Focus on Disney World – Sensor Dust

I found myself in quite a predicament on my last trip to Disney World. Back in the fall I took my camera in to be cleaned. It wasn’t really dirty but I had bought one of those service agreements that included a yearly cleaning. So I thought it would be a good idea to take it in.

When I next used my camera I noticed little fuzzy dots on my photos. I had been taking pictures in the rain and assumed it was water spots. I gave my lens and filters a good cleaning and put away my camera.

The next time I went out shooting I had the same spots. Now I realized that what I was seeing were dust spots on my sensor. I opened the camera, blew out the inside and cleaned off the inside of my lens. I was able to get rid of all the spots except one.

That one spot was pretty easy to get rid of with Photoshop – one little click and it was gone – so I lived with it. But I knew I would be taking hundreds of photos on my trip to Florida and I didn’t want to have to deal with fixing each and every one of them. I knew I needed to take my camera back in.

Being the procrastinator that I am, I waited until just before leaving to call the place that cleaned it, or should I say, dirtied it! No problem, they could re-clean it that day and I could pick it up in the morning before heading to the airport. I was thrilled.

When I picked up the camera the next day I was told that they couldn’t get the spot off and that I’d have to send it in to get the sensor replaced. That would take 4 weeks. Well, there was no way I was going to Disney World without my camera. I’d just have to Photoshop that little spot out of my photos and get it fixed later. On to the World”¦

When I arrived at the Boardwalk I found that I had a great view of the pool and the Dolphin Hotel. It was a gorgeous blue day and of course, the first thing I did was unpack my camera to snap a photo of my view. I was horrified at what I saw. That small little spot was actually gone, but in its place were a number of other spots, including a big long streak down the middle of the frame. Here’s a photo of what they looked like.

It was disastrous. There was no way I would be able to Photoshop that streak out of hundreds (more than 1300 as it turned out!) of photos. Thank goodness for the internet. I was able to connect with some of my online friends who were still at home and get some advice for what I could possibly do while I was there. You were probably wondering if I was ever going to get around to a tip in this post! Well here it comes.

Be sure to check your camera equipment well in advance of any trip you are taking. Obvious, right? But how many of us really do that? I know I can’t be the only one who could make such a silly mistake. I could have saved myself a considerable amount of stress. Not to mention the vacation time I wasted trying to figure out how to solve my dilemma while I was there.

Now, if you decide not to follow my advice and you find yourself in the same predicament, here is another tip thanks to my internet friends. If you have dust on your sensor that you cannot clean off right away, set your aperture wide open. At f/3.5 the dust spots will be barely visible. This bit of advice saved my butt. The photo above was taken at f/22. This one below was taken at f/3.5.

In May I am heading to Europe on an Adventures by Disney trip. I definitely learned my lesson. I’m taking my camera in to get the sensor replaced soon.

By the way, here is a photo of that view.