Last month while my human was neglecting me she was also neglecting her novel (no wonder she failed) and decided to snap some shots in a nearby park. After work, instead of feeding me she grabbed her point & shoot and headed out to take pictures of a partially demolished building. Did she see the gray skies? Yes. Did she bring a camera cover? No. She doesn’t even have one unless you want to count a sandwich baggy.
She wandered down the walkway grinning like a loon & scaring others walkers, asking if she could take their picture. It started to drizzle but she felt nothing. It started to spray but she focused on the construction cranes. It started to pour and she hung out in the gazebo. Now up until this point while she was still stupid she hadn’t breached the threshold of dimwit. Don’t worry she’s about to go there.
After taking an exorbitant amount of shots inside the gazebo she decided to walk back to her car. If she had just put her camera away then I would not have had to listen to her moan, groan & outright go Nancy Kerrigan.
People, don’t take pictures in the pouring rain unless you protect that camera, especially if it is digital. All those little buttons work because of electricity & it doesn’t get along well with water. She recorded her walk back, why? I don’t think even she could tell us the answer & when she got back into her car scrubs soaked through she noticed that something wasn’t quite right.
This is when she reached dimwit status & learned a valuable lesson. If your digital camera gets wet, never, never, never try to use it. And don’t sit there taking pictures with the flash trying to see if it will start working. After a Google search and talking to friends who like their camera she found out these valuable steps.
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Don’t take anymore pictures.
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Take the battery out & open all doors.
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Try to pat dry as much as possible.
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Some say use a hair dryer on low heat & not directly on camera. But others sat NO WAY! My human decided to opt out..a smart move in her case.
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Let it dry out for 3-7 days, some say even more.
If you can leave it alone that long. After unknowingly breaking almost every rule my human decided to give it a shot. Six days later before running out the door for a trolley tour ( I know how lame right) she popped the battery back in and tried it out. No zoom or menu capabilities but it could take pictures. Devastated but determined she took it and played the tourist in Boston for the day. Two interesting things happened that day:
She realized that her battery lasted way longer when she wasn’t zooming like crazy.
About three hours in everything went back to normal.
Now she understands that it was truly amazing for it to fix itself and she is very fortunate & the money she was willing to spend on upgrading to a DSLR should now go to me instead.
Looking for helpful articles on water damage and digital cameras?
Here are a few my human read in desperation.
How to Dry a Digital Camera from eHow
7 Digital Camera Predators and How to Keep them at Bay from DPS
And you guessed it one it water
Rice Can Salvage Your Wet Digital Camera
Never heard of this one but wonder what the rice would taste like afterwards…
What happens when a digital camera gets wet?
A lovely personal story to learn from…
HP offers a few smart wet weather photography tips
Do you have any reckless camera stories you’d like to share?
Add it below, it might make my human feel better.
If you’d like to see more pictures from the full day look here on Flickr.
Related posts:
I have done this countless times. I took what I thought were amazing pictures of snowfall, only to find huge blotches on the pictures (snowflakes on the lens). Good news though…I got a new camera for Xmas, which I’m still trying to figure it out, but…IT’S SO EXCITING!
Photoproject still in mind. Just have to figure out a few more things. H
That’s sweet! You’ll be a pro with your new camera in no time.
Thanks for making me feel better, I hate when you take pictures that you think are brilliant and then once they’re uploaded you’re disappointed.
Sounds great about the photo project
Take care!
CMcKane´s last blog ..Word of the Week: Quibbleism
To make you feel better I left batteries in my mini polaroid camera and the batteries leaked and corroded my camera..Boo hoo…it still kinda sort of works, well when it wants to.
So a tip..don’t leave batteries in your camera if you’re not using it.:P