So, I tried everything to clean my camera. Swabs, lint-free cloth, different suggested cleaners... nothing worked. I still had those annoying spots on every shot I took. If you look closely, you can see some of these spots, the most noticeable of these is towards the left side of the picture and just above center.
30 second exposure at dusk capturing tail lights
I even opted to position my pictures so it wouldn't show the spots, but I still knew where they were... and they started getting worse! I think I dislodged some kind of spot monster while trying to clean the camera myself, they seem to be multiplying!
The dragon ice at Lion's Den Gorge (2 second exposure)
I don't do well with this sort of thing, you know, not being able to fix my own things on my own. I ultimately decided to bring it to a professional after much procrastination. Time to take it to Rode's Camera to have the sensor cleaned. I was worried. I sent my old camera to them last year to be repaired and it took a month to get it back. However, it was an older camera and couldn't be fixed, an Olympus E-420 (that I had gotten from one of my very best friends in the world).
One of the last pictures that I had taken with the Olympus
I love my camera and don't know what I'd do if I didn't have it with me when we take another adventure. Over the past year I've been working with different cameras and have found that I really love photography. Reluctantly, I handed it over to them wondering when I'll get it back. To my surprise, I got a call the next day and it was all cleaned! It just so happened that I got off work just a touch early, so after picking it up, I decided to see how well they cleaned it.
First Shot from Lincoln Park in Kenosha.
Another shot from the Kenosha Lakeshore.
A seagull on a lamppost overlooking the harbor
A duck admiring it's own reflection and company
A female Merganser swimming by herself
Now I can go back to shooting birds too, instead of just landscapes, without having to strategically place the subject matter. I'm happy again. Now I'm looking forward to go back to the Driftless and shooting the creeks during some spring melting. THAT is fun!
