Being Clean

Every professional photographer knows how to minimize risk: carry a backup camera, have extra batteries and memory cards, tape down cables, don’t overload a boom arm, etc. But what about minimizing risk to your cleanliness?

After 30 years of photographing in locations like hospitals, seniors’ homes, prisons, food processing plants, drug manufacturing sites, pharmaceutical labs, commercial kitchens and in countless private homes, here are a few little things I’ve learned.

Captive Audiences

In any place that has a “captive audience,” such as hospitals, seniors’ homes and prisons, you should always wash your hands before going in and again when coming out. You clean going in to protect them, you cleaning coming out to protect you.

Thirty years ago, people thought you were a paranoid germophobe if you carried a bottle of hand sanitizer. Today you’re a responsible and considerate person. How times have changed.

Make sure your clothes and camera bags are clean. An extreme example: don’t go directly from photographing on a farm to photographing in a seniors’ home or hospital. Your clothes and camera bags can carry all sorts of pollen, spores, insects and animal feces.

If you have a cough, a fever or are not feeling well, never “power through” and do the job. Postpone or cancel it.

Clean Locations

Food processors, drug manufacturers, pharmaceutical labs and other clean locations may give you protective clothing to wear. This is meant to protect their clean environment from dirty you.

Always check beforehand what special precautions you need to take or what special clothing you may need. This also applies if you’re shooting in a commercial kitchen, a dental office with real patients or veterinary surgery with real animals.

If you have a beard, large moustache or very long hair, you may have to deal with that. If you need to wear a face mask, you may have to shave off your beard or moustache.

Some locations may require you to swab your gear. Use alcohol wipes to clean before you enter and again when you leave, especially for drug or chemical manufacturers. Front lens elements are included in any cleaning. Alcohol does not kill germs instantly – it takes at least 20 to 30 seconds – so the item you’re cleaning has to stay “wet” for at least that length of time.

You may not be able to bring in cloth or nylon camera bags because they can’t be properly cleaned.

Ground Rules

If you know a location might be dirty or wet, buy a roll of reasonably thick plastic from a store like Home Depot or Canadian Tire. Plastic tarps are inexpensive and large ones can be cut into many smaller pieces. Use this plastic to protect any gear that will lay on the ground.

When in seniors’ homes, hospitals, prisons and private homes, try not to put any bags or cases on carpets, rugs, beds or upholstered furniture. This is to minimize the chance of picking up bedbugs, lice or any other weird stuff. If necessary, bring a plastic ground sheet and tell the customer that you’re just keeping their nice rug clean.

Close Proximity

Be wary about letting people put their face up against your camera because they want to see through your big lens. Also be careful about people putting their fingers on your touch screens and keyboards. I’ve had to wipe off motor oil, potato chip grease, donut icing, facial oil, lipstick and other stuff from my camera backs and laptop keyboards.

Germs and viruses are another reason to keep people away from your gear. Alcohol wipes are your friend.

Clean Breathing

When things get back to normal in several months, (I hope), consider buying some N95 respirators. These can be worn when photographing in dusty environments or in locations where personal hygiene or safety is important. N95 respirators come in a range of designs to serve a range of functions. There are currently many counterfeit N95 respirators on the market.

An N95 blocks up to 95% of particles sized 0.3 microns or larger but won’t protect you from oily fumes, noxious gases, carbon monoxide, asbestos, pesticides, lead particles or a number of other things. These situations may require a cartridge-based full-face respirator.

(Quick note: A face mask, like the common surgical mask, protects your surroundings from you. A respirator, like an N95, protects you from your surroundings.)

A proper N95 respirator can reduce your chances of transmitting or receiving a flu virus and some other germs should you be working in such a situation. Technically an N95 doesn’t block flu viruses which are typically smaller than 0.3 microns. But flu viruses travel on moisture droplets which tend to be 5 microns or larger.

Protecting your breathing (mouth and nose) is important but remember that anything bad for your breathing is usually also bad for your eyes.

Staying Clean

You might buy your own protective clothing, face masks, hair covers, etc., if you frequently need them. When I photographed for hotels and for a pharmaceutical company, I wore my own white lab coat in their kitchen and laboratory to show that I was mindful of the cleanliness of their facility. The bonus side-effect of a white lab coat is that you look doctorly and people assume you know what you’re doing.

If you’re going to being shooting in a dirty environment, consider buying a one-piece coverall either disposable or reusable. You may look goofy wearing coveralls but your clothes will thank you.

At home, you can clean cameras and lenses with a bottle of isopropyl alcohol and Kimwipes or Pec Pads. You are, in effect, making your own alcohol wipes. Just add a few drops of alcohol to the Kimwipe or PecPad. If you want to disinfect then use at least 60% ethanol or 70% isopropanol. Note that frequently using alcohol on rubber seals may cause them to dry out.

Light stands, tripods, plastic cases, etc., can be cleaned with disinfecting wipes or some other household cleaner. Note that some household cleaners must be rinsed after cleaning. Softboxes and nylon camera bags can usually be washed in a tub of water and laundry detergent.

Never spray or pour cleaner directly onto any electronic or delicate device (e.g. cameras, lenses, flashes, laptop). Never mix cleaning products together – it will never work better and it may produce noxious fumes.

Don’t use bleach, quaternary ammonium compounds (found in some household cleaners) or hydrogen peroxide on your cameras or lenses. Don’t use acetone (nail polisher remover) or any other solvent.

Alcohol Wipes

To properly disinfect, you need wipes with at least 60% ethanol or 70% isopropanol and the surface of what you’re cleaning must stay wet for at least 20 seconds or so. When you go to a doctor or pharmacist for a vaccination or go to a blood donor clinic, notice how long they clean your arm prior to you getting a needle.

Alcohol wipes sold for cleaning eyeglasses, camera lenses, cellphone screens, etc. might be around 40% alcohol or much lower (Falcon screen wipes are only 1% alcohol). Eyeglass and camera lens wipes are lint-free and are meant for cleaning not disinfecting. A good mix for both cleaning and disinfecting is about 70% alcohol and 30% water (although there may also be a tiny bit of detergent, preservative, etc.).

Don’t waste your money on Alcohol Prep Pads which might be about 70% alcohol because they are too small and too dry to clean your gear. There are larger medical wipes that are 75% alcohol but they are tough to find in stores right now. Purell sells alcohol wipes but they are currently impossible to find in stores. There are wipes that use 99% isopropanol and these are meant for cleaning but, interestingly enough, this high level of alcohol is an ineffective disinfectant.

There are alcohol-free wipes which tend to use benzalkonium chloride or another quaternary ammonium compound. These chemicals will kill most bacteria but are less reliable against viruses. But again, these chemicals are not recommended for cameras and lenses. (Actually it’s not recommended for microscope lenses, eyepieces and bodies and I assume cameras are similar to microscopes).

If it doesn’t specifically say the wipe can be used on lenses then the wipes may not be suitable for your camera lenses. But they may be okay for tripods, light stands, laptop case and keyboard, and other less delicate surfaces. Unopened individually wrapped wipes usually have a short shelf life of a year or two.