Photography 101

A Beginner’s Guide to
Flash Photography
Power Management of Your Flash
(Part 45)

The penlight battery has always been the source of reliable power by mobile photographers who rely upon their flash to take pictures at any time. Indeed, the time-proven NiCad and the newer NiMH rechargeable batteries had already become an important part of photographers’ life. And for this reason, it is normal for a practicing photographer to own a few of “set of four” batteries for his portable flash.

Benjamin Rivera

Unfortunately even as he calls it a “set of four,” in reality after arriving from a job appointment, his batteries are but a mixed of discharged, partly discharged, and in extreme case, unused fully charged batteries being dumped together inside his camera bag compartment.

What follows next is to charge the battereis to ensure that they are fully charged for the next appointment.

Then what happens to the fully charged units which maybe still have 80% power when recharged altogether with the fully discharged ones? They are murdered! Yes. Batteries don’t always die by natural death. It is said that 70% of the batteries’ demise is caused by overcharging.

It is therefore of paramount importance that a photographer must organize his handling and management of his batteries. And among the cherished rewards would be his capability to project his firepower and of course, extended battery life. For that matter, the photographer may need what follows next.

Multi-Tester

If you can’t find a battery tester (like in Photo A), this gadget should suit as an alternative. It is sold at around Php 150 in pushcart vendors along Raon St. in Quiapo. For the not-technically-oriented person, the use of this testing instrument (Photo B) could be tricky. But are you to believe that an aspiring photographer would be intimidated by this? Learning to use a multi-tester is much simpler than learning digital photography itself. For starter, refer to Table 1.

Storing your batteries

After each use, recharge batteries and store them in full-charged condition. It will reduce your mobilization time when encountering short notice job appointments. Take note that fully charged batteries do self-discharge at a rate depending on temperature. My research with some manufacturers’ literature hinted the following:

• At average room temperature (about 70 degrees F), a fully charged NiCad or NiMH battery will have its self-discharge rate of at least 1% (or more) per day.

• At freezing temperature (inside a freezer), a NiCad or NiMH battery will comfortably retain its full-charged condition for many days. Experimenters say that at least 90% of the battery’s stored energy is still retained after 30 days of storage in a freezer.

• If you store your fully charged batteries in the freezer, wrap it securely with a plastic bag so that no moisture gets in contact with the battery. Allow certain time for the battery to stabilize at room temperature before use.

• Store your battery in set of four as sorted by its identical power levels.