The Southampton Press, September 20, 2007

Picture This

By Cheryl Machat Dorskind

Keeping a Camera Action Ready

School is back in full swing and so are fall sports. As a soccer mom for twelve years, I was eager to try something new – a fashionable camera bag by Jill E designs (www.jill-e.com). The bag’s soft black leather and boxy style looks like a Coach or Marc Jacobs’s bag, a far cry from the nylon gray or black camera bags we’re accustomed to seeing.

To best capture the soccer plays, I chose a telephoto zoom lens, 70-200mm, and selected shutter priority (Tv) exposure mode. I programmed the shutter to 1/ 350 of a second (stop action requires a shutter speed faster than or equal to 1/250 of a second) and set the ISO to 100. Eye on the viewfinder, I clicked away. Using continuous shooting mode avoids shutter lag.

Before I would think about fashion, however, I had to take care of the essentials. First, I remembered to clean my digital sensor. Dust and sand inevitably find their way inside a digital SLR camera and these particles, which typically look like black spots, will blemish your digital images. Cleaning a digital sensor is intimidating the first go around, and camera manufacturers are promising to counter this problem with camera models that self-clean more efficiently.

For my camera, I locate “clean sensor” on the menu, highlight “Ok,” and then allow the camera to self-clean. And by the way, you’ll want to make sure your battery has plenty of juice, because you do not want to lose power while the camera self-cleans. It will lock the mirror and you’ll have to send the camera in for a costly repair. Unfortunately, my camera’s self-cleaning was ineffectual, even after repeating the process three times, so I had to resort to cleaning the sensor myself.

I hesitated, worrying that I would smear the sensor, rather than cleaning it. The first and easiest solution is to blow the dust off the sensor. However, never use pressurized air on a digital sensor. Instead, choose a rubberized gizmo, such as “Giotto, Rocket Air.” To begin, select “self clean” on your camera menu. The mirrors will lock and the sensor will be exposed. Aim the rocket shaped blower straight towards the sensor, squeeze, and safely blow away dust particles. Luckily, the dust disappeared. My sensor was clean and I was ready for the soccer scrimmage.

If you are not so lucky and find the particles remain stuck to the sensor, you’ll have to resort to using specialized and expensive cleaning aids (oversized looking q-tips) with non-smearing alcohol which you gently swipe the sensor with. Different models use different size applicators, so read the labels carefully. Worried about leaving a residue? A new product, “Dust Aid” (www.dust-aid.com), has come to my attention; it is cleverly packaged in a band-aid inspired tin. The red tin contains one-size-fits-all adhesive based sensor cleaners which will not leave a residue. Whichever method you choose, you can be assured that sensor cleaning is a must after a summer of photographing at and near the beach.

With a clean sensor, I packed my camera bag and arrived at the game ten minutes early—I didn’t want to miss a play. Setting the camera bag down in front of the center sideline, I opened my folding chair. The bag drew immediate attention and questions.

For the point and shooters, Jill E designs offers wristlets in nylon yellow. Small size bags are available in either bone or red leather. I have the medium-sized black leather bag that easily fits a digital SLR, three lenses, a flash, flash bracket, and light meter. The medium-sized bag also includes a leather wristlet where I keep my backup media cards. There are mesh compartments for easily storing back-up batteries, and the front-snap oversize pockets are useful for keeping miscellaneous items including releases, business cards, and notepads. For the traveling photographer, Jill E offers a large size black bag with wheels.

contact: Cheryl@cherylmachatdorskind.com.