Cory Photography with Tom and Pat Cory

Tuscany, 2004

Newsletter, May 1, 2007 Continued

 

Tips from Tim Grey on How to Prevent Dust on your Digital Sensor

 

 The issue of dust with digital SLRs is particularly challenging because once the dust gets stuck to the sensor it may appear in every single photograph you capture until the dust is removed. Fortunately, a few simple practices will help you greatly reduce the problem of dust.

The first, of course, is to try to prevent dust from getting into the camera in the first place. This is really a matter of minimizing the dust, because dust is everywhere and difficult to avoid. Make every effort to change lenses in whatever environment available to you at the time has the least amount of dust or other airborne contaminants. This may be in your vehicle, in a tent, within a camera bag, or some other structure. When all else fails, at least turn your back to the wind to try to minimize the amount of dust that is able to enter the camera.

When you do change lenses, it is obviously beneficial to do so as quickly as possible to minimize the exposure to dust. Also, it is best to turn off the camera during the process of changing lenses so the sensor doesn't have a charge. This will help prevent the sensor from acting like a magnet for dust as you're changing lenses.

I also recommend using a blower bulb to blow off any dust that may be on the sensor whenever you change lenses. The reason I recommend this is that dust that initially lands on the sensor isn't likely to stick, and can be blown away quite easily. The real problem occurs when dust is allowed to sit on the sensor for a period of time. When you mix dust and humidity, the result is a "crust" that will stick quite well to the imaging sensor, and can be very difficult to clean. This is the same type of crust you'll find on the internal moving components of those old-fashioned computer mice with a ball and rollers inside.

If you do end up with dust on the sensor, there are many options for cleaning them. If you are willing to clean the camera yourself, be sure to check out http://www.cleaningdigitalcameras.com/ for some great information on exactly how to do just that. Reference: Tim Grey from his daily email newsletter

 

Tips to Deal with Lost Luggage

 

 This website has some handy tips both on how to prevent lost luggage and also what to do if it becomes lost.

http://budgettravelonline.com/bt-dyn/content/article/2006/08/11/AR2006081100154.html?referrer=email&referrer=email

 

 WiFi Alert!

There are still thousands of hotels with poorly protected Internet connections where a hacker sitting nearby can view personal information, credit card and bank account numbers stored on your computer's hard drive.

iBAHN is offering the following tips for travelers who want to avoid the
dangers of using computers on the road:
- When making a reservation, check whether the hotel uses a secure
Internet provider. Check for this info http://www.iBAHN.com
- Disable the file-sharing option on your computer to prevent hackers
from accessing your hard drive.
- Disable the peer-to-peer or ad hoc capabilities on your computer.
- Install, update and use a personal firewall.
- Watch your use of WiFi. Don't use WiFi in "hot spots" such as
airports, hotel lobbies and other public places, unless it's protected
by WPA encryption. (Your computer will indicate whether this is the case
when you attempt to logon.)

 

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