Protecting your gear in the Rainforest

In the previous post, we discussed about the photography gear for a rainforest tour. During our Rainforest Rendezvous tours, the terrain and the weather make it important to protect your gear. Read on to find out how to protect your gear on your next trip.

Most cameras, especially D-SLRs, today are fairly sturdy. They are able to withstand a good amount of wear and tear. Despite this, there are 4 things that can cause damage to your cameras, either by accident or over the long run:

• Water
• Shock
• Extreme Temperatures (Too hot or too cold)
• Dust and sand

Water can be disastrous to your photography gear by causing

• malfunction in your camera by impacting electronic components
• damage to the electronic components of your lens
• fungal growth on the optical elements of your lens.

Now, most D-SLRs can easily withstand a slight drizzle with a few drops falling on them. So, don’t worry if that happens accidentally. Just ensure that you cover the lens and the camera as soon as you can and dry them up once you get back. What you have to be careful about is sustained exposure to rain and humidity.

In the rainforest, you can expect rains any time of the year. It is good to keep your camera covered to ensure that sudden rainfall doesn’t impact the remainder of your trip. Some tips below:

• Cover your camera and lens with polythene covers (garbage bags are good as they aren’t very noisy) or Ziplock bags. Make holes in the bags for lenses and flashes or where you need access to the most important controls. Use rubber bands to hold the covers onto your equipment. This is the least expensive and a relatively safe method.
• Get a camera cover (like the Kata Rain Covers). They give adequate protection to your cameras while giving you enough access to camera controls.
• Get a good weather-proof bag (with a rain cover) that gives you easy access to your camera gear.
• At the end of the day, keep your equipment in a warm dry place (like the kitchen). You could also carry a large container with some Silica Gel packets, especially for longer trips. These packets (if they have indicator-type silica gel) change colour when they absorb moisture. An easy way to dry them is to heat them on a frying pan or in a microwave oven till they return to their original colour.

In the field:

• NEVER change lenses on your D-SLR when it is raining or when there is a lot of humidity/fog/mist around. Even if your camera survives it, there will be cumulative damage that can result in your camera breaking down over the medium-long term.
• If you have a zoom lens that is not weather-sealed (the lens gets longer and shorter as you change focal lengths), don’t zoom in and out during rains. Water falling on the lens can get inside it leading to malfunction and/or fungus.
• If you have a companion, work as a team. If you must photograph in the rain, one person can hold an umbrella while the other one photographs.
• Carry adequate tissue paper or soft dry cloth (in a dry container) to clean up your equipment if water gets to it.

Physical shock, like dropping your equipment or accidentally hitting it against a hard surface, can be disastrous. In the rainforest, one comes across many areas with bare rock (especially near streams and waterfalls) or slippery soil where there is a danger of falling (taking your camera equipment with you). There is also vegetation all around you and you might accidentally scratch your lens against a tough tree. Some basic precautions might help:

• Keep your lens cap on at all times, unless you are photographing something.
• Tie your camera strap to your hand or use a harness to ensure that your camera doesn’t slip accidentally.
• Keep your camera in your bag if you are passing through “dangerous” terrain.
• Use a good tripod with a strong construction, especially when it has to be positioned in a stream with strong currents. I was witness to my friend’s tripod falling and breaking in a stream; luckily his camera was not on the tripod.
• Get shoes with good grip for wet conditions.

Sometimes the rainforests can get very hot. Though they don’t get to extreme temperatures, it is good to keep your camera in a sufficiently cool place to ensure that the electronic components function normally. And to ensure that the rubber grips stay in place.

Care needs to be taken if you are staying in air-conditioned accommodation. When you step out of your room, the warm humid rainforest can cause your camera equipment to fog up. You can prevent that by putting your camera in a dry Zip-lock bag before leaving your room. This ensures that the camera warms up gradually and prevents the accumulation of moisture. Add a couple of Silica Gel packets if needed.

POST-TRIP CARE:

As important as it is to protect your camera gear in the rainforest, it is critical to take care of it when you get back home from the trip. On one of my first trips, I got back from Agumbe and left my bag untouched for 3 days. On the fourth day, I got a shock – the black bag had big green patches. So did my clothes. Fungus attack! Thankfully, my camera had been in another bag and I’d taken it out as soon as I got back.

But it was a wake up call. Imagine the expense (and the damage) if there was fungus all over the equipment! Ever since, I follow these steps immediately after I get back:

• Remove all equipment from camera bag.
• Place all the equipment in a dry and clean room. Remove all camera and lens covers (ensure the room is clean and sealed adequately) and spread the equipment at a reasonable distance from each other.
• Switch on the fan.
• For equipment which needs more drying, I keep it at a 2-3 feet distance from a 60W bulb for a while.
• Leave them for a day or two.
• Dry camera bag separately (especially if it is wet from the rainforest experience).

You could also put the equipment into an air-tight box with Silica Gel packets to dry the moisture out. Alternatively, and this is an expensive solution, you could buy a Dehumidifier which keeps your equipment dry.

IN CASE THINGS GO WRONG…

Sometimes, despite all the care one takes, an unfortunate accident might cause issues with your camera equipment. In such cases,

• Don’t panic.
• Switch off your camera or flash.
• Promptly remove the batteries and memory cards from your camera body or flash.
• Leave your equipment in a warm, dry place (e.g. the kitchen, at a safe distance from the fire) for the rest of the trip duration.
• Take your equipment to the authorized service centre immediately after you get back home.

I’ve not forgotten about the last threat – dust and sand. These are usually not encountered in rainforests. One would normally come across them in dry places like deciduous forests (especially during summer), grasslands, deserts and beaches. The two most important things to take care of your equipment in these conditions:

1. Don’t change your lenses when there is dust or sand in the air.
2. Keep your equipment covered (inside your bag or with a cloth) at all times, unless you are shooting.

AND REMEMBER, these tips are for you if you visit rainforests once in a while. If you are in the rainforest for a long duration, you might want to get a good underwater housing or a Dehumidifier to ensure that your equipment stays safe from the moisture. Also, the tips mentioned in the blog post are from the author’s experiences. Please follow camera care instructions given in your camera manual for best upkeep of your cameras. And do share your experiences with us as Comments to this post.