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7 Things You Must Check Before Photographing Outdoors

Last Updated on May 2, 2016 by PixelPluck

7 Things You Must Check Before Photographing Outdoors.

Here is a quick checklist to help you remember all the technical aspects of your photography that need to be kept in mind when you are photographing. Your digital camera is a highly sophisticated piece of equipment; this list should help you avoid simple mistakes that you may commit before a photo shoot.

Have you charged your batteries?
Before every outing, charge your battery. Most digital cameras have rechargeable batteries. In the early days you will be checking almost every image on the LCD screen on the back of your camera, and this is what runs the camera battery down more than anything else. In fact, to start with, buy a spare battery.
Have you formatted your memory card?
If needed, before every shoot, and after you download or print your pictures, always, always format your memory card. As with all technical equipment, failure is always possible. You can lose pictures. However, you can minimize this risk with good housekeeping. Format your card in the camera’s menu before every use and after you confirm you have downloaded your pictures. Using your computer to format camera memory cards is not a good practice.
It will reduce the life of your memory card and may corrupt it in cases where you don’t remove it safely.
Do you have enough memory in your cards?
One of the plus points of the pre-digital era was the ability to pick up a new roll of film in almost every digital shop or even in day2day shops. The cards included with most digital cameras today have a fixed capacity for pictures. You will inevitably need to purchase additional, more spacious cards. Make sure you buy enough for that trip. You may not be able to find suitable cards while you’re traveling to new places.
Carry a hard disk with you and always check space before you move out.
Have you cleaned your image sensor and lens optics?
If you like to change lenses often, there is a chance that dust attracted to your image sensor will result in black specks or hairs appearing on your image files. This is especially likely if you forget to turn off your camera before changing the lens. If the sensor is not cleaned carefully, it can be damaged. Check the manufacturer’s website to see what they recommend. One way to avoid having to clean the sensor all the time is to keep the lens mount facing down ↓ when changing lenses. This way, any airborne debris is less likely to settle on the sensor. Don’t put anything inside the lens compartment. Its an easy task but better go to a service center if problem is complex.
You can use rocket blower and lens-pen for this purpose.
Have you set correct sensor sensitivity (ISO)?
It’s best to use as low an ISO as possible because higher ISO settings produce more “noise” (undesirable visible digital grain). The general rule is: The lower the ISO, the better the quality (if the shooting circumstances permit it). But you may always use external flash to keep ISO minimum.

image-quality-and-iso-sensitivity

 

Have you set your color/white balance?
At this stage make sure that your camera is set on auto-white balance, as in most cases this will produce an acceptable result. Even if it doesn’t, you can always adjust it to your taste while processing. And yes shoot in RAW to do non destructive post processing.
Have you set the right file type—JPEG, RAW, or whatever you need?
We have discussed in detail about RAW vs JPEG in our previous post. For now, make sure your camera is set to produce the largest/highest quality JPEG/RAW possible. It is absolutely pointless to shoot on smaller RAW/JPEG settings, since doing so defeats the purpose of using a high-quality camera. Storage space should never be an excuse for a Photographer. Memory cards are hundred times cheaper than your camera.Get more good quality, high capacity and fast cards. This will also increase the speed of camera.


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