Today is #anythingcanhappenday on this Blog. Lately, I’ve increased the number portrait-related posts on this blog and based on the number of page views, people seem to be enjoying them. This is a genre I’m passionate about and was the subject of my most recent books.
Today’s Post by Joe Farace
“If you take care of your camera equipment, it will take care of you.”—Joe Farace
When it comes to taking care of your camera equipment, I believe that there are basically two kinds of photographers: The first group are photographic Oscar Madisons whose idea of cleaning their equipment is licking the front element of a lens and wiping it off with a pulled-out shirttail. The opposite extreme is the Felix Unger-types whose gear looks as if they never use it. There is no wear on their camera bodies, no dust would ever land on their lenses and these shooters never leave the house without a full supply of cleaning supplies. My friend Bary Staver thinks there is a third type and I’m guessing that’s where most us fall between these two extremes. Although I’ll confess to more than a few Unger-like impulses about caring for my photo equipment but the older I get this compulsion seems to be fading…at least I think so.
How I Made this Shot: How I Made this Shot: I photographed this young model next to the La Mina Falls in Puerto Rico’s El Yunque rain forest. The camera used was an Olympus E-3 DSLR that was part of their original Four-Thirds system, not the Micro Four-thirds mirrorless system that replaced it. The lens used was a 12-60mm f/2.8-4 (at 24mm) with an exposure of 1/100 sec at f/6.3 and ISO 400. Two Olympus speedlights were used for supplemental lighting. Image was cropped into 3:2 ratio in Photoshop after applying Color Efex’s Remove Color Cast and Glamour Glow filters.
Keeping Your Equipment Clean
Whether you’re shooting in a rain forest in Puerto Rico or just photographing your children in the back yard, having a LensPen in your camera bag or pocket can be a life saver. I’ve been using LensPen products for a long time, for almost all of the more than thirty years they’ve been in production.
Here’s a true story: A few years ago while participating in a press trip to California, the sponsoring company took us to Mission San Antonio de Padua for a PhotoWalk. When one of the attendees, saw me using a LensPen he asked if he could borrow it to clean his lens. Before long almost everyone in our group had borrowed it to clean their lenses. Good thing a LensPen can be used for more than 500 cleanings.
Of all of the cleaning tools I’ve ever used, my Number One choice is the LensPen Black Series. It measures 4.33-inches long (11cm) and has a a round cleaning tip measuring 12mm in diameter. The cleaning tip is slightly concave to match the slightly convex shape of a lens. Most importantly, it uses the company’s proprietary carbon cleaning technology and is a quick, effective and safe way to remove grease and fingerprints from cameras, binoculars and other optics.
All LensPen products clean using a simple two-step process that features a retractable natural brush that you can use to lightly brush off any loose dust particles before using the soft cleaning tip at the other end to finish the job. LensPen’s molecular carbon-cleaning technology safely and effectively removes grease and fingerprints from lenses, eyepieces and filters. LensPen is trusted by NASA, Nikon and other premium optics manufacturers.
One a personal note: Yes, LensPen is a sponsor of this and my other blog and I’ve been using their products long before this website was ever launched, starting back when I was shooting with Nikon film cameras. They are a sponsor because I like, use and believe in their products.