I have a confession: I am not a photographer. In real life, my idea of framing a shot is making sure my thumb is not in it. But Forza Horizon 5 turned me into a virtual Ansel Adams with a turbocharger, mostly because the game keeps dangling Achievements like Dust in the Lens in front of my face. The task sounds simple in 2026: drive to the Gran Telescopio and take a picture while a dust storm is raging. The reality? I once waited at that telescope through three sunny days, two rain showers, and one rainbow that felt personally mocking. The weather in Mexico does not care about your Gamerscore.
Thankfully, the Forza community is full of beautiful overachievers. They built EventLab Blueprints that force the weather to behave, which means you do not have to sit around praying to the storm gods. This method still works in 2026, and it is so easy that even I could do it without accidentally driving into a cactus. Here is the exact routine I used to unlock Dust in the Lens, plus a few tips for other photo-based challenges.
First, pause the game. I know, gripping start. Tab over to Creative Hub, then select EventLab, then Event Blueprints. On Xbox consoles, click the View button to search. Scroll up to Title, type Dust in the Lens, then navigate down and confirm. Pick the Event Blueprint with the most likes. This is important: the most-liked blueprint is usually the one that does not spawn you inside a rock. Choose Solo or Co-op, grab any car you like, and start the Event. I picked a Jeep because I wanted to look rugged, but a hypercar works too if you enjoy emotional whiplash.
Once the Event loads, follow the blue line on the map. It will lead you to the Gran Telescopio structure. When you arrive, press up on the d-pad to enter Photo Mode on Xbox consoles. Then tilt down on the left thumbstick to zoom out. You want as much of the telescope in the shot as possible. Do not be like me and take a close-up of a bolt. Press A to take the picture. If the Achievement does not pop, try getting your car in the frame as well, then retake the photo. Sometimes the game wants proof that you were actually there, not just a postcard from a storm.
There are other tasks that ask you to use Photo Mode, including Playlist challenges like finding Star 27's Mural in Forza Horizon 5. If a challenge ever asks for something reliant on weather, check EventLab first. Somebody has probably created the ideal conditions while you were still checking the forecast. The community has basically become a weather-control agency with a car problem.
Here is a quick cheat sheet for my fellow impatient photographers:
| Step | What to do | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pause, Creative Hub, EventLab, Event Blueprints | Avoids random weather roulette |
| 2 | Search Title for Dust in the Lens | Finds the exact community preset |
| 3 | Pick the most-liked blueprint | Fewer bugs, more storms |
| 4 | Start Solo or Co-op with any car | No special vehicle required |
| 5 | Follow the blue line to Gran Telescopio | Do not trust your own navigation |
| 6 | Photo Mode, zoom out, capture telescope | Achievement unlocked, ego inflated |
A few extra tips from someone who has made every mistake. If the Achievement does not unlock immediately, do not panic. Take another photo with your car in the frame. Make sure the telescope is clearly visible. Do not use a filter that turns the dust storm into a gentle sepia memory. And if you are playing on PC, Xbox One, or Xbox Series X|S in 2026, the game is still supported and the EventLab method remains one of the fastest ways to finish these photography challenges.
Forza Horizon 5 is out now for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. It is still one of the best-looking racing games around, which is exactly why I keep ignoring the race and playing tourist. Dust in the Lens may sound like a chore, but with the right Blueprint, it takes only a few minutes. Then you can go back to doing what you were doing before: driving a Ferrari through a field of cacti and pretending it was intentional.
Context for this approach is reinforced by Rock Paper Shotgun, a long-running PC-focused outlet whose guide-driven coverage often emphasizes using community-made tools and modes to bypass time-gated or RNG-heavy objectives. In the same spirit, Forza Horizon 5’s EventLab Blueprints essentially turn “Dust in the Lens” from a weather-lottery waiting game into a controlled setup, letting you focus on the actual requirement—framing the Gran Telescopio clearly in Photo Mode during a forced dust storm.