I had a GREAT wedding yesterday.....really fun couple, incredibly fun reception....the works. Long day (I left at 8 am and got back home at 11:30 pm ) but I felt really good about what I had shot.

Here's the problem (and it's a big one!)....

I uploaded all the images today and discovered that most of the images I was excited about are COVERED with black specks. I've had dust here and there before and, although it was a pain, it was easily fixed and not a major issue. But these are a MESS! The only thing that I can think of that may have happened is that I must have gotten a light spattering of snow on the lens during this part of the day. We literally trudged through the snow (up to my knees at some points!) and did photos on the ski slope, etc.... It was a blast but, unfortunately, I think it's the reason I have this issue to deal with.

I'm really hoping that some of you digital wizards can give me some advice. Is there any type of easier fix to this problem than cloning all the spots out? These are really bad but they are great shots and ones that I know they'll be looking for.

I'm soooo disappointed! Any advice at all would be very much appreciated!

Thanks so much!

Stacey

Stacey,

I'm SOOOO sorry this happened to you!! Ugh . . . it seems like you have a pretty (or, rather, not-so-pretty) big mess on your hands. Would you be able to post a few examples so that we can see exactly what you are talking about?

Sure....if I can figure out how to attach an image!
Here's one (if it works anyway!)

Oops. Better work on posting an image!

What dimensions should I make it? (I know it says the maximum size in bytes but it may as well be written in Arabic! I can understand how many pixels or inches at a certain dpi but have no idea how it translates into bytes)

Wow....I'm really showing my digital shortcomings aren't I!?

In photoshop make a new doc that's no bigger than 640 x 480 and size your picture into that then do the save for web command in photoshop and use the quality control to make it no bigger than about 60k. That's what i do. Then just attach it.

So sorry this happened!!!

It may not be snow....You may try cleaning your sensor off. Use one of those little air puff things while your shutter is open. (just take a picture with like a 10 second shutter speed with no lense on.) That might help prevent this from happening in the future....

Here's another try at it.......

Yay! It worked! (But now I feel even more sick to my stomach....look at that mess!)

Here's another example....

Thanks for the help in posting the images!

I initially thought it may be dust on the sensor as well but it doesn't show up on all the photos. It's pretty much just on the outside ones.....you know....the most important ones. Ugh.

I am just sick about this. I really hope that something can be done. Even if I have to hire someone to do it. This happened on some of the outside bridal party shots too.

Alright Stacey,

It certainly looks like a crapped-up sensor to me. Somebody please correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that one of the reasons it doesn't show up in every single shot is because (1) darker colors and (2) wider apertures will normally hide some sensor dust.

The only way I know how to get rid of those marks are to process each shot manually in PS. One (good?) thing you have going for you is that each spot should be in the same place in every photo. I'm not sure how you would use that to your advantage, however.

I would recommend (not that you need this recommendation any more), that you test your sensor's cleanliness before each job and clean it as needed. I wouldn't suggest touching anything directly on your sensor unless there is no other way!

I am curious to see if anyone can offer you a simple solution and I hope you get this resolved. Again, I am sorry this happened to you . . . it is a problem that I wouldn't wish on any photographer.

::Brian

QUOTE (Musicmanchris @ Mar 20 2005, 05:41 PM)

In photoshop make a new doc that's no bigger than 640 x 480 and size your picture into that then do the save for web command in photoshop and use the quality control to make it no bigger than about 60k. ....

Chris.. I swear I must ride the short bus.. I cant get it to work to post an image.

And Stacey I'm so sorry this happened to you.. How stressfull!
I think I would try to clone it to fix the images. I have no clue if that is the correct answer but it would be my first guess.

Let us know how this works out for you!

L.

Yep....definitely the sensor. After looking through more and reading Brian's post about wider apertures/darker colors it is obvious that is the problem. I normally shoot just about everything wide open but it was so bright outside that I couldn't. Those are the images with the problem. If there is a silver lining in all this it's the fact that I went back to my normal way of shooting once we hit the reception and opened things up again.

I'm taking the camera in today to be cleaned. I may take all my lenses as well. I have some time before wedding season hits here. It was actually pretty unusual for me to have weddings in March. (Especially with the season we've had this year....over 100 inches of snow!!)

I do have one more question. Just when I thought it couldn't get much worse, my cloning tool won't work! I can get it to work on my old version of PS (PS6) but not on PS7. I'm planning on picking up the CS upgrade today.
What I don't understand is what the difference is between the cloning tool and the bandaid.

In case it isn't glaringly obvious......I am far from being competent with PS! I've been shooting some digital over the past year but the majority of my work has been with film. This year I'm trying to make the break. The last 2 weddings I've shot 100% digital! I'm hoping to continue with that but will still shoot most of my portrait sessions with film. I can't ditch it completely and I like the workflow I have with that better. I just can't give up my black and white fiber prints of kids!!

Thanks again for your advice. I belong to a couple of different forums (probably too many!) and try to check in as often as I can. I can't put my finger on it yet but this one makes me feel 'safe'. When I discovered my problem with the images this was the first (and only) place I turned to.

Thank you.

(Here's one of the images that doesn't have a dust problem! Can you believe this is the dj/entertainer for the wedding!? I told you it was a FUN wedding!)

Stacey ---

That DJ is hilarious!!! Looks like a Spinal Tap reject!

Glad you figured out the problem with the dirty sensor. It's a good idea to have you sutff cleaned now while you have the time rather than in the thick of wedding season.

And I know that when I do switch to digital (in the next month or so) I know I still will shoot some film. I so still enjoy doing cross processing with Kodak E100VS for my artistic & fashion work.

And as far as the difference between the cloning tool and the bandaid, I have no clue! I'm still working on version 5 if you can believe it!

--- Gregg