Lucy's Buzz : The Evil Fog!

If you want to get the photograph, don’t go from arctic AC temperatures to the hot outdoors. Your lens will fog over and once it does, you can forget the shot! And all others for a good half hour.

I learned this lesson when I was on assignment for Sport Diver Magazine in the Maldives. I was on a 6-day trip for the launch of the Island Explorer, the Four Season's ultra plush luxury scuba dive yacht. Tough assignment, with 23 yacht staffers catering to 6 guests and 2-4 dives a day.

Peter, one of the other 5 photographers on the trip was the most famous and the most experienced photographer. We practically bowed to him as he was there to get his story (like all of us) come hell or high water, but his clout was bigger than ours. So, he spent one whole morning setting up the cover shot for his magazine, using a Maldivian dhoni (a multi-purpose boat, usually hand-made) and the seaplane that transports guests to an from the islands to the Male airport. We were excited about it, even though we were annoyingly trapped into waiting for his shot to happen. I personally was going to get the same shot and maybe use it for my cover shot.

The big moment was about to happen. The dhoni was in position between our yacht and a small atoll, with the turquoise water sparkling in the morning sun. The seaplane made its first circle into the camera frame. I went to snap the shot and couldn’t see a blasted thing. I had taken my camera and lens out of my freezing stateroom into the morning tropical air and it had fogged over! Peter immediately offered me his Nikon lens, but Nikon and Canon are incompatible and so I missed the shot. The shot! Set up by the expert. I was crushed. I sat like a lump for an hour while the lens took it’s bloody time defogging.

From then on, I kept my camera bag outside on deck, ready for action!