Stock Photographer » Blog Archive » 5 things to do while your battery is charging

Unfortunately, modern cameras and accessories such as flash guns all need power, and power comes from batteries. Most people will be using rechargeable batteries so I was wondering what I could do while my batteries were charging. Can I find something productive to do to use up the time, or is the washing up, or some other domestic job going to use up that all important charging time.

Read on to find out the 5 things I found to do while my batteries were charging.

#1 – Well, the obvious one, which I am doing now, is to update my websites.

I run three blogs, two of them are photography related and I also run a forum for Sony and Konica Minolta DSLR cameras. Websites always need a little attention so now is as good a time as any.

#2 – Educate myself.

I’m not talking about going to school, but I need to learn how to use my recently purchased Flash gun, so it’s time to dig out the manual and make sure I know what all the buttons do. Actually finding the manual is going to use up some battery charging time, so that’s good! Of course, using the flash requires batteries, so for now it’s just reading, the actual flashing begins once the batteries are charged.

#3 – Check out some of my favourite photography web sites.

There are lots of photographers that I look up to and am in awe of. So I always check there latest images out and pretty much always think… I wish I was that good. So here are a few of my favs:

Lord V – Well, he isn’t a lord, but he has God like status (IMO) when it comes to macro photography. He shows his images on my favourite photo sharing site, Flickr, and his work is just amazing. Well worth a look.

Strobist – This isn’t the work of one particular photographer, but a group of people who believe that off camera lighting doesn’t have to cost the earth. There are some truly talented photographers submitting work here via the Strobist Flickr group. There are also lots of tips for achieving great lighting, so it’s something I am reading a lot of at the moment.

Dave Hill – This is a marmite photographer, meaning that you’ll either love his style or hate it. Personally, I love it. Some really great images with amazing lighting. Always good to use up battery charging time.

#4 – Work on some images.

If I’ve managed to take a few pictures, I will use the charging time to process the better ones using Adobe Lightroom. I am a recent convert to Lightroom and really like what it can do and how simple it makes things. For a stock photographer building up an image library it is a must have tool in my opinion as it not only does the development bit, it also catalogues and organises your images.

5# – Plan your next photography outing.

I don’t get out taking photographers as much as I’d like to as my day (and night) job as a freelance web developer gets in the way. If you do get some time though, plan a trip to increase to your photo catalogue. I live on the doorstep of the Peak District and hope to do several trips over the next month or two to try my hand at some landscapes, but also, if I’m lucky, some wildlife. This time of year isn’t the best for wildlife, but I thought I’d see what I can find. So planning a trip will involve the location, but also finding out what wildlife might be about, when and where are the best times and places to see it, and also where the nearest cafe is to get a cup of tea to warm me up afterwards as it’s getting bloody cold!

So there you go. 5 things to do while your batteries are charging.

What do you do while your batteries are charging? Let me know.

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