Hi all Having just returned from ten days in the Nevada desert and mountains, photographing gold mines for an American client, I thought I would share my experiences of finally 'biting the bullet' and subjecting 10D's to the rigours of imaging 2000ft underground. Shooting from dawn till dusk, at various heights, temperatures went from 10C to 35C in a matter of hours, the cameras were quickly covered in dust and mud.
Pat, plus client engineer and myself together with two cases of lighting gear, one case of film cameras and one case of digital gear were lowered in a bucket(!), to this depth, bumping and jolting on the way down. The warm sunshine soon disappeared into fog as the temperature lowered, then it became rain as it condensed further down and then poured in from the walls and ceilings. The tarpaulin did little in keeping us and the cases from getting soaked. Once at 2000ft., we sought shelter from the wet by placing the kit away from the water pouring in, but the humidity although not the highest I have encountered, was still quite significant. We spent a total of four hours underground taking two shots, taking care to keep lights and camera away from the steady stream of water. Both the lights and camera occasionally got a splash and very dirty as usual. The LCD display did eventually begin to steam up but cleared soon after reaching the top and warm dry atmosphere again. Whatever the downside of having to take extra precautions over the digital cameras, this is outweighed by the greater speed of checking the image, than by Polaroids when using film. The other benefit, is that the sensor seems to require less exposure when using the flash lighting, than its film alternative. A great benefit in trying to distinguish different shades of grey and black! The trick is that you do not change lenses in such conditions. Take two bodies with different ratio zoom lenses and change cameras if you need an alternative focal length. Another point. Manual focussing is the norm of course. The sensor doesn't work in such conditions as the distances and darkness are too great. Remember, you often cannot see what you are photographing and the edge of the image is determined by scrolling around with the miners lamp attached one's helmet. After jolting our way up to the surface again through the wet and fog, the cameras seemed to survive the ordeal remarkably well. One more bridge crossed. Another piece of the unknown conquered. Regards to all. Norman Childs Mobile: +44(0)7831 519217 Tel: +44(0)1256 767611 Fax: +44(0)1256 767612 Website: http://www.greenshoots.co.uk =============================================================== GO TO http://www.prodig.org for ~ GUIDELINES ~ un/SUBSCRIBING ~ ITEMS for SALE
