Camera Dust X-Ray Vision

For all of the great benefits that being a photographer in the digital-era provides, there are a few soul-draining aspects to digital that most photographers dread. One of which is dust. Dust always seems to creep up long after you thought you had cleaned your camera sensor and cloned each of them out of the file.

For me, I have a hard time seeing dust against a sky. There are two techniques that I use to see dust on my files. The first technique involves moving the image around the screen at 100% magnification. This technique makes an illustion of any dark spots will be moving while the sky stays stationary for the most part. I then clone each speck of dust as I notice them moving around the screen.

Another technique I use in conjunction with the above technique is to slide the Levels layer mid-tone slider way over to the right resulting in a gross underexposure. What this will do is create enough contrast on a solid color area such as the sky, to a point where the black dust spots will show up against the sky. See the two examples below if my 1:30 a.m. writing is too incoherent to comprehend.

Picture: Digital Camera Sensor Dust

Photo: Darken mid-tones to see digital camera dust easier

Dust doesn't show up on areas that have a lot of texture but landscape photography is the biggest offender when it comes to showing dust in the files. The best solution would probably be to do a thorough sensor cleaning job before the shoot and not to change lenses until you can clean the sensor again. Now if only Canon would offer weather-sealing on all of their cameras!