Tag Archive for: #ourbestshots

James DeCamp Photography has been honored to be a proud sponsor of the Komen Race for the Cure® in Columbus, Ohio since 2010 and a sponsor of the Athens Komen Race for the Cure® since its inception in 2015.

We are sponsors to save lives and end breast cancer forever by empowering people, ensuring quality care for all and energizing science to find the cures.

By sponsoring we are investing in the lives of the people closest to us — the people of our community — our families, colleagues, neighbors and friends.

In 2013-2014,the Susan G. Komen Columbus® Afilliate invested more than $1,000,000 into the Central Ohio area community by awarding grants in a 30 county area to provide free breast cancer resources and funding breast cancer research. Through their community grants program, the following has been achieved:

Susan G. Komen Columbus® continues to fund one of Ohio’s largest program of free breast cancer treatments, services and support. Susan G. Komen Columbus® has played a critical role in every major advancement in the fight against breast cancer since 1993. They have transformed how the world talks about and addresses this disease, helping turn millions of breast cancer patients into breast cancer survivors. As the world’s largest and most progressive grassroots network of survivors and activists, they work to cultivate and maintain strong relationships with decision makers and community leaders.

They have made major progress over the years, but there is still more work to be done.

Local sponsorship is critical to our being able to support local breast cancer programs and national research grants. Sponsor gifts help underwrite Race expenses and, along with entry fees and donations from Race participants, go directly toward funding breast cancer services and research.

Susan G. Komen Columbus® began in 1993 by a group of motivated and hardworking volunteers. That same passion, carried on throughout the years by thousands of volunteers and dedicated board and staff members, has sustained Komen Columbus and enabled us to raise more than $27 million; $16 million of that has been granted to support local programs, $280,000 in targeted small grants, and $5 million has supported global research.

Through events like the Komen Columbus Race for the Cure®, Komen Columbus invests 75 percent of its net income to support vital local breast health services in our 30-county service area, and dedicates the remaining net income – 25 percent – to national research to find the cures.

The 2nd Annual Komen Athens Race for the Cure® photographed Sunday, October 23, 2016 on the Ohio University Campus. (© James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

(© James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

Komen Columbus Spare Nothing for the Cure photographed Sunday, February 26, 2017 at the Columbus Square Bowling Palace.

 

Spare Nothing for the Cure photographed Sunday, February 26, 2017 at the Columbus Square Bowling Palace. (© James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

(© James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

Spare Nothing for the Cure photographed Sunday, February 26, 2017 at the Columbus Square Bowling Palace. (© James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

(© James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

Spare Nothing for the Cure photographed Sunday, February 26, 2017 at the Columbus Square Bowling Palace. (© James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

(© James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

Spare Nothing for the Cure photographed Sunday, February 26, 2017 at the Columbus Square Bowling Palace. (© James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

(© James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

Spare Nothing for the Cure photographed Sunday, February 26, 2017 at the Columbus Square Bowling Palace. (© James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

(© James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

Spare Nothing for the Cure photographed Sunday, February 26, 2017 at the Columbus Square Bowling Palace. (© James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

(© James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

Spare Nothing for the Cure photographed Sunday, February 26, 2017 at the Columbus Square Bowling Palace. (© James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

(© James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

Spare Nothing for the Cure photographed Sunday, February 26, 2017 at the Columbus Square Bowling Palace. (© James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

(© James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

Spare Nothing for the Cure photographed Sunday, February 26, 2017 at the Columbus Square Bowling Palace. (© James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

(© James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

 

 

Why do we fundraise for breast cancer cures?

  • Because 1 in 8 women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime.
  • Because every 19 seconds, somewhere in the world, a case of breast cancer is diagnosed in a woman.
  • Because every 60 seconds, somewhere in the world, someone dies from breast cancer; every 13 minutes, one woman in the U.S. will lose her life to breast cancer.
  • Because breast cancer knows no boundaries. It affects people of every age, gender, socio-economic status and location.
  • Because at the current rate, 13 million breast cancer deaths will occur around the world in the next 25 years.
  • Because it’s time to go beyond breast cancer awareness. It’s time to take action!

Take Action

We can fight these statistics together. Join the breast cancer movement by fundraising for Race for the Cure®.

Your fundraising has the power to make a true impact. Just consider how far we have come, thanks in part to supporters like you:

  • Race for the Cure® has raised more than $2 billion to help fund research, education, screening and treatment.
  • In 1980, the 5-year relative survival rate for women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer was about 74 percent. Today, that number is 99 percent.
  • Since our founding in 1982, Susan G. Komen’s national research program has invested in cutting-edge research that has helped make major breakthroughs possible.
  • Funding for discoveries in genetics and biology has led to personalized, less-invasive breast cancer treatments to replace the less-effective “one-treatment-fits-all” approach.

Race for the Cure® is your opportunity to turn your support for the breast cancer movement into action. Prove that you are More Than Pink™, and help us end breast cancer forever.

Register or log in to fundraise today!

I will admit that I am a Canon bigot – I love Canon and have exclusively used their cameras and lenses for more than 30 years. I have always bought Canon lenses rather than other brands, partly because of loyalty, but also because their products are awesome and they have always fit my needs, namely fast glass.

A quick rundown of my equipment list (HERE) shows how I love prime lenses, bokeh and fast glass, to that end, I am VERY excited about the new lenses announced by Sigma this week. I have used Sigma art series lenses before while doing contract work for zulily and was very impressed with them Their all metal construction and heavy feel is very reassuring.

 

First up is the Sigma 14mm ƒ/1.8 DG HSM Art which is touted as the worlds first ƒ/1.8 prime lens at the 14mm focal length. I love, love, love my Canon EF 14mm ƒ/2.8L II USM, but I’m really looking forward to getting my hands on this lens and experimenting with the bokeh it can create.

SIGMA 14mm F1.8 DG HSM Art

“The SIGMA 14mm F1.8 DG HSM | Art is the true high-speed ultra-wide-angle lens for which so many photographers have been waiting. Although some zoom lenses are available that can cover 14mm, the large diameter delivering F1.8 brightness is a singular advantage. Going beyond fast shutter speed, this lens can capture a swarm of fireflies with crystal clarity, a beautiful bokeh effect, and outstanding control of light streaking.” – Sigma

This fast wide prime features the same large aspherical element used in the Sigma 12-24mm F4 Art to control distortion and create stunning imagery. An updated Hyper Sonic Motor (HSM) provides fast and accurate autofocus while 3 Premium FLD and 4 SLD glass elements control chromatic aberration and sagittal comma flare. Building on the highly reputable Art line, the Sigma 14mm ƒ/1.8 DG HSM Art is designed to resolve the latest high megapixel DSLR sensors. Like each and every Global Vision Lens, the Sigma 14mm ƒ/1.8 DG HSM Art is handcrafted at our single factory in Aizu, Japan and undergoes individual evaluation before leaving Sigma’s facility.


 

 

Next up is the Sigma 20mm ƒ/1.4 DG HSM Art which is said to be a state of the art wide-angle prime lens designed for Full Frame cameras but will work with APS-C sensors as well

I loved my Canon FD version of the 20mm circa 1987. It was tack sharp, but the EOS version of this lens was introduced in 1992 and this is a focal length that Canon has been sadly lacking in updates for decades now.
About 15 years ago I bought a Canon EF 20mm ƒ/2.8 USM and returned it about two weeks later. It was, simply put, a terrible lens. It wasn’t very sharp wide open, was terrible in the corners and had an unacceptable amount of distortion to it. Thinking I maybe got a runt of the litter, I borrowed two other lenses over time and found they all had the same shortfalls. That Canon has let this focal length be neglected for more than 30 years is a shame.

So when Sigma announced a REALLY fast 20mm I was in love, and the reviews seem to be in line with other Sigma glass – Outstanding!

 

Sigma 20mm ƒ/1.4 DG HSM Art

 

Using over 50 years of lens making experience, particularly the knowledge gained from the 35mm ƒ/1.4 Art and the 24mm ƒ/1.4 Art, the 20mm ƒ/1.4 Art is the widest large aperture Art lens to date. The latest optical design allows for the utmost in image quality with careful attention paid to edge to edge performance. Through decades of experience in lens design and Sigma Global Vision lens manufacturing, the 20mm incorporates both “F” Low Dispersion (FLD) glass, and five Special Low Dispersion (SLD) glass in a design of 15 elements in 11 groups. The combination of advanced optics and optimized lens power distribution minimizes spherical aberration, axial chromatic aberration and field curvature, producing outstanding image quality. With class leading performance, this lens is ideal for landscape photography, videography, astrophotography, lowlight/indoor photography and event photography.

As with all Global Vision lines, the 20mm will be tested using the proprietary “A1” measuring system ensuring the highest standard of operation. The Sigma 20mm Art is compatible with the USB dock to update and customize and is also compatible with the Mount Conversion Service. A staple procedure for the Global Vision lines, every lens will be tested using the proprietary “A1” measuring system.


 

 

I love my Canon 135mm ƒ/2.0 and will probably keep it around, but I am excited about the new Sigma 135mm 1.8 DG HSM Art which is a medium telephoto prime lens designed for modern high megapixel DSLRs. Yes, that extra light is worth spending a bucket for, and I’m sure I will be adding this to my stable soon.  Thats the reason I have a Canon 50mm ƒ/1.0 instead of the ƒ/1.2 and a 200mm ƒ/1.8 instead of the ƒ/2.0.

Okay, well maybe THIS has something to do with it too :-0

 

Sigma 135mm 1.8 DG HSM Art

“With resolution so crystal-clear that individual hairs can be discerned in a portrait, this large-diameter lens also delivers a beautiful bokeh effect, giving photographers everything they need. It is ideal for close-ups and full-body shots, with subjects standing out against a pleasantly blurred background.” – Sigma

A new large Hyper Sonic Motor produces significant torque to the focusing group for better speed while the acceleration sensor detects the position of the lens and compensates for such factors as gravity to help aid in focusing performance. This state-of-the-art prime lens touts a dust and splash proof construction for guaranteed performance in any condition and its large 1.8 Fstop allows for more creative control over imagery. A stunning compression effect make the Sigma 135mm ƒ/1.8 Art the ideal portrait lens while its large aperture help with event photography and much more. Like each and every Global Vision Lens, the Sigma 135mm ƒ/1.8 DG HSM Art is handcrafted at our single factory in Aizu, Japan and undergoes individual evaluation before leaving Sigma’s facility.

Josh Begley has created a number of wonderful and informative videos in the last couple of years. Titling himself as a ‘Data Artist’, he has taken public documents and made them into moving art, literally.  This installment in his portfolio is no different and simply shows the front page of the New York Times through its 164 year history.

With five rows of nine newspapers, viewers travel at high velocity through the last 164 years of America’s news. The New York Times published its first issue on September 18, 1851 when the paper is all text, the video quickly advances to the first use of pictures, while the first photos published by the paper appeared in a Sunday magazine in 1896, May 29, 1910 marks the first front page photographed published by the Times.  The video continues with larger black-and-white photos taking over the page, and finally today’s predominantly color photo-oriented front pages (The first color photograph appeared on the front page in 1997).

What’s striking about the piece is that it captures the inevitability of change, with what must have been huge news items flashing perpetually across the screen, framed by the constancy of institutions, as much as the world morphs and evolves across the page, the masthead up top remains unbroken.

His previous videos have included Google street views of every officer involved shooting in 2016 (LINK HERE) and a voyage across the US-Mexico border, stitched together from 200,000 satellite images  (LINK HERE).

 

Every NYT front page since 1852 from Josh Begley on Vimeo.

Two Jocks & A Sniffer photographed Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at the Ohio Media School.  Radio legend the Torg with former Buckeye Football stars Zach Boren and Matt Finkes broadcast on EBSN as they irreverently break down the latest in the world of sports and pop culture.

 

Two Jocks & A Sniffer photographed Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at the Ohio Media School. (James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

Two Jocks & A Sniffer photographed Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at the Ohio Media School. (James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

Two Jocks & A Sniffer photographed Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at the Ohio Media School. (James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

Two Jocks & A Sniffer photographed Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at the Ohio Media School. (James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

Two Jocks & A Sniffer photographed Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at the Ohio Media School. (James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

Two Jocks & A Sniffer photographed Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at the Ohio Media School. (James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

Two Jocks & A Sniffer photographed Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at the Ohio Media School. (James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

Two Jocks & A Sniffer photographed Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at the Ohio Media School. (James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

Two Jocks & A Sniffer photographed Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at the Ohio Media School. (James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

Two Jocks & A Sniffer photographed Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at the Ohio Media School. (James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

Two Jocks & A Sniffer photographed Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at the Ohio Media School. (James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

Two Jocks & A Sniffer photographed Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at the Ohio Media School. (James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

Two Jocks & A Sniffer photographed Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at the Ohio Media School. (James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

Two Jocks & A Sniffer photographed Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at the Ohio Media School. (James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

Two Jocks & A Sniffer photographed Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at the Ohio Media School. (James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

Two Jocks & A Sniffer photographed Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at the Ohio Media School. (James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

Two Jocks & A Sniffer photographed Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at the Ohio Media School. (James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

Two Jocks & A Sniffer photographed Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at the Ohio Media School. (James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

What To Do If You Are Stopped Or Detained For Taking Photographs

During my many years on the street for several different newspapers and magazines I was stopped by police and security personnel dozens of times from taking images of events and even buildings and once even detained shortly.  On more than one occasion I was asked to hand over or destroy the film and CF cards that the images resided on.  Knowing my rights, I stood firmly and did not allow this.

The image below is one example of an image that caused my detention – photographed from a road, belonging to the county, an American Electric Power security guard stopped me and threatened me, demanded my camera card and forcibly detained me.  Luckily a Sheriffs deputy was passing by, saw the confrontation, and having a more level head than the security guard defused the situation.

The American Electric Power Conesville Power Plant, 47201 County Road 273, Conesville, Ohio photographed Wednesday night October 1, 2008. (© James D. DeCamp | http://www.JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366) [Photographed with Canon 1D MkIII cameras in RAW mode with L series lenses]

The American Electric Power Conesville Power Plant, 47201 County Road 273, Conesville, Ohio photographed Wednesday night October 1, 2008.
(© James D. DeCamp | http://www.JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)
[Photographed with Canon 1D MkIII cameras in RAW mode with L series lenses]

The American Civil Liberties Union has a wonderful website post regarding the law and how to deal with being restrained from taking images in public places.

Taking photographs of things that are plainly visible from public spaces is a constitutional right – and that includes federal buildings, transportation facilities, and police and other government officials carrying out their duties. Unfortunately, there is a widespread, continuing pattern of law enforcement officers ordering people to stop taking photographs from public places, and harassing, detaining and arresting those who fail to comply.

LEARN MORE at the ACLU site.

 

 

Why you should not delete images on your memory card using your camera!

As many of you know, I have been I have spent my life in the photography business and first went fully digital in 1997 so I literally have decades of experience dealing with the ins and outs of memory cards. While I personally use Kingston memory cards, this piece is for ANY memory card user.

James DeCamp Photography. (© James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

(© James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

First, let me explain how a memory card works in simple terms for you.

Most people look at a memory card as a piece of plastic or metal, and they don’t think much about them. But inside there is a LOT of intelligence. There is flash memory, a controller and many more electronic elements. The quality of that memory and controller often determines the speed and quality of your card.

Everything on your card is controlled by something called a File Allocation Table (FAT Table). If you think of your card as a book, the FAT Table is a Table of Contents. When you do a simple format of a memory card, you are not actually erasing the card, you are just clearing the FAT Table – removing the Table of Contents, but the chapters of the book still remain on the card, but are more difficult to recover. Yep, all the images will remain on your card until you shoot more and overwrite them. This is why you can use a program like Lexar’s Image Rescue, SanDisk’s Rescue Pro or other data recovery software to recover images from a card even after it is formatted.

This was made too apparent to a friend of mine about 15 years ago – he had shot a baseball game for his newspaper, but made the mistake of formatting the card (in camera) right after the game before he had downloaded the images. He called me in a panic to see if I could recover them. “Sure, come by the paper and I can pull everything off the card that is there AS LONG AS YOU HAVEN’T USED IT SINCE YOU FORMATTED IT.” He was in the office in 10 minutes and I used my recovery software to get his images back. One by one all of his old images started to appear in the browser window of the recovery software. A city council meeting from a week ago, an environmental portrait from two weeks ago, a track meet, a few images of the baseball game scattered through out. More started coming in, some older images. I could see the concern on his face “This will get everything off the card”, “Yes, it will get any image as long as it hasn’t been overwritten.” More older images mixed with his baseball game. More concern. Then the boudoir images of his girlfriend in lingerie started popping up from more than a month ago and I understood his concern – haha.

So here are some tips, which I am going to write in the order of importance:

1. DO NOT erase images from your memory card in your camera!
What I mean by this is: Do not go through your photos and delete them one by one using your camera. I see people (especially wire service photogs) doing this all the time and it is a REALLY bad idea. Your camera is not very smart at managing the data on your memory card. Deleting individual images from the card using your camera is a great way to scramble that FAT Table we talked about before. DON’T DO IT! Memory cards have gotten so inexpensive and large, that you should not have to delete images to save space (I know the wire service guys are editing in camera to save time, but just TAG the images, don’t delete!) Just pop in a new card and keep shooting. Once you have downloaded to your computer, and backed up the images THEN format your card to use it again.

2. Format your memory cards in your camera, not on your computer.
I have seen countless web sites which tell people to format their memory cards on your computer. This is just WRONG! You want to format the cards in the camera. And you should do this on the camera your are shooting with. I am currently shooting with the Canon 5D MkIV, Canon 1DX, Canon 5D MkIII, and I format the card in the camera I am using. You are reading this correctly…I do not format in one Canon camera and move it to another. Will they work? Yup but it may cause issues down the road. It is also terrible to pull a memory card out of one camera model and put it into another without formatting. I have seen people shooting with a Canon camera, pull the card out and start using it in a Nikon camera – Big. Bad. No. No. Each camera manufacturer has its own special sauce and likes to be formatted a certain way.

3. Format after EACH shoot.
It is a good idea to format your cards after each shoot. Once you have downloaded your card and have the images IN MORE THAN ONE PLACE, you should format that card in the camera you will be using it in before it’s next use. It keeps things cleaner on the card.

4. Use a good card reader!
I can not tell you how many times I have seen pro photographers take a high quality card out of a $10k camera and put it into a cheap no-name reader. It only causes problems. When a co-worker would ask me about a corrupted memory card, one of my first questions would be is “What card reader are you using?” Memory card readers have intelligent controllers inside them, just like the cards, and cards like the readers that have similar controllers. I have seen more cards corrupted in a reader than in a camera. I have also seen many cards that are absolutely fine in one reader, and show corruption in another reader.  I use Kingston cards – I use Kingston readers.

5. Don’t fill a card completely.
Even though most memory cards are built really well and have all kinds of intelligence in them, it is not a good idea to fill a card completely. I always pull my cards (if possible) when there are a dozen or so frames left on the card. I always have dozens of cards at the ready and don’t worry about overfilling one single card. (I also do the same with my computer hard drives. I never fill them completely – there performance goes down significantly if you fill more than 90-95% of the drive).

6. Don’t pull a memory card out of your camera or card reader when data is being written or read from the card.
It’s just common sense and all of the instruction manuals will tell you in all capital letters – if data is being transferred to / from the card and that process is interrupted, it is quite possible that you will lose some or all of your photos. And don’t always trust the red light on your camera to determine is data is being transferred. Before I pull my memory cards, I always wait an extra couple of seconds after the red light on the cameras goes off, signifying that the data is done being written to the card.

7. Use both your card slots for safety.
If you have two card slots in your camera, write your images redundantly to both cards to have more safety and peace of mind. This way, if one card gets corrupted, you can most likely get the images off of the other card. In my 5D MkIV, I use both slots – the CF card is always a 16Gb or smaller card and is swapped out frequently (more on this later). The SD slot has a 256 Gb card in it that I can shoot all day on. I only depend on the CF cards for primary image transfers, but should one become corrupt, I have everything on the SD card. All cards are reformatted once all of the images have been triple backed up on my computer system.

8. Purchase name brand memory cards.
As you may have guessed, I use Kingston memory cards in all my cameras, but that is not to say that they are the only good company out there. Lexar, SanDisk and others make good products as well. There are others too, but make sure that you do not use one of those cards made by a no-named company. A simple price comparison is the key – if its cheaper than the three mentioned here – its too cheap and will be risky to use. Remember, you are trusting your images to the card! And if your a pro, your clients are trusting you with their business. You are going to be using the card over and over, so spending a couple of dollars more to get a better product, in the long run, will not cost you much more. Nothing angers me more than seeing a “pro” shooting with a great camera, expensive lens and a crappy memory card.

9. Shoot on small cards.
How many pictures can you afford to loose at once? Todays name brand camera cards are VERY dependable if treated right, but errors and failures DO and WILL happen. By shooting on small cards (16Gb) you can mitigate your loss. If everything from a wedding is shot on a 128 Gb card and it goes south – you’ve lost EVERYTHING, including your reputation (“NEVER hire him – he lost all our wedding photos”). If the same wedding is shot on eight 16 Gb cards, you’ve only lost the getting ready images or part of the reception, and you can probably sweet talk or discount your way out of a bad situation. And its not just card failures – I can’t count the number of times that I have found (unlabeled) cards on the sidelines of a sporting event or had a venue call me after an event asking if I had lost a card because it was not labeled. People (YOU and me!) are sometimes stupid and drop things – which leads me to #10.

10. Label your cards.
I have my name and phone number on ALL of my cards. A Brother PTouch Labeler can print tiny 6 pt text that will fit on the spine of your CF cards. If your card gets lost without your contact info on it, you have NO HOPE of getting it back. If its labeled, you atleast have some hope of a good samaritan calling you. 🙂
I also number all of my cards (or more precisely alphabetize them) with small peel and stick labels. This way I know at a glance that I have all my cards: A-Z. It also helps in case I have a camera error while shooting – I can pull that card – make note that card ‘H’ may be going bad, and retire it from use. Without such labelling all the cards look the same.

11. Cards wear out – replace them frequently.
In practice, it takes an awful lot of use and and abuse and isn’t a practical concern for the vast majority of weekend photographers. A figure of 100,000 read/write cycles used to be bandied as Mean Time Before Failure (MTBF), but more modern cards measure their failure rates in millions of hours of continuous use. Higher end card manufacturers build into the card controller features that help with distributing the write cycles evenly across the card so that no one spot gets much more use than any other, a process known as wear leveling. But the very fact that wear leveling is built in is a good indicator that there is some wear and tear. I replace my cards every two years. Since it was a gradual build up of cards, I am typically replacing two or three cards every month – it helps distribute the cost over time as well.
One issue that I have run into with this is the push for larger and larger cards as they get faster and faster. Its getting hard to find a speedy small card 🙁 (to comply with rule #9)

Here are some common misconceptions about memory cards:
* If memory cards get dropped in water, the data will be lost forever!
This is not true. Because memory cards are made with solid state memory, it is not uncommon for them to go through the washer and dryer and still be useable. Knowing that a card has taken such abuse I would never keep using that card. But most likely your data will still be on the card and can be recovered.

* You must keep your cards in covers.
I use the ThinkTank Pixel PocketRockets to protect my cards and forgo the little snap cases that come with the cards. The one thing you have to make sure is that lint or dirt doesn’t get into the holes of a CF card. The pins will probably push the dirt to the back of the hole, and there is a bit of room back there, but repeated build-up could cause you to bend a pin in your card reader, or worse, your camera, and lead to an expensive repair.

* Going through airport X-Ray machines can damage your cards
Many people have asked me how they should travel with their memory cards, especially at airports. In the old days, the X-Ray machines could damage high speed speed film, but X-ray machines pose no threat to the solid state memory cards you own today.
To sum all this up…

After reading this blog post, I hope you have a better understanding of your memory cards and readers and appreciate them a little more. There is so much technology packed into these devices, but they are so small and unassuming that it is easy to take them for granted.

These are simple tips that could save you from a disastrous situation. I hope that these help all of you to keep your memory cards and images safe now and in the future.

In case you are wondering…here are the cards and readers I am currently using:

The Simonton-Hanosek-Mangum Team of Merrill Lynch photographed Tuesday, January 10, 2017 at the Athletic Club of Columbus.

 

The Simonton-Hanosek-Mangum Team of Merrill Lynch photographed Tuesday, January 10, 2017 at the Athletic Club of Columbus. (© James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366) The Simonton-Hanosek-Mangum Team of Merrill Lynch photographed Tuesday, January 10, 2017 at the Athletic Club of Columbus. (© James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366) The Simonton-Hanosek-Mangum Team of Merrill Lynch photographed Tuesday, January 10, 2017 at the Athletic Club of Columbus. (© James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366) The Simonton-Hanosek-Mangum Team of Merrill Lynch photographed Tuesday, January 10, 2017 at the Athletic Club of Columbus. (© James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366) The Simonton-Hanosek-Mangum Team of Merrill Lynch photographed Tuesday, January 10, 2017 at the Athletic Club of Columbus. (© James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366) The Simonton-Hanosek-Mangum Team of Merrill Lynch photographed Tuesday, January 10, 2017 at the Athletic Club of Columbus. (© James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

 

Merrill Lynch Wealth Management is a wealth management division of Bank of America. The firm is headquartered in New York City, and occupies the entire 34 stories of 250 Vesey Street, part of the Brookfield Place complex, in Manhattan. Merrill Lynch employs over 15,000 financial advisors and manages $2.2 trillion in client assets.

The firm has its origins in Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. which, prior to 2009, was publicly owned and traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol MER. Merrill Lynch & Co. agreed to be acquired by Bank of America on September 14, 2008, at the height of the 2008 Financial Crisis. The acquisition was completed in January 2009 and Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. was merged into Bank of America Corporation in October 2013, although certain Bank of America subsidiaries continue to carry the Merrill Lynch name, including the broker-dealer Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith.

You’ve seen his recent photographs in (614) Magazine.

For thirty years, James DeCamp has captured Columbus with his camera.

He’s seen our best and our worst.

“Columbus is always changing,” he said. “You can always find ‘new’ in the change.”

DeCamp was a photographer with The Columbus Dispatch for 12 years, but now has his own company, James DeCamp Photography.

“Each part of the city has a different story and history,” he told ABC6/FOX28. “It’s fun to see all that.”

The sizing of images for social media platforms is a constantly moving target, and while the below suggestions are current as of 8/1/2018, but it may change at any moment :-).

The need for strong social media presence will only increase in prominence in the future. This is why you really need to keep up to speed with your business / brand / personal profiles, and to optimize them with the right images to represent you!

The suggestions below explains what the best image sizes are for each social network and the image types to use. Most of the major social media platforms are listed here so you’re up-to-date with social media platform optimization.

These graphic displays offer specific dimensions and have some quick tips and insights to help you make your mind up on what photo to use on what social media platform.  Enjoy!

 


 

FACEBOOK

Cover Image: 820 x 310 pixels (a preferred maximum file size of 100 KB)
You can edit and add creative images as your cover photo that represents you or your business in the correct sense. Try to maintain a minimum size of about 399 x 150 pixels.

Profile Image: 180 x 180 pixels
Unlike the cover photo, which only appears on your Facebook page, your Facebook profile picture will be seen on your page, on posts where you comment, on the timelines of others where you post messages, in search results of

Shared Image: 1200 x 630 pixels
You can engage your friends or business followers in meaningful conversations by sharing useful images on your Facebook timeline. These will appear in the news feeds of your friends and followers. It will appear in feed at a max width of 470 pixels (will scale to a max of 1:1) and will appear on page at a max width of 504 pixels (again scaling to a max of 1:1).

Shared Link: 1200 x 627 pixels
Facebook will scale photos under the minimum dimensions. For better results, increase image resolution at the same scale as the minimum size.

Highlighted Image: 1200 x 717 pixels
While this will appear on your page at 843 x 504 pixels, choose a higher resolution at that scale for better quality.

Event Image: 1200 x 717 pixels
Facebook will scale down to minimum dimensions: 470 × 174 and will show in the feed as 470 × 174.

 

 

 

Social Media Image Sizing for Facebook

Social Media Image Sizing for Facebook

 


 

INSTAGRAM

Profile Image: 110 x 110 pixels
Photo Size: 1080 x 1080 pixels (Instagram will show it as a 612px x 612px image)
Photo Thumbnails: 161 x 161 pixels
Video To Stories: 750 x 1334 pixels
Portrait: 1080 x 1350 pixels (Instagram will show it as a 600px x 749px image)
Landscape: 1080 x 566 pixels (Instagram will show it as a 600px x 400px image)
For Instagram images, you need to maintain an aspect ratio of 1:1 to fill their square box format.  You CAN do portrait and landscape images by pinching the image in the app to make it smaller.

You need to take special care with the image quality because limited text content is shared on this platform. It is more about the pictures and visuals!

Social Media Image Sizing for Instagram

Social Media Image Sizing for Instagram

 


 

TWITTER

Profile Image: 400 x 400 pixels (a maximum 100 KB file size)
It is often said that the “first impression is the last impression”!
Your Twitter profile picture is your main identification mark that will be visible to everyone. It will be visible on your home page, on the Twitter stream of your followers whenever you Tweet and so on. Since it represents you or your brand, the image should be of the highest quality.

Header Image: 1500 x 500 pixels (a maximum 10 MB file size)
You can use an eye-catchy, creative image for your high-resolution header photo on your Twitter profile page. As a business, your Twitter page header photo should be in sync with your logo, tagline and brand.

In-stream Photos: 440 x 220 pixels (a maximum 5 MB file size for photos and 3 MB file size for animated gifs)

You can post up to four pictures along with your tweets on this platform. For every in-stream picture, an image link is created which takes up the Twitter character space. You simply need to maintain the 2:1 ratio of the images which can be reduced to a smaller version to effectively fit your follower’s stream.

Social Media Image Sizing for Twitter

Social Media Image Sizing for Twitter

 


 

LINKEDIN

Personal Background Image: 1584 x 396
Profile Image: 400 x 400 pixels (Recommend 1200×1200 to maintain best quality)

Brand / Company Background Image: 1584 x 768
Standard Logo: 400 x 400 pixels
Business Banner Image: 646 x 220 pixels (minimum)
Hero Image: 974 x 330 pixels
Square logo: 60 x 60 pixels

Banner images is one of the newest and most prominent of the images that you can use on LinkedIn. This image appears when a user visits your brand’s homepage. Since this image is located on your homepage it’s likely the visitor is actively searching for your brand, so use this opportunity to reel them in with a great image.

Social Media Image Sizing for LinkedIn

Social Media Image Sizing for LinkedIn

 


 

TUMBLR

Profile Image: 128 x 128 pixels
You can use a good looking square profile picture that visually represents you or your business on Tumblr. It will appear on your profile page, next to the button to “follow” you when someone lands on your page and as thumbnails next to your posts in your follower’s feeds.
Image Posts: 500 x 750 pixels
You can post images with up to 10 MB file sizes (except for animated gifs which should not be more than 1 MB). You can thus upload really high-quality pictures for your Tumblr posts.

Social Media Image Sizing for Tumblr

Social Media Image Sizing for Tumblr

 


 

PINTEREST

Profile Image: 165 x 165 pixels
A Pinterest profile picture may not be as important as that of Facebook or Twitter profile pictures. However, you still need to use a nice one. After all, anyone who arrives at your board or pins through the keyword search will probably have a look at your profile too.
Board Display Image: 222 x 150 pixels
Use eye-catchy images for posting on the relevant Pinterest boards.
Pin Sizes: a width of 238 pixels (with scaled height)
Though these are the dimensions for your Pinterest pins, expanded pins will have a minimum width of 600 pixels. You can post larger images (as only the width is fixed, while the length can be scaled further up) for better engagement and more re-pins or likes.

Social Media Image Sizing for Pinterest

Social Media Image Sizing for Pinterest

 


 

YOUTUBE

Channel Cover Image: 2560 x 1440 pixels (for desktop), 1855 x 423 pixels (for tablets), 1546 x 423 pixels (for smartphones), and 2560 x 1440 pixels (for TV)

The sizes are optimised for the different platforms as YouTube videos are often streamed using any of the above mentioned platforms. Also, the video channel cover image should tell your viewers more about the kind of videos that they will probably be able to view on your channel.

Channel Profile Image: 800 x 800 pixels (displays as 98px x 98px)

Video Uploads: 1280 x 760 pixels

Since YouTube is a video sharing site and not an image sharing one, you need to maintain this 16:9 aspect ratio for the videos that you upload.

Social Media Image Sizing for YouTube

Social Media Image Sizing for YouTube

 


 

GOOGLE+

Profile Image: 250 x 250 pixels
Again, this picture will be your identity across the Google+ network. Even though the dimensions are for a square image, your Google+ profile picture appears as a circle.
So, you need to take special care of how your image looks without the important parts being cut out.
Cover Image: 1080 x 608 pixels
You can use a large picture representing your brand, logo and business tagline as your Google+ cover image.
Shared Image 1: 497 x 373 pixels
You can share images on your Google+ posts and indicate the specific “circles” with whom you want to share the image and for whom it may be more relevant. Remember, such images (along with the associated text) are likely to turn up in the Google search engine for search queries related to your posts or business.
Shared Image 2: 150 x 150 pixels
Shared Video: 496 pixels wide
You can use a large picture representing your brand, logo and business tagline as your Google+ cover image.

Social Media Image Sizing for Google+

Social Media Image Sizing for Google+

 


 

ELLO

Banner image: 2560 x 1440 pixels
Profile image: 360 x 360 pixels

For this professional social networking platform, you should make sure that all your images are embedded with text to add more contexts. Make sure that you use creativity to showcase the most relevant things about your business and brand in the banner image as well as in your cover image.

It is bound to get you connected and engaged with more professionals. Even from a personal profile perspective, you can leverage the most out of this platform by having creative images to make professionals sit up and take notice.

Social Media Image Sizing for Ello

Social Media Image Sizing for Ello

 


 

SNAPCHAT

Geofilter: 1080 x 1920 pixels

All photos taken in the app are 1080 x 1920. Custom geo-filters must be created in this size to be applied properly on a photo taken within the app.

Social Media Image Sizing for SnapChat

Social Media Image Sizing for SnapChat

 


 

WEIBO

Cover Image: 920 x 300 pixels
Contest Preview: 640 x 640 pixels
Profile Image: 200 x 200 pixels (displays as 100 x 100 pixels)
Banner Image: 560 x 260 pixels
Instream Image: 120 x 120 pixels

Weibo is a popular, Twitter-like social media service with millions of users in China. With more than 600 million users and around 200 million monthly active users Weibo is still one of the most popular social media platforms in China. It is an important presence for companies, celebrities and individuals who want to be seen in China.
To register an official company Weibo account you will require a company registered in China or a distributor/representative with presence in China.

Social Media Image Sizing for Weibo

Social Media Image Sizing for Weibo

 


 

WE CHAT

Profile Image: 200 x 200 pixels
Article Preview Header Image: 900 x 500 pixels
Article Preview Header Thumbnail: 400 x 400 pixels (displays 200 x 200 pixels)
Article Inline Image: 400 x AnySize pixels (larger size recommended to maintain quality)

WeChat is a Chinese multi-purpose messaging, social media and mobile payment app developed by Tencent.

Social Media Image Sizing for WeChat

Social Media Image Sizing for WeChat

Graphics by the wonderful people at Make A Website Hub

Original post and a downloadable PDF of these graphics can be found HERE.

Photography credits:
Linkedin Profile Photo by Ben White on Unsplash
Linkedin Hero Photo by Alex Knight on Unsplash
YouTube Image Photo by Adam Whitlock on Unsplash
SnapChat Image by behance.com/juricakoletic
WeChat Image Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Ello Photo by Thomas Kelley on Unsplash
Tumblr Photo by Jared Sluyter on Unsplash