Photo Tip: Protect your camera with a camera bag

The most practical tip I can give is something many people don't think about. Protect your camera! There is no better way to do this than putting your camera into a camera bag. It will help protect your camera from being bumped, dropped, or even scratched with keys and coins while inside your pocket or your purse.

I personally use the Tamrac 5375 Photo Backpack. It is rugged, padded, and has plenty of storage for two cameras, a flash, and four lenses. I can also pack it with two spare camera batteries, eight spare flash batteries, several memory cards, and a bunch of odds and ends.

But most of you have just a point-and-shoot camera and don't need all of that room and versatility. While my bag cost over $100, a small camera bag for a point-and-shoot should cost only $10 to $20 and there are a wide variety from which to choose.

One word of caution, however. Camera bags have a tendency to announce to potential thieves that you are carrying a camera, especially if the bag has something like Canon or Nikon printed on it (like many do). Be extra careful and don't leave your camera bag unattended.

But you can use something else to put your point-and-shoot cameras in. I suggest a baby bottle bag! Something like one of these will do wonderfully:
  
In a baby bottle bag you have plenty of room for a camera, spare batteries, and an extra memory card. You will also have enough room for something like a lens cloth and cleaning solution or a bean bag (which makes a great improvised camera stand). Best of all, because the bag says something other than Canon or Nikon, who would want to take it? No one wants to steal a baby's bottle!

Photo Tip: Protect your camera gear from high-humidity

Today I ran into a common problem which can not only ruin your photos, but also ruin your sensitive camera equipment. It was very humid when I got to the park this morning. What's wrong with that? Well, when you pull your camera from your dry, air-conditioned car into a moist, humid environment it will cause water to condense around and inside your camera.

When this happens, if you look through your camera's eyepiece, it will look like your camera is filled with fog. All of your photos will be affected until the condensation evaporates.

Worst yet, the condensation may also form on the electronic circuits inside your camera, which may damage it. And there is no worse feeling for a photographer than to have your camera break on you. I have had a camera break on me twice, and I don't ever want it to happen again!

So how do you prevent the condensation? The easiest way is to keep your camera in its closed bag and let it naturally adjust to the humidity. The warmer, moister air will seep through the bag slowly and the camera will adjust naturally over the next 30 minutes to an hour.

But what if you don't have that long? As a freelancer, I often find myself without that much time, showing up to a location and having to take pictures soon afterwards. Under these circumstances, I unzip my bag partially, but don't open it up. In other words, I make it a little easier for the humid air to get inside and the adjustment to take place.

Usually after 10 or 15 minutes I will take my camera out. If there is no condensation on the lens, then I will turn it on try using it. But if there is condensation, then I wait for it to disappear before turning on the camera. Wiping it off my help the outside of your lens, but doesn't do anything for what may be inside.

What if you don't have camera bag to keep your gear in? For most of you I expect this will be the case. I suggest you wrap your camera with a shirt or a towel, or put it in a purse, handbag, or duffel bag instead before heading out into the humid air. Then follow the same steps as before.

Take care to use these same procedures when going from the moist, humid outdoors into a cool, dry house or building.

Cold weather can also cause problems, especially when going from temperatures below freezing into a warm house, and vice versa. Be sure to follow these same instructions, and be prepared to wait longer before pulling your camera out. The more extreme the different temperatures are the longer your camera will take to adjust.