Surviving the Holi festival

It seems a lifetime ago, but three years ago, I went to the original Holi festival in India to photograph the festivities. I did my research on the best places to go, how to get to the heart of the festival and how what to watch out for.

One of those pearls of wisdom was how damaging the powdered paint, and random water drenching can be for your camera. So when I packed for the trip, I packed tape, bags, knives and bands to help keep my kit going. 
Here's how I go all MacGyver in India. 

Firstly, I bought a cheap lens filter. I screwed it on and taped the seam with Electrical tape. Then I taped the remaining joins, openings and seams. This taping included where the lens connects to the body, the battery compartment and the input covers. I need the moving parts of the lens to be free so these where left untaped.

Next was the bagging. Placing the back of the body in first, I used rubber bands to bring the excess of the bag around the front of the body and the lens. Then I placed the lens hood over the bag and taped the bag and hood together. It was essential to allow enough slack in the bag so the lens could extend when zooming.

The Sun-sniper strap was attached over and through the bag and tightened to seal the hole.

After a couple of hours, the bag became so filthy; I was unable to look through with any detail. So I made a small hole and taped around it while I was out and about.

I through on some old clothes and shoes knowing they would be ruined and ventured out for the day.

The last piece of advice is to brush off the majority of the dust and wash your hands before you take the camera out. Even this step has to ability to get dirt into the working of the camera.

It was a fantastic experience, and some of the shots taken were up there with my best. I highly recommend it.