Drove 40 miles to spot the 747 cargo landing and a kid threw sand at my lens

I was out at Phoenix Sky Harbor last Sunday, set up right near the fence by the viewing area. The 747 was on final approach, perfect lighting, and I had my shot framed up. Then some kid ran past and kicked a pile of sand straight into my camera lens. I spent the next ten minutes trying to blow it off with my breath while the plane touched down and taxied away. Has anyone else had their whole spotting day ruined by someone else's chaos at an airport?

2 comments

2 Comments

masondixon14d ago

Man, that's rough. I had a similar thing happen at Van Nuys once, but instead of sand it was a hot dog a seagull dropped right on my tripod. Ruined the shot of a Gulfstream taxiing by because I had to wipe off mustard and bun crumbs. Kids and birds man, they just don't care about the perfect lighting or lens clarity. Hope the lens is okay at least.

oliver_ward148d ago

Oh man, a seagull dropping a hot dog on your setup? That is hilariously tragic but also just bad luck. Kids and birds really do operate on their own chaotic schedule, zero respect for aperture settings or perfect light. Honestly, I would have been mad but also probably laughed after I cleaned off the mustard, because what else can you do? That Gulfstream taxiing by would have been a killer shot too, sorry you missed it. Did the lens survive the bun crumbs or did you have to do a deep clean?

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