Today’s #wheelsweddnesday post is abut batteries. Not a battery for your car, that’s a topic for another day and certainly something to keep in mind during this chilly time of year. But today’s post is about batteries for your camera, flash, meters and other photographic applications.
Today’s Post by Joe Farace
Shutting off the thought process is not rejuvenating; the mind is like a car battery – it recharges by running.—Bill Watterson\
Batteries are a necessary part of every photographer’s life but storing them in blister packs takes up lots of space in your camera bag. Taking them out of the packs and letting them bang around into one another in your bag is an even worse idea because it’s a recipe for disaster. The Electrical Safety Foundation International warns that loose batteries in a camera bag or pouch especially with any other loose items can short circuit possibly resulting in venting or explosion. Yikes.
How I Made this Photograph: I Photographed this C8 Corvette Grand Sport at Cars & Coffee in Coffee in Parker, Colorado using a Nikon D810 with an AF-S NIKKOR 105mm f/1.4E ED lens. The exposure was 1/320 sec at f/9 and ISO 320 with a plus two-thirds stop exposure compensation, but I should have done it the other way around with a minus two-thirds stop to control the contrast and car color.
Some Tips About Your Batteries
Here’s a few more safety tips about battery care from the Electrical Safety Foundation International:
- Periodically check battery contacts for cleanliness
- When the positive (+) and negative (-) terminals of a battery are in contact with each other, the battery can become short circuited. Don’t do this.
- Do not expose batteries to excessive heat.
- Do not crush, puncture or damage batteries.
- Do not charge non-rechargeable batteries. Duh!
- Keep batteries out of reach of small children. The little tikes like to put everything in their mouths.
Sp what’s a photographer to do with all these loose batteries? One solution I’ve found is to store them in Lightware Direct’s battery caddies. They are not just a perfect answer to battery storage but they’re affordable as well.
These handy caddies let you organize, store, protect and carry your batteries in the safest possible way. The caddies protect the ends of the batteries from damage and batteries can be taken out of the carrier with one hand making it easy to use when you are in a hurry to get the next shot. Each caddy is compact, protects the batteries and better yet is easy to get a single battery out when you only need one. Originally designed for pilots, I’ll bet photographers, especially anybody using speedlights, will find them an invaluable storage solution.
The Lightware Direct battery caddies are available for AA or AAA batteries in three different configurations. The 12-pack AA version only costs $6.95. The six-pack AAA version* is $4.95 as is the four-pack AA version for those who want to keep their batteries in speedlight-sized modules. Check’em out!
*The AAA caddy is also perfect for LEGO train battery packs.
If you enjoyed today’s blog post and would like to buy Joe a cup of Earl Grey tea ($3.50), click here. And if you do, thank so very much.