Wildlife Photography across the Water: Lens Cleaning

Saturday, 26 September 2009

Lens Cleaning

Keeping the front element of your lens clean is very important if you want to get the best image quality from it, Its amazing how much dust and water droplets get on the lens even when you have a hood fitted, There are various methods that you can use but i do it the way i have for many years, I use lens cleaning fluid and lens tissues,These are available from all camera shops and are not expensive, First use a blower to get any 'big' loose pieces of debris off the lens, Then tear one piece of lens tissue out of the small 'book', Lightly scrunch the tissue and put 2 drops of the cleaning fluid on the tissue, Starting at the lens centre work out from the centre to the lens edge in an ever increasing circle, Once this is done quickly tear another tissue out and in the same fashion but dry, start at the centre and work out to the edges, You may need to use 2 dry tissues to get rid of all the fluid, You have to work quickly before the fluid dries, Once this is done the lens element should be as clean as new but now if you want you can breathe on the lens and polish it with a soft lens cloth-use this method for your lens elements,filters and extenders but NEVER put the drops directly into the lens element-always onto the tissue in case the fluid runs to the edge and somehow gets inside the lens-better safe than sorry

Dave

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Bio's

David Courtenay, a self taught wildlife and nature photographer, has been capturing images for over 30 years. He has had a passion for wildlife since early childhood and remembers being glued to the television whenever Survival, Wildlife on One and other natural history documentaries were shown. In the 2006 he swapped his established career for the life of a wildlife photographer, such a move demands a measure of uncompromising passion and commitment.

David has travelled extensively throughout Europe as well as spending more than 7 months in India working with local guides and trackers in search of Bengal Tiger, Asian One horned Rhino and Asian Elephant. He has also photographed Wildlife in Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Sumatra, Africa, Canada and America. Working closely with Conservation companies he tries to raise funds to help Wildlife that has been put on the endangered list by poaching and habitation loss

Martin Dyer has had a passion for avian wildlife since childhood, particularly raptors. Photography was also another keen interest and it was with the specific availability and control of the whole process that digital offers that Martin was then able to combine the two in 2003. Based in the UK, Martin is a regular visitor to Scotland, specifically the Isle of Mull to watch the Eagles resident there. Other trips to Europe and around the UK are usually part of Martin’s agenda in a typical year.

However, as a firm believer on making the most of the local patch, Martin has spent a lot of time and hard work creating a wildlife garden which is reaping the rewards with many new species and varieties of wildlife. A keen member of a number of wildlife photographic groups, Martin is keen to expand his portfolio into other areas of wildlife, and has already established a wide portfolio of images of fungi.