diff --git a/src/org/forkalsrud/album/exif/DirectoryEntry.java b/src/org/forkalsrud/album/exif/DirectoryEntry.java
index b8e235a..3c4d38c 100644
--- a/src/org/forkalsrud/album/exif/DirectoryEntry.java
+++ b/src/org/forkalsrud/album/exif/DirectoryEntry.java
@@ -191,7 +191,12 @@ public class DirectoryEntry extends Entry {
 		SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyyMMdd-HHmmss");
 		NumberFormat nf = new DecimalFormat("0");
 
-		Metadata metadata = JpegMetadataReader.readMetadata(f);
+		Metadata metadata;
+		try {
+		    metadata = JpegMetadataReader.readMetadata(f);
+		} catch (Exception e) {
+		    throw new RuntimeException("problem reading file " + f.getPath(), e);
+		}
 		Directory exifDirectory = metadata.getDirectory(ExifDirectory.class);
 		if (exifDirectory.containsTag(ExifDirectory.TAG_ORIENTATION)) {
 			int orientation = exifDirectory.getInt(ExifDirectory.TAG_ORIENTATION);
diff --git a/src/org/forkalsrud/album/web/PictureScaler.java b/src/org/forkalsrud/album/web/PictureScaler.java
index 799b07d..d8a0bc0 100644
--- a/src/org/forkalsrud/album/web/PictureScaler.java
+++ b/src/org/forkalsrud/album/web/PictureScaler.java
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ public class PictureScaler {
 
     public PictureScaler() {
 		queue = new PriorityBlockingQueue<PictureRequest>(20, createPriorityComparator());
-		executor = Executors.newSingleThreadExecutor();
+		executor = Executors.newFixedThreadPool(4);
 		outstandingRequests = new HashMap<String, PictureRequest>();
     }