Need help for my hubbie

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Andy1962

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My name is Jane and I am Andy's wife, that's me in the picture. He knows I am on here, but not the reason why, and has promised me he wont come on till i say so. I have a problem. Andy has had a bit of a break down and suffers from PTSD due to looking after his ex wife who was disabled and time in the Grenadier Guards.He gets annoyed with himself as he cant remember technical things, or sometimes the most basic instructions compared to how he used to in the army.His memory is suffering and he has been looking around to find some sort of aide memoir, (army talk apparently), in pocket sized format, such as flash cards or similar that he can take out when photographing things., so as he can pull them out when he needs them. He used what he calls 'orders cards' when in the army and tbh he seems more at home in that kind of thing. The sort of thing that covers exposure settings for different subjects, such as birds in flight, macro and other things that just go over my head.

I have looked but have no idea as to what to get him. It would make a nice stocking filler and i know he would love them.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Jane x
 
Hi Jane,

I'm am afraid I cant offer much help as very new to this myself but I understand a lot of military stuff was done by numbers so we wouldn't forget, I say WE, because I am ex forces too, ex RAF. I'm 55 and I find it difficult to remember the tech stuff, its not an easy hobby to begin with at this time of our lives. The best aide memoir would perhaps be the one you construct together as you go long and then refer to it the next time. I'm keeping things simple by just doing motorsport's. Set everything to automatic and off I go but I'm sure next year I will be wanting to experiment a lot more, I've already decided I need to spend a silly amount of money on a new lens much to my wife's disgust. Good luck to you both and as an afterthought are there any photo type clubs that your husband could hook up with ? Maybe another veteran perhaps ?

Barry.
 
One of the monthy magazines - they all seem to have the same name, but it might be Digital Photography - comes with cards usually. Alternatively, a Google search on "photography flash cards" gives a number of options. Here's a review of one of them.
 
Not exactly to your point but my memory is not as good as it but I have a reputation among my equally elderly friends because I keep stuff (names etc, notes etc) on my iPhone/iPad* and it's a great help. Usually I remember something (might be partial address or dog,s name) and it's easy to search for that.

There may be a photography app like the cards you mention.

*No doubt Android phones do the same ;-)
 
If you download his camera's manual to in .pdf form (available free from the maker's website) to his smartphone, then when out on a photo shoot he can instantly search for the information he wants by using keywords in the search function, much easier and faster than trying to look up the index or contents list of the paper manual. The same goes for the .pdf form of any of books other helpful people write about how to operate a particular model of phone, the kind of informative manual it would have bee nice if the camera maker had written it.

Assuming of course he has a smartphone and can do that kind of ting on it?
 
Do any of these suggestions help?
 
Jane
is Andy linked in with any ex forces groups? I'm ex army (Kings Regt) not sure where you are in the UK, if in the North West I know of a few clubs that might be able to help,

I have some cards from the monthy magazines some were I'll have a look at the weekend which you can have
 
DemiLion said:
Photography aside, if he isn't registered with Combat Stress, drag his arse in there NOW. That level of short term memory loss is more than a bit concerning.
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He keeps in touch with rbl etc and finds thats best at the moment. But I will keep them in mind
 
Kingo46 said:
Jane
is Andy linked in with any ex forces groups? I'm ex army (Kings Regt) not sure where you are in the UK, if in the North West I know of a few clubs that might be able to help,

I have some cards from the monthy magazines some were I'll have a look at the weekend which you can have
Click to expand...
Thank you.
 
Terrywoodenpic said:
Do a search for "Photographic Cheat sheets" and a number of offerings come up such as
https://digital-photography-school.com/15-best-cheat-sheets-printables-infographics-photographers/
And
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/te...heat-sheet-every-photography-lover-needs.html
And
http://www.designyourway.net/blog/r...ricks-from-the-best-photography-cheat-sheets/

Depending on his problem he will probably find some more useful than others. so he may have to chooses his own favourites.
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Will have a look. Thank you.
 
chris malcolm said:
If you download his camera's manual to in .pdf form (available free from the maker's website) to his smartphone, then when out on a photo shoot he can instantly search for the information he wants by using keywords in the search function, much easier and faster than trying to look up the index or contents list of the paper manual. The same goes for the .pdf form of any of books other helpful people write about how to operate a particular model of phone, the kind of informative manual it would have bee nice if the camera maker had written it.

Assuming of course he has a smartphone and can do that kind of ting on it?
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He has and uses it a lot, so that might be a good idea. Might see if there are apps I can get. The more he uses things, like his phone, the easier it is for him to remember.
 
sphexx said:
Not exactly to your point but my memory is not as good as it but I have a reputation among my equally elderly friends because I keep stuff (names etc, notes etc) on my iPhone/iPad* and it's a great help. Usually I remember something (might be partial address or dog,s name) and it's easy to search for that.

There may be a photography app like the cards you mention.

*No doubt Android phones do the same ;-)
Click to expand...
Thank you.
 
He could make his own "flash cards" using the Notes app (iPhone). You get a list down the side which would be "birds in flight", "macro" etc using your examples, and the camera, lens, settings on each page.
There is also the Evernote app and Microsoft OneNote, both free,which can hold notes and pictures and so on. I think the Evernote app is a bit simpler and better for this purpose.
Evernote etc also synchronise with tablets and computers.
 
plenty of ex squaddies on here at 55 yr old he may just be having what is called a senior moment
an aide memoir is just a note book and pen just write down what you want to remember inside it
i carry one all the time in fact any good nco worth his salt always carry a notebook and pen
im ex REME
ROYAL ELECTRICAL MECHANICAL ENGINEERS
 
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I wish I could offer some advice/help but I simply do not have the knowledge or experience to offer any useful advice.

However I do know that a loving and supportive wife/partner is the best help that any man can have - and it looks like you are doing just that!

I wish you both all the best and I hope that, together, you can get things back on an even keel. All my best wishes.
 
I am an ex gunner. But even at 82 my memory is holding out for most things. My problem is reremembering things like peoples names. When I was still working I used to write down what people "did" with their name next to it, as I could always remember that. It would take me months to some times remember a new name in my department.
Notes written in a way that links to things you can remember helps no end.
 
Terrywoodenpic said:
I am an ex gunner. But even at 82 my memory is holding out for most things. My problem is reremembering things like peoples names. When I was still working I used to write down what people "did" with their name next to it, as I could always remember that. It would take me months to some times remember a new name in my department.
Notes written in a way that links to things you can remember helps no end.
Click to expand...
You're much older than me (I'm a youthful 81) but yes that what I do with my iPhone and "Contacts" app, adding things in the note section then they can be searched for.
 
sphexx said:
He could make his own "flash cards" using the Notes app (iPhone). You get a list down the side which would be "birds in flight", "macro" etc using your examples, and the camera, lens, settings on each page.
There is also the Evernote app and Microsoft OneNote, both free,which can hold notes and pictures and so on. I think the Evernote app is a bit simpler and better for this purpose.
Evernote etc also synchronise with tablets and computers.
Click to expand...


Evernote is a great shout as you can use it on a pc to make data entry easy and link it to the smartphone for reading.

Of course the other, lateral thinking suggestion, would be for Jane to go out with him and provide assistance if required. Get your own camera Jane, have a shared hobby :D
 
I’m only 33 but have terrible memory issues. I just go old school and carry a little notepad and pen with me everywhere.

Not so much now, but i used to have a notepad full of different scenarios for photography, with rough guides to settings, and also little notes to remember to change ISO if I’d been shooting in low light etc. It’s probably much easier to use a phone for such things now, but the notepad helps me immensely.

People names especially, even faces are a sore spot for me. At work I find the guy I need to deal with, but within a few minutes I’ve completely forgotten his name and what he looks like. Numerous times I’ve carried on a conversation with someone entirely different than who I started with cos I thought it was the same person. They often look mightily confused
 
If you cannot recognise faces at all (which I am not sure you are saying) it’s called Prosopagnosia, see here:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosopagnosia

It can be helpful to put photos to your contacts on your iPhone - presume also others.
 
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Hope this might help. There is a phone app called Photographer by giovesoft. I have it on my android phone but I am sure it will be available for IPhone. It has Various sections which are simple to select and one of them is 'How To' which gives you recommended camera settings for all common photographic senarios and a lot of other useful information like DoF, Long Exposure, Time Lapse, Print Size calculations....even people posing tips. The app is free but I think you can upgrade to a pro version for a fee.
 
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I got to thinking about the plastic rotary photo exposure calculator that was common in the 1959. Several plastic discs with cut outs so to dialled film speed time if year, cloudy and so on and it gave you shorter and aperture. There have been later cardboard versions given away by magazines I think and in fact I have one somewhere but they weren’t as good as the originals.
Anyway, long story short, I searched for photographer exposure calculator and found at least one iPhone & Android app called “Exposure Calcularor”:
http://www.essence-computing.co.uk/about-
99p and looks like it might do the same job.
 
I have a little cheat sheet called "John Shaws Pocket Field Guide" Covers film and digital, has a few basics like Sunny 16 rules/Composition?ND Grads etc, Comes laminated and measures about 3 inches by 2 inches..

I never use it, you are welcome to have it for your hubby ,just PM me your address.

John
 
thank you all very much for your help. I will look at all your suggestions and see what I come up with. Also thank you for all the concern regarding his health. His major problem is he is a bit stubborn amd too bllody proud :). As far as he is concerned there are others a lot worse off and they need help more than him.
 
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