A Photography #Fail

The third time I took out my brand new Canon DSLR, I had a glitch. Not with the camera, at least I don’t think it was with the camera. I had a problem with the memory card… or at least that’s what I think happened.

After placing the SD memory card in a card reader (both of them new; they “came” with the camera from the vendor), I placed the reader in my relatively new laptop (bought last September), and I started to view the images. Upon attempting to copy them over, the SD card folder closed, I got a “cannot read” message, and the card itself could no longer be seen in my computer. I had to remove and reattach.

It was at this point where I discovered that all my images were gone. I only had the images that had copied over before the failure happened.

I did research, asked friends, begged God… and the images are gone.

I’ve been told (and found the recommendation online) that I should reformat the memory card inside the camera after each time I place it in the computer to download my pics and before I start a new photo session. There seems to be some disagreement between whether this is a good idea or not. I’m not sure who’s right.

What I do know is that I’ve been working with digital cameras for more than a decade, with different models and brands, and in all that time I’ve had maybe 5 or 6 instances where we had a problem either with the camera, the card or the reader.

I think I’d be more worried if I were a professional photographer. Maybe when I start to get more serious about this the issue will become more critical.

Today I’m just upset that I lost more than half a work event and the entire birthday party at the zoo with my nephew.