Any Arizona Shooters Out There?

MSCampbell

Shooting outdoors in the Wild, Wild West, especially during the extremely hot (115-122 degree) summer months poses unique problems. Throw dust into the equation and you have the potential of causing some serious damage to your equipment and yourself. I use a variety of techniques to overcome the heat issues as well as preventing dust from getting into my camera, lenses, and flash units. This includes wet towels on my head, drinking plenty of water, cooling off with fans at my canopied event booth, staying shaded wherever and whenever I can (I haven't stooped to using an umbrella however), or hiring someone else to do the shooting while I cover the indoor events. High temperatures can affect you lens' performance so I periodically switch them when the housing gets to hot. For dust, like the kind one would find at rodeos and softball tournaments, I avoid damage to my equipment by wrapping my Canon Mark IIN camera and lenses lightly with cellophane which I also use in the rain since I find my Kata rain cover too cumbersome. I'd be interested to hear the experiences and advice of any other Arizona or Southwest shooters.

Michael