Do you process as you go, or bring it all home

[Rob Skeoch]

I'm thinking of a driving road trip this spring. I'll shoot mostly roll film but I also have a 5x7. For those that have done a road trip, did you process as you go in hotel rooms, or bring it all home to soup. The roll films are easy, it's the sheets that are tougher since I use a rotary processor, and only do two sheets at a time. Plus you have to haul the extra stuff.
What are your thoughts.
-Rob

 

[Doremus Scudder]

I box my film and bring it home for processing. I reload holders on the road, usually a darkened hotel room bathroom and transfer the exposed sheet to boxes. I bring three empty sheet film boxes with me, marked N, N+, N-. If I need N+2/N-2, I'll use separators in the appropriate box and keep notes. I've done this flying internationally as well. For a while, I had no darkroom here in the States (between houses) so I would take three months worth of exposed negatives back to Europe with me to process. No problems ever. Now that I'm spending most of my time Stateside, I road trip primarily. I take 50 filmholders and boxes of fresh film and reload when needed. Then I can process at my leisure when I get home.

Best,

Doremus

 

[jim10219]

I develop at home. Since I develop sheets in trays, it's probably the only way. Plus, I don't want to pack and carry chemicals and all of the other stuff. I bring a couple of boxes of film, a couple of empty boxes of film, some making tape (to keep the film boxes closed), and a changing bag. Then I'll unload the film holders at the hotel and store the exposed film in the empty boxes and reload the film holders with new film.

I'd rather use the extra space in the car carrying extra cameras than development tools. I really enjoy bringing my 3D camera on road trips! Those are a lot of fun to look through and remember. Plus, I like to bring a digital camera, so I can snap a million photos without wasting time and money. The digital is also great for wild animals, stuff you see on the side of the road, longer hikes, and family photos. The large format is best for the stuff you can take your time on and know you'll want to print.

 

[ozphoto]

I did a trip to the UK in '98 and had the transparency film processed in London and actually purchased a tank and some chemicals to do 70% of the B&W in a motel bathroom.

Would I do that again? Yes, I would; it was good to have less to carry back to Australia (I offloaded the tank) and made a couple of evenings a little less dull in some of the small villages I visited.

 

[guangong]

Never attempted to process on the road. When I was younger there were chemicals packaged to process just a roll or two when on the road. I guess spies find this necessary because Minox promoted their developing tank as being practical in hotel room.
I don’t need an unfamiliar setting for processing since I am perfectly capable of screwing up in my own environment .

 

[BAC1967]

I travel a lot for work so sometimes I’m gone for a few months, I often take a kit with me to process in hotel rooms. On short trips, less than 2 weeks I usually take it home to process. I’m don’t take usually take a development kit when I fly to a destination. In a case like that I’ll take mostly color film and mail it to a lab for processing. I only develop black and white film.

 

[MurrayMinchin]

I came up with the following system while sea kayaking for up to two months at a time with a 4x5 field camera. There wasn't room for extra film boxes, so used glassine envelopes to get them all organized in one box.

My film holders are numbered, and would write the holder number, exposure/development/location info and notes about subject matter/scene on a glassine envelope...one envelope for each exposure. Back at camp, I would use a small pair of scissors to cut small notches along the glassine envelopes bottom edge...sort of like notches in the films edge.

1 notch Normal Dev
2 notch +1
3 notch. +2
4 notch -1
5 notch -2

At end of day back in camp, I'd stack the film holders in numbered order in a film changing bag and pile the glassine envelopes in the same numbered order after having cut notches in them. When the first cover on the film box was removed I'd place the envelopes in it to keep them from sliding around, then the film box could be opened fully. After that it's just a matter of working your way through the stacks of holders and envelopes.

Once back at home I'd separate them into different film boxes for development. Hundreds of negatives done this way and not one mistake.

Sure wish I had known about David Kachel's SLIMT process (Selective Latent Image Manipulation Technique) at the time, where all -1 and -2 negatives could've been developed together (after contraction negatives received their dilute potassium ferricyanide baths) with Normal negatives. Would have saved a ton of work and resulted in better negatives.

 

[Alan9940]

I tend to drive on all my photo trips, so I bring film home--all formats from 35mm to 8x10--to be processed. I'm down to my last few sheets of Polaroid Type 55, but I even bring that home for processing.

 

[etn]

Always bring everything back and process everything home (or at the local lab) after the trip. I mainly do 120, therefore space is generally not a constraint.

 

[Ian Grant]

I've often processed while away, I'd put a box with my Jobo 2000 tank (5x4 inversion tank), a Paterson tank and chemistry etc in the boot of my car and process every evening. Taht has included when camping

A lot depends where I'm staying, who I'm travelling with etc, also how long I'm away for. These days I don't process as often while away.

Ian

 

[removed account4]

hi rob

i have typically brought sheets home, but there was one instance when i processed in an overseas laundry room ... and i have made the mistake of putting exposed film in luggage instead of carry on baggage, but thankfully the xray beam didn't harm my films. my main problem with bringing things back is that sometimes i don't get to developing the film for a while and i sometimes can't find the "safe place" i put it, and then get a nice surprise when i do...

have a nice trip !

john

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I'm usually too bagged at the end of the day, so I process when I get home.

 

[faberryman]

Bring it all home to process. I don't print on the road, so I don't see any advantage to processing on the road.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Bring it all home to process. I don't print on the road, so I don't see any advantage to processing on the road.

Ditto

 

[markbau]

On my next trip to Europe I’m thinking about taking the 67, I really don’t want to be worrying about what airport xrays will do to my film so am thinking I’ll process on the road.

 

[Two23]

When using my 5x7 I'm usually shooting wet plate, and I process that as I go.


Kent in SD

 

[Maris]

I process a test roll or sheet immediately before I go to make sure I'm carrying a properly working camera. Then immediately after I get home before I misplace those notes about what I photographed and when.

 

[Tom Kershaw]

I try and process as soon as possible after I get back.

 

[MattKing]

I enjoy processing film.
I enjoyed a vacation a few years ago where I spent a week on a very photogenic island, and was able to both photograph it, and develop my films as I shot them.