Robert Potter - Blog

I bought this wireless no PC Skype phone about a year ago, I’m quite happy about the sound quality it gives, but the battery is terrible as reported by many other users and it finally died about three months ago. So I went on the hunt for a new lithium rechargeable battery, it took me a long time in Google to find anyone selling a replacement battery which I thought was specially made for the WSKP100.  One place in the UK was selling the original replacement battery totally over priced once the P+P was included. I searched some more and then I found a thread on a forum with someone stating that the same battery is used in other electronic devices and the type is called a NP60.  The original battery has the specification 3.7v 1300mAh, as you might know it’s the voltage that should be the same when finding a replacement battery the current should be the same or more than the original. I couldn’t find a NP60 with the specs 3.7v 1300mAh on ebay.co.uk, but I did find a NP60 with the specs 3.7v 1400mAh via several Chinese sellers. One deal included two batteries, a USA wall charger which is also ok for use in Mexico and a car charger all for $18 USD inc P+P to the UK, bargain. It was exempt from import tax to the UK as the price was so low.  So if you have got one of these phones and a duff battery just do a search on ebay for "NP60 3.7v 1400mAh" and you’ll find several vendors in China selling them for a fair price.

Recently one of my 2GB Kingston Elite Pro cards wouldn’t initialize when I put in a Fujifilm S2 Pro camera, it came up with a read error. So I thought it’s no problem I’ll just reformat it in XP using FAT16 as the S2 can’t handle FAT32, but to my surprise no luck. I tried several times more but still the little bugger didn’t want to play.

Then I remembered that there are several other software programs out there which also let you format your CF cards, USB keys, etc. So after a quick look around on the net I found a free HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool, I quickly installed the program and reformatted the CF memory card. I then tested the card once again in the S2 Pro and it worked perfectly.  So don’t always trust your MS operating system when it comes to reformatting your memory cards or USB keys.

How many photos have you seen of friends or family looking so stiff they could be mistaken for a member of the armed forces on parade? Directing a photo shoot can be a tricky art when the participants are feeling super self conscious. I would guess to say over 50% of people having their picture taken by a professional photographer go super tense as soon as they are in front of the lens. There is one big exception to the rule and that’s the under 12 year olds, well at least when they aren’t throwing a tantrum. Good communication skills come in handy in these situations, some people have it naturally and the rest of us learn it the hard way bit by bit.

I always try to achieve that natural look when shooting people as the photos come out looking ten times better than the old school tin soldiers. I recently did a family group shot were the children were playing around so much it became difficult to get one shot where I could see all the faces at the same time with a decent expression.  I did take some good ones, but didn’t bag the shot I really wanted. I resorted to using image editing software to combine three photos into one. I’m happy with the end result which looks natural and you would have never guessed the picture had been doctored.

Original photo.

Version two with the mothers’s new smiling face added.

Final color version with youngest boy’s head changed.

Final B&W version.