Heavy mist = wet lens. Can this work in my favor?

[andreasb]

Hello Everyone,

 

I have tried repeatedly to photograph a beautiful waterfall in North Idaho, where I live. This waterfall causes some

pretty heavy mist that instantly gets my lens wet and distorts my photos. Since I am never going to have an

opportunity to take these photos with a dry lens and the narrow canyon precludes moving farther away, using a

longer lens, I am trying to make this workout in my favor. I am not too worried about getting my equipment wet since

it is all sealed and enclosed in a plastic bag with just the front of the lens exposed to the elements. The wet lens

causes an interesting softening effect that almost (but not quite) adds to the scene. I have considered spraying the

front of the lens with rubbing alcohol or some of that stuff one sprays on the walls of the shower to make the mist

flow instead of bead up causing lots of little lenses in front of my camera lens. I was hoping this might smooth out

the distortions and make their softening effect more pleasant. However, I do not want to damage the coatings on my

lens.

 

Do any of you have any suggestions that might help me get some nice photos out of this situation? Any input and

help would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks,

 

Andreas

[gerrymorgan]

How about blowing the rain away from the end of the lens with a can of air during the exposure? And perhaps using a filter to protect the front element from any unpleasant emissions from the can of air.

[aether]

Treat a screw-in filter with stuff that is sold for car windscreens? Rainex is one brand -- it may ruin the filter so use a cheap filter?

[andreasb]

Rainex - perfect! I will try it! Thanks!

[aether]

If you try it, would be interesting to see the results! I always think of using cheap filters (as long as they're not so cheap that they seriously degrade image) for special effects -- smearing vaseline on filters for soft focus effect has long been popular! I use loads of cheap filters simply as lens covers (removing before I shoot), being screw-in they're less likely to be lost than actual lens caps ;-)

[derek_thornton1]

What I normally do in your situation is hold a piece of clear plexi-glass in front of lens. I set the camera on a timer. With nikon, a light flashes off and on and then stays on for a second before firing the shot. When the light stays on I drop the glass and the shot fires. It has to be clear in order to meter properlly. As long as the exposure is less than 3 seconds this works very well for me.

 

The effect of using a fogged filter can be very nice. But, it has to be fogged evenly over entire frame. Water droplets give an awfull effect. On my picture page the second photo on the first row was shot with a slightly fogged filter. The weather situations that day would not allow me to get a totally clear shot.