# Splotch on image



## nonac (Mar 21, 2017)

What caused this dark spot on the blue padding behind the batter. This is a cropped image and at first I thought it was dust on the sensor. However, I had the same splotches on images shot within minutes of each other with the same lens, but a different body. Examining the lens, I found nothing. So, I was just comparing the image I had downloaded into Lightroom to that on the card, as displayed on the camera LCD. The splotch does not exist on the image on the camera lcd read straight from the card. Did these images corrupt somehow when they downloaded to my laptop?


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Mar 21, 2017)

The Image you see on your camera LCD is not the same raw image that you download, its a jpeg embedded in the raw file.

So, yes, its possible for the raw image to be corrupted, and the jpeg be fine.

You used two cameras, did you use the came memory card in each? Did you check the rear of the lens carefully? Thats the major area where a bit of lint or a tiny bug will show up. If its recessed, try to blow it out gently or use a cleaning cloth just to be sure.

It seems very unlikely that a memory card would be corrupted so that it shows a spot like that consistently, its almost certainly a lens issue.


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## Valvebounce (Mar 21, 2017)

Hi nonac. 
Just to add to what Mt Spokane said, most software makes at least some changes on import before you add any changes this might make something indiscernible on a tiny camera screen much more obvious on the much larger monitor. 
I second the check the rear of the lens, even small dust on the rear element stands more chance of showing up than a smashed up front element. 

Cheers, Graham.


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## Mikehit (Mar 21, 2017)

If it is a corruption during download I would be surprised if the blotch was the same size in the same place every time.

The best way to check is to take a photograph of a uniform colour (blue sky is the most commonly quoted) at different apertures. Then try it with different lenses to see if it is the lens or the sensor.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Mar 21, 2017)

Mikehit said:


> If it is a corruption during download I would be surprised if the blotch was the same size in the same place every time.
> 
> The best way to check is to take a photograph of a uniform colour (blue sky is the most commonly quoted) at different apertures. Then try it with different lenses to see if it is the lens or the sensor.



He saw the spot on two different cameras, so having the same spot on two different cameras seems remote, but not impossible.

I recall one person who spent a long time trying to track down a similar issue. Turned out that there was a very tiny bug inside his lens which sometimes ventured or vibrated into a area that showed on photos, but also moved to where he could not be seen. A miniscule egg must have been sucked into the lens and then hatched. It was already dead when discovered.


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## zim (Mar 21, 2017)

Man, that guy looks like his leg is broken!


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## nonac (Mar 21, 2017)

"You used two cameras, did you use the came memory card in each? Did you check the rear of the lens carefully? Thats the major area where a bit of lint or a tiny bug will show up. If its recessed, try to blow it out gently or use a cleaning cloth just to be sure."


Thanks all. Sorry for the late reply, I was too busy this morning to check in. Yes, different memory cards. So it is either the lens or something happening upon transfer. I'll take a look at the lens again when I get home in a couple hours and report back. I was using a 300 f/2.8 II. Are they prone to getting much dust inside? 

I shot about 300 pictures at this game and I would guess that only 20-25 of them had this artifact show up on the image.


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## nonac (Mar 21, 2017)

Ok, I found the problem, but I have no idea what caused it. I got home and examined the lens again very closely, I did find one small dust particle on the inside of the rear element near the edge. Took several different shots trying to see if it was the problem and it was not, wasn't even noticeable.

So, I went back into Lightroom and I was looking at the image which is a raw file (I shoot raw to one card and jpeg to the other as a backup). Of course when they go into Lightroom I tweak them and make adjustments as needed, I don't have a specific preset I use for baseball. I generally start with one image and adjust it too my liking and then sync those settings to every other picture and use that as a starting point. Just for the heck of it, I reset this image. The blotch went away. I returned to the previous settings and went through every adjustment I had made one by one resetting them to the default setting and the blotch never went away, only when I did a complete reset of the image. I Reapplied settings after the reset and the splotch never came back. I have no clue why this happened, but it was Lightroom, not the camera, the lens, the card, etc. I reset a couple of the other images and no splotch. And as noted in my last e-mail, all of these images did not have a splotch, only some of them, and they were all synced the same. I don't know why, but at least I figured it out and I am relieved it's not something major.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Mar 21, 2017)

If you used the brush or one of the retouch tools, its possible to put a spot like that on a image, then copy it to the others. It might have merely been a accident.

I was incorrectly assuming that the spot was on the images as downloaded, and before any editing was done. I'm glad you figured it out, it will probably never happen again.


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## chauncey (Mar 21, 2017)

If your referring to the dark blue area between the batter's right shoulder and the edge of the frame...
It's the batter's shadow.


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