caperbilities which allow different images to be stacked and blended together to produce montages and very creative works of photography art.

Other great features of this software include masks,curves,filters,airbrushing etc which are all used to transform images and turn them into competition winners.

Every editor, publisher or web designer all use this software. I don't think there is a magazine in the world that does not use Photoshop to manipulate or airbrush their models on front covers of their magazines

The latest version of Photoshop is now version CS5

Photoshop Elements


This a cut down version of the big daddy Photoshop. It obviously doesn't have have all the features and functionality of it's big brother but it is a brilliant piece of software for the  price you pay


I bought version 6 on Ebay some years a go for £25.00 and that was the best £25.00 I had ever spent. It is great for image manipulation and transforming images,making montages, posters and editing your images etc.


This software too has the main editing program and a file browser built into it, 2 pieces of software for the price of one,brilliant!


I would recommend that any beginner use this software first just to give them a taste of how good the software is before shelling out about £500 on the full version of Photoshop

Bridge


This is a piece of Adobe software that comes bundled with Photoshop. It is actually part of Photoshop itself, it is Photoshop's file and image browser/ viewer. 


In earlier versions of Photoshop, photographers used to complain that their images took far to long to open and edit which wasted valuable time. Adobe's answer was to combine Bridge into Photoshop to enable workflow to proceed very swiftly within a fraction of the time older versions




Shown here is Bridge in action. It's very useful because it displays all your meta data on the right hand side of the screen,something that is invaluable to any photographer

Flicker


This is another piece of software that I and most other photographers use.This software is based on the internet and  is totally free to use.The aim of this software is to enable photographers to form an online photography community where they can display, discuss all aspects of photogrphy and upload their images which can then be critiqued upon by other members. This is a great way to gauge your progress in photography and benchmark your work against other photographers


I upload a lot of images onto this site to enable other photographers to view and comment om my work.I find this a great marketing tool to enable me to gain recognition and perhaps one day sell some of my images. 


Shown below is the website Flicker and a selection of my images

Project brief imaging approaches and pricing

A sample calendar including my images

Project brief imaging approaches and pricing

I have been asked by a friend of mine to produce a calendar to help her to promote her business which sells a range of aromatherapy oils and products. She knew I was a very keen amateur photographer so consulted me and asked if I was interested in producing the photography to produce a portfolio of about 20 images for the calendar which she wanted to have a personal touch

She particularly wanted the images to be original, She asked that some of the photos could show Autumn colour,trees,leaves,lakes,misty mourning's and frost's etc.

These photos would need to portray a calming effect to enable her to sell her product of relaxing aromatherapy oils to ongoing customers. She could have bought stock photos but wanted to give the calendar that personal touch and tell friends and customers that she had personally created the calendar with photographs that she had commissioned

My client set out a brief of her requirements for the photographs and calendars,these included :

Aims and objectives:

To produce a calendar to help her to promote her business. Having calendars on the walls of potential new clients enables her to market her business more effectively. Calendar's are a very clever marketing tool. Your company name and business phone number is displayed permanently,in homes,offices and factory's all over the country

Timescale:

The timescale for this project was approx one month as the calendar's need to be in circulation by mid December ready for circulation before Christmas. This time-scale was rather a tight deadline but I estimated I could have the photography ,images, photo-books and calendar's finished and ready for distribution by mid December

Images:

My client required a set of approximately 20 high quality Images that she cold pick her final 12 from to produce her promotional material for her calendar's. I informed her I would shoot approx 100 images for this project then she could pick her favourite or best images from this amount. 

She required that the Images needed to be original, having an autumnal landscape theme. She wanted me to produce a set of images taken from around the lake district area in Cumbria where she was born and grew up

My client wanted to give the calendar her personal touch and did not want to include stock photos etc in her calendar and really wanted new original images

Printing: 

My client wanted me to produce 100 A3 calendars for her promotions. She wanted me to manage all the photography and all the printing for this project and virtually wrote me a blank cheque to produce the finished articles. She was very busy in her business and wanted me to manage the whole project from start to finish

I have used a very good online photography printing company to produce the calendar's,they are called DS Colour labs a company from Manchester. I have used their printing services before and their quality is really excellent

Shown below are some screen grabs from DS's website which shows some of the sample calendar's I have designed including my images before approval from my client

The price for 1 calendar at a size of 12" x16" delivered to any address in the UK is £10.00 

The price for 100 calendars comes down to £6.00 each delivered which is a massive saving

Costs:

I work part time as a photographer and normally charge £25.00 an hour to cover my costs but on this occasion I have given my friend a 20% discount as I knew her really well

I have costed the whole operation from travelling up to the Lake District, taking the photo's and delivering the Calendars to my clients door. This is a breakdown of the total costs involved and the final cost of a single calendar delivered to any address in the UK

I had priced up A3 printing on high quality papers,other companies were cheaper but my friend required high quality images and calendars for her business

My time and costs breakdown

Return petrol travel costs up to the Lake District            £  50.00

Hotel bill for 2 nights accommodation                            £120.00

Produce 100 images for selection.

Hourly rate £20 an hour.8h @ £20.00                            £160.00

Final editing time of the 12 selected

calendar images.3h @ £20.00                                      £  60.00                     

    

Total                                                                         £390.00

Printing costs

Print Costs for 20 A3 High Quality

(Sample images)  20 units @ £4.00 each                      £  80.00

Printing,Calendar and delivery costs

100 units @ £6.00 each                                                £600.00

Total                                                                          £680.00

10% mark-up on a total of  £1070                                  £107.00

Grand Total                                                               £1177.00

So to summarize, to produce an original bespoke calendar to my friends specifications including all photography,printing costs and mark-up, the final total cost of each calendar was

£11.77 each including delivery 

(Research and Inspiration) Peter Patterson landscape photographer

Research and Inspiration

Scottish Landscape photographer Peter Paterson

I was told there was a very good Scottish Landscape photographer coming to my local camera club here in Burton for a photography seminar. His Name was Peter Patterson and his work and reputation are renown throughout the UK and the world

The event featured some of the countrys' best photographer's. There were four photographer's on the bill and Peter Patterson was second up on the bill. I went along to this seminar hoping I could gain some inspiration and tips on how to create some better landscape photography

Peter's landscape photography was absolutely outstanding and in my opinion 2nd to none.
He has captured most of the very scenic areas of Scotland showing the various seasons through his Landscape images,depicting snow,water,frost,ice etc

Living in the Scottish highlands gives him a distinct advantage over many other photographers having access to some of the worlds most beautiful scenery right on your doorstep.

I met Peter after his lecture and we talked for a while about his photography, he gave me some invaluable information on how to improve my landscape photography and advised me on some of places to places to visit in the highlands

The great Landscape photographer's prefer to use medium format cameras to achieve there best results and a 5X4 medium format camera seems to be the norm.However this photographer used various Nikon full framed cameras with gave incredible image definition and clarity. As you can see from his results above a medium format camera is not absolutely essential

I would say that this photographer had some distinct advantages to produce his photography the same way as the famous photographer Ansel Adams did . They both lived locally to an area of outstanding natural beauty. They could keep returning to the same spot of natural beauty everyday until the correct lighting and weather conditioned were achieved. The weather in both of the areas where they both lived have extremely harsh winters conditions which display an array of beautiful subject matter for the photographer

I can see some similarity in some of Peter's work compared to Ansel Adam's may be this was one of his influences I didn't get time to finish our conversation

I love the shot's peter has produced of the highlands in a hoar frost,something that we very rarely see nowadays living a lot further south than the highlands

I have tried some landscape photography before but never gone in to depth on the subject so this was an ideal chance to learn a little more about the subject

As we all know in photography, It's all about the golden hour or the definitive moment and this applies to landscape photography just the same. So to capture that illusive comp winner lighting has to be crucial which can only be captured at certain times of the day

Shown here is some of Peter's Seascapes

Winter in the highlands

An infrared shot a twist to his normal landscapes

Some of his work was taken in Iceland, he has a fascination of cloud formations which I also posses. These cloud formations are forever changing and creating a different photograph every few seconds. Shown here are some more of Peter's photo's

I have been studying Peter's works over the past couple of weeks and find his work enchanting. He balances composition with light and colour. His subject matter is outstanding and always has a prominent interesting focal point or feature in his photographs. His eye for detail is very sharp, adding form, texture, shape, colour etc which creates a fantastic ambiance in most of his work.


A lot of his work is taken in the Scottish highlands around the Trossachs national park and the Glencoe area. The only chance I would get to emulate this type of photography would be if i lived near to the regions frequented by this photographer

Because I live far away from these beautiful areas of natural beauty I have to take pot look on the weather and lighting conditions being correct when I take a holiday to these places which are not always ideal photographic conditions for the photographer