Caring for your Camera Gear

Caring for Your Camera Gear

On Boats

by David H. Lyman

Published in Caribbean Compass, July 2021

We all have a camera, if not two or three. We use then to document our travels, family and personal events, sunsets, pets and wine bottle labels.

I’ve made my living as a photojournalist, someone who tells stories with pictures and words, so cameras are a part of my life. I even started a school for photographers years ago, not because I had anything to teach, but precisely because I had a lot to learn. I invited the best, most creative photographers working at the time to come to Maine for a week to lead a master class. For nearly 50 years, The Maine Photographic Workshops, now MaineMedia.edu, has been an international conservatory for the world’s image-makers, storytellers and filmmakers. So, you might think I’d know a few things about photography. Well, I don’t, but I do have some wisdom to pass along.

Last month Compass ran my story on photographer Justyna Kramer, chief mate on The Dove, cruising the Caribbean for the past ten years. Her black and white photographs of the islands, the sea and especially people is a wonderful body of work.

Take a look. You can see more of her photographs at www.camerowna.com and https://justynakramer.myportfolio.com

I’ve been friends with Justyna and Larry, skipper on The Dove, for years. Both are talented photographers. We often get to talking about Lightroom versus Photoshop, RAW versus JPEG, cameras bodies, lenses, drones and GoPros — and then we get around to sharing how we keep our gear safe and working on a marine environment, especially in the humid tropics .

This article is about maintaining your digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera gear in the Caribbean. DSLRs — what many think of as “real” cameras — allow for interchangeable lenses, and are typically larger and more robust than other camera types. Here are a few tips from the years I’ve spent photographing on the water and conversations I’ve had with my image-maker friends.

Salt is your camera’s enemy

The worst things for camera gear on boats are saltwater spray, mist and moisture. Rain is fresh water and presents fewer problems. Salt spray, or even mist in the air, can cover the lens, the entire camera, and you. This leads to immediate problems with your images, and to the long-term impacts of corrosion, mold and fungus. Salt spray and mist smear and scratch the lens, and screw up the zoom function. Salt attracts moisture and the resulting dampness corrodes electronics inside the camera. Letting a damp camera and lens sit compounds your problems.

I’ll get to cleaning in a bit, but first, how do you keep the salt spray and moisture off your gear. Marine photographer Tim Wright (www.photoaction.com) travels the Caribbean photographing yacht races. He works at water level, standing up in his RIB. He shared the following tips:

Use a lens shade to keep spray off the front element of the lens.

• Keep the lens pointed down when not in use.

• The more you zoom in and out, the more moisture and dust you bring inside the lens. • Don’t handle your gear with damp, salty hands. Rinse them with fresh water.

• When you hear the slap of a wave on the hull, turn, duck, and protect your camera and lens with your body from the spray.

To Tim’s list, I’ll add:

• Cover your camera with a towel when not actually shooting.

• Buy or make a spray hood or rain cover. (I have one, but have never used it. It gets in the way. Again, technique is better than products.)

• Bring a spray bottle of fresh water to rinse off the lens, camera and your hands before wiping dry.

Alison Langley and Billy Black, both highly accomplished marine photographers, keep their cameras and lenses in a cooler on deck when not actually around their necks shooting. Cory Silken, another pro, uses a watertight Pelican case. Alison has a towel around her neck to keep her camera and her hands dry when shooting.

Pay attention to the front end

It’s the front element of the lens that needs your attention while shooting. Inspect the front element frequently. Droplets of salty moisture or a film of mist will diminish image sharpness, create flare, and degrade your photos.

DO NOT wipe the front element until it is first rinsed with fresh water. Wiping the lens without a freshwater rinse first will smear the front element wirh salt residure. If the salt spray has dried, salt crystals will scratch the lens front element. Keep a spray bottle with distilled water handy to rinse thr lens, then wipe clean with pads and a few towels for this purpose. While you’re at it, spray and wipe off the entire camera, and your hands frequently. Treat your eyeglasses or sunglasses to the same fresh water rinse before wiping dry.

“Throw that lens cap away,” my photojournalist mentor told me early in my career. “They take too long to take off and you’ve missed the moment.” Screw on a clear UV or skylight filter to protect the front element. If the filter gets scratched or cracked, a $15 replacement saves you two weeks in the repair shop and a $500 bill.

From boat to shore

A word about carrying your gear ashore or from boat to boat. Before leaving the boat, put everything in a waterproof backpack, cooler or “dry bag,” all of which will float. Justyna always puts her camera in a cooler that is strapped to the middle of the RIB when headed for shore. Transferring gear from boat to boat, to the dock or beach is when accidents happen. I’ve lost gear from my failure to adhere to this rule.

Cleaning at the end of the day

At the end of the day, clean everything. Wipe down the entire camera and lens with fresh water. This will, hopefully, dissolve any salt crystals that have dried. This is best done with a damp towel or cloth. Then wipe down with pre-moistened, disposable lens-cleaning pads such as Kimtech wipes. They are made to clean cameras and lenses. Do not use tissues, as they may contain lotion that smears the lens and disintegrate when wet. Do not use cotton swabs as they may leave behind lint.

Above: Getting ready for a cleaning session. The spray bottle of distilled water is to rinse off the camera and lenses. After rinsing, wipe down with the cloth. Follow with a detailed wipe with Kimtech wipes. Alcohol pads are used to clean the lens and camera rings with attention to the electrical contacts. Finally, inspect the camera, throughly air dry, and store in a tight case with silica gel packs to absorb any moisture.

Anove and below: Tim Wright in his RIB chasing a J-Boat during Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta.

His camera hood is self-made. Tim advises, “When you hear a wave slap the hull, turn, duck and protect the camera with your body.”

Remove the lens and clean the mounting rings on both the camera and the lens with the wipes, with attention to the electronic connections. DO NOT use canned air as it can easily blow stuff where you don’t want it. Use a vacuum to suck out stuff, or a bulb syringe, which is gentler. Wipe down the lens barrel, especially the zoom barrel. Replace the lens on the camera, or screw on a rear body cap. Do not leave the camera body open to collect dust on the mirror or sensor. The rear elements of your lenses are more important than the front element when it comes to image degradation, so inspect and clean, but only if need be.

Now, stow camera equipment in a moisture-proof case or backpack, but not until it’s thoroughly dry. Dampness on and in your lenses and cameras will provide fungus spores with a medium for growth, which can spread over the internal lens elements. Buy a bag of individual silica gel packs and place them in your camera bag or case to absorb any moisture that is hiding in your camera gear.

In case of a dunking

A dunking in the sea? Cameras today, those costing over $1,000 anyway, are well sealed and can take spray, rain and mist and continue to function, but not a prolonged or deep immersion.

The fresh water you use to rinse the camera will evaporate. So will salt water, but it will leave behind salt crystals that continually absorb moisture out of the air, resulting in mold and corrosion. Using rice to absorb moisture or the oven to dry the camera without a freshwater rinse first are not solutions — it’s the dried salt crystals left behind that are the enemy.

The camera repair shop is the next step.

If it’s just a dunking, immediately turn off the camera. Get it to a sink and give both the camera and the attached lens a freshwater rinse. Now, remove the SD card and the battery. Clean the seals around each door. Same for other ports that provide access to the camera’s interior. Inspect to see if water has entered each compartment. Remove the lens and inspect its rear element. Inspect the camera’s interior and wipe down the mounting ring and the contacts. If water has entered into the body of the camera, damage to the electronics may have already The fresh water you use to rinse the camera will evaporate. So will salt water, but it will leave behind salt crystals that continually absorb moisture out of the air, resulting in mold and corrosion. Using rice to absorb moisture or the oven to dry the camera without a freshwater rinse first are not solutions — it’s the dried salt crystals left behind that are the enemy. The camera repair shop is the next step.

If a camera takes a deep dive, pressure will drive water into the interior of the camera, even if submerged for even a few minutes. Your camera is pretty much toast then.

Other cameras

If you’re shooting on the boat and conditions are really wet, like on the bow in a blow or during a race, keep the DSLR below and bring out the GoPro. GoPros are totally waterproof; can shoot still, video, time-lapse and slow motion; are voice controlled; and can be paired with your iPhone so you see and control the camera when you’re below, out of the elements. They are cheap enough to be almost dispensable, besides being indestructible. They are ideal for vulnerable, high-risk situations, and can create surprising results. I have two of them.

The camera on your iPhone and other “smart” phones is fairly well protected from spray, rain and a brief dunking. But the small lens element is susceptible to fingerprints, lint from your pocket, and saltwater smear from damp hands, all of which degrade image quality.

I hope this has been helpful. Let us know if you’ve found remedies to protecting and maintaining your gear in this tropical environment.

Next month’s article will deal with how to see photographically. While we all make snapshots of boats and beaches, friends and family, events and sunsets, what turns those personal snapshots into photographs — images that speak to a wider audience, capture a universal truth about the world and the societies we live in, and that only you could have created? That’s what we struggle to master: our inner artist or own unique visual voice.

Below: Aboard the staysail schooner, Aschanti, during the 2010 Antigua Classic Regatta--hull down and the spray is flying--time to switch cameras to a GoPro.