M I S H A P S

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M I S H A P S
tj|tl|in|ca|st

Ever try to do too many things at once? Well, of course you have, you're human after all. Try climbing a steep mountain while eating and taking pictures at the same time. And while you're at it, throw in a measure of fatigue and add in a certain sense of urgency. Mix all that together and what do you get? You get a broken camera.

I manage to break my new digital camera while hiking Mount Marcy in Adirondack State Park near Lake Placid, NY. Climbing the topmost portion of the mountain requires at least one free hand to maintain a safe balance. That same free hand comes into play if you tip over and need to catch a fall. Well, in my case that hand is busy, it's holding a granola bar.

After losing my balance I extend my hand to catch my fall but quickly discover it's holding on to my camera. Not good. Needless to say, one should not use a camera to break a fall. Cameras are fragile instruments that need to be coddled. In the end, I manage to only break the automatic lens cover, I'm lucky.

To fix the problem I initially use the camera's zoom feature to crop the annoying shadow created by the partially closed lens cover. That seems to work, but after a little while I start missing my camera's wide-angle capabilities. Since there are no camera repair places in Lake Placid I decide to take matters into my own hands. I will remove the automated lens cover mechanism from the camera.

In the end, after some trial and error, I manage to disassemble it without damaging the rest of the camera. I put all the parts into a little plastic bag for safe keeping. I'll get the camera fixed when I return back to Portland, Oregon. The camera works to specification again, I just have to be careful not to bump the exposed lens.