The value of a clean cotton washcloth in your camera bag!

 The other morning I ventured out to Cape Blanco hoping for a repeat of the wonderful sunrise that we had the previous day along the Oregon Coast. However, what I discovered when I got to the cape was a heavy fog that densely hung around the south side of the cape to include Port Orford. On the North side, where I put myself the fog came and went providing me with some nice glimpses of the light and the area. As the dawn approached and passed, the sky becoming brighter the fog gradually lessened. However, what did not diminish, was the level of moisture in the air. With the humidity level in the 80's and a dew point close to the air temperature I increasingly found it difficult to keep moisture for forming on the lens and more specifically, neutral density filter (NDF).Fortunately I have started to carry a Costco white cotton wash cloth along with me as standard equipment in my camera bag. After having tried all the various cleaning devices, I have found that a simple "clean" cotton wash cloth with regular water is the best method of cleaning camera lenses with no streaks as well as wiping down camera parts.Initially, I had to take the NDF off the lens, wipe it down and replace it. But then the dew got so bad that I found the only sure solution to the heavy dew was  to drape the cotton cloth over the front of the lens and filter until I was ready to take the next shot. Finally the sun got high enough to illuminate the lighthouse and fog and the lesson learned for me was to  never underestimate the value of a simple item to help out in the field.