User Error

I-D-10-T is apparently an IT (information technology) acronym used to describe a “user error.”  Look closely… and it says “idiot”.   Well, if the shoe fits…

This is how I started the weekend, protecting my gear and hoping not to get run over.  Photo by, fellow photog, Ann Ciliberto.

I had one of those days . . . actually weekends . . . with my camera where I just could not get it right ….let’s just say it was a weekend of I-D-10-T errors.

Day 1:  The 5K race photos.  After a long, wet, and chilly morning, a cup of hot cider and a nap, I uploaded my very gray & rainy day race pictures.  Ugg, they all had a blue tint    I was struggling with my flash a bit, so figured it was that…  Good thing I shoot in raw and have Lightroom to help save the day.

now just a little gray

Day 2:  A very different day, sunny and bright, another perfect fall day!  Took a drive, found a pumpkin patch and even better a beautiful flower patch.  I had a little difficulty in the super-bright conditions seeing my display, so I never thought about the previous days dreaded blue-cast.  Not long before heading home, asking for just 15 more minutes in the flower patch with my camera, I a) finally noticed the blue color cast was still there  … can’t blame the flash now, time to check the settings.  Who changed my white balance to bulb!?! and b) I also realized that I had not checked my ISO setting from the very dark dingy gloomy day before.   Settings changed, the last few photos saved . . . right?  Wrong!

Somewhere along the way, no idea when or where, I somehow managed to change the quality setting from Raw to Basic.  Not discovered until I was tweaking the white balance in LR (to get rid of that dreaded blue tint) and all of a sudden the WB options vanished.  What? Why?  Then, there it was . . . a jpg file.

Now that’s blue! jpg with blue colorcast.

even with a little help from LR — can’t seem to get it right.

I guess we all need to be reminded from time-to-time of some of the basics; and there’s nothing like an I-D-10-T error(s) to do just that:

So to avoid silly mistakes like mine → Remember this:

1. Check your equipment & all your settings before you head out.
2. Shoot in raw if given the option, or your post-processing adjustments become a bit limited.
3. And the biggie for me . . . take your time. A couple exceptional photos are better than a whole afternoon of mistakes.   Feeling rushed and hurried, for me, always, always causes an I-D-10-T. . .  oh, lets just say it, idiot user error.  So keep the family waiting a little longer ~ It was a beautiful fall day and besides. . . I drove 😉

Not a total loss (even in jpg) once I corrected the other settings, turns out this was my favorite photo of the day 🙂

til next time,
Maria