Largeformat with a tour group?

MattCarey · Jan 5, 2006

Well, if you aren't sick of my stupid stories by now...

On one trip, the flight in was on a small bush-plane. They said that baggage was limited to something like 15 lbs....

I got on the plane wearing my shorts under cargo pants, a couple of shirts, a sweatshirt under my gortex jacket....oh, yeah, I had lenses and my camera shoved into every available pocket.

It didn't help that the flight was delayed an hour. It also didn't help that it was a desert. It was spring, but it was still warm under all those layers.

After all that, they didn't even weight the baggage!

Matt

Curt · Jan 6, 2006

Offer the tour guide pictures of the group in exchange for bringing the LF. At least try to bring the biggest film size possible. A medium format? I took photographs out of the tour busses/vans/cars on my tours in Paris and New York. I got some nice shots at stop lights. Amazing what you can do with a Mamiya 645 if you have to. I would try to take the LF one lens and a meter and a few holders if you can. Even if you have ask someone else to take a couple of holders for you. If it's a once in a lifetime trip wouldn't a few 4x5's be better than a bunch of 35's. It's a hard choice to make. When I went to Houston between katrina and Rita I took my 5x7 and all of the accessories in my laptop case with rollers. I have never regretted it even though it was heavy. My Nikon, even though I love it, would not have provided the kind of negatives I was after. Cut down on clothes, extra shoes, etc. and take the photo equipment. When you are there and have some time you will kick yourself for just bringing a 35.

Good luck and have a great time not matter what.
Curt

roteague · Jan 6, 2006

BradS said:
As far as whether I could bring both, I'm really only limited to what I can reasonably get away with as far as the airlines are concerned. That is to say, all my gear and film has to pass as carry on luggage.

That is always the issue, isn't it? On my last trip, I flew 6 segments, and had no trouble at all with 5 of them. On one segment, out of Christchurch (NZ) they weighed my carryone luggage - it was a bit over 23 kg (you are allowed 6 kg). I had the Toyo, 3 LF lenses, a Nikon F5, two lenses, three boxes of Fuji Quickloads, two boxes of 50 sheet Velvia and a light meter. I was able to distribute all but 9 kg of weight, by putting things in my pocket and fanny pack (the Nikon went around my neck) and was allowed to go to the gate that way. But, you never know if you will be so lucky ... or if you will have to check some valuable equipment.

John Kasaian · Jan 6, 2006

Sounds like your scenario was made for a Crown Graphic with graphmatics or ready loads shootin' on the fly. Not my preferred way of lf-ing, but it gets the job done and its a great conversation starter.

Have a great trip!

BradS · Jan 6, 2006

If only the range finder on my Crown Graphic were actually even close to useful...

MattCarey · Jan 6, 2006

Curt said:
Offer the tour guide pictures of the group in exchange for bringing the LF.

I was sorta thinking along the same lines. What if Brad took his Crown and 1 lens and did portraits on the boat during the downtimes.

It would leave him less time to read his math book, though...

Matt

PCGraflex · Jan 6, 2006

BradS said:
If only the range finder on my Crown Graphic were actually even close to useful...

Don't worry about the rangefinder. Zone focus instead as much as you can. I suggest a DOF scale for your lenses so you can preset distance based on exposure settings.
You gan get by with a lot this way.

MattCarey · Jan 6, 2006

One last suggestion--

You will of course be bringing an APUG T-shirt so you can post an image of you wearing it on the islands, will you not?

Matt

BrianShaw · Jan 6, 2006

MattCarey said:
On one trip, the flight in was on a small bush-plane. They said that baggage was limited to something like 15 lbs....

After all that, they didn't even weight the baggage!

Matt

My younger brother went on a photosafari to Africa a couple of years ago. They had a rediculous weight limit. he brought a F-100, a big bag full of film/batteries, and several lenses... including a 300 mm that probably weighs 15lb by itself. To do this, he voluntarily forfeited the opportunity to bring clothes. After his 2 week trip we were reluctant to welcome him home. He told the same story about the baggage never being weighed.

roteague · Jan 6, 2006

One thing, on an airplane flight, cargo pants and fanny packs are your friends. You would be surprised what you can put in them.

David A. Goldfarb · Jan 6, 2006

roteague said:
One thing, on an airplane flight, cargo pants and fanny packs are your friends. You would be surprised what you can put in them.

Indeed. I've gone through metal detectors with 20 rolls of 120 in my pockets, and I probably could carry twice that.

BradS · Jan 7, 2006

David A. Goldfarb said:
Indeed. I've gone through metal detectors with 20 rolls of 120 in my pockets, and I probably could carry twice that.

That take some...eh, cajones.

MattCarey said:
You will of course be bringing an APUG T-shirt so you can post an image of you wearing it on the islands, will you not?

APUG tee-shirt? (a-la the character "Dong" in Sixteen Candles when he says "Automobile?"

raucousimages · Jan 7, 2006

I was at Valey of Fire state park outside of las Vegas. In the time it took me to set up a Toyo 810M and make two images at an overlook two tour groups in three busses came and went. No one had time to even set up a tripod, they were realy fast. I love LF and MF but sometimes I only cary a 35mm rangefinder.

seadrive · Jan 7, 2006

You've probably already decided, but here's my two centavos:

If your goal is to take pictures that will serve as mementos of a once-in-a-lifetime trip with your wife, then take the 35mm, or hell, take a digital point-and-shoot.

OTOH, if your goal is to create one (possibly more, but the key is "possibly only one") photograph that you will be proud of, in a place that you will possibly never return to, then take the Ebony.

Your wife can always bring the point-and-shoot camera for the mementos anyway, right? But if you don't have the 8x10 with you, then you cannot possibly make that one picture.

That's the hell of LF. There's just no going back.

KenR · Jan 7, 2006

I took my 4x5 to Acadia National Park some years ago. The wife and kids were tolerant to a point, but it really wasn't enjoyable for any of us. I figured that a medium format outfit was cheaper than a divorce and so use medium format for trips where I am with family and "non-camera" people. My wife and I did a two week China tour in 2004 which worked out well, although I can say that I while I spent a lot of time changing rolls of film, I was never late for the bus. I save the big camera for when I'm by myself or with my camera friends.

Kimberly Anderson · Jan 7, 2006

There is, in my opinion, only one solution to your dilemma: Quit going on trips with tour groups.

Take your LF gear (lots of it), rent a car, get some maps, and take your TIME. If this is truly a one in a lifetime trip (I really hate that phrase), then you will be really angry with yourself when you are forced to use the wrong equipment for the subject matter you wish to photograph.

Good luck with your decision!

roteague · Jan 7, 2006

Michael Slade said:
If this is truly a one in a lifetime trip (I really hate that phrase), then you will be really angry with yourself when you are forced to use the wrong equipment for the subject matter you wish to photograph.

I think Brad said he was going to the Galapagos Islands. That puts a whole lot of restrictions on what he can do; especially since he is staying on a boat, not on the island itself.

hortense · Jan 7, 2006

Tour Large Format

Les McLean said:
I'd take ther LF gear Brad and make them wait as long as I could then stand the flak after the event. It's a once in a lifetime chance so be selfish. Not the best way to win friends but hey fella this is photography that we are messing with. Whatever you decide have a great time

Les- You are my man!

Terry Hayden · Jan 7, 2006

lf in galapagos

My wife and I went to the Galapagos last spring - truly awe inspiring
in so many ways...

The rules are that the groups on shore can consist of no more than 15 or so people and there absolutely has to be a licensed guide with each group.

Unfortunately, this tends to lead to a herding process while on shore. The guides do vary considerably in their tolerance for stragglers, but I didn't see any situations where they would have been able to accommodate a lf'er.

In our situation we were on one of the more sizeable ships ( MV Galapagos Explorer). It carried 90 people. While the excursions were incredibly enjoyable, the issues of group schedules dictated how long we could be ashore on any one island. Being as that the guides wanted the group to see certain things and follow certain paths, staying behind would have been a problem.

If you are in a smaller group you should have more options. There were any number of two to eight to sixteen passenger boats that we came across. They had a much more flexible schedule.

We also found that, despite dire warnings, the fight operator from the mainland to the islands didn't seem too concerned about weight.

I didn't bring any lf gear, but if I go back I will - and I'll go with a really
small group.

One option you might try would be to see if your ship has any qualified guides that aren't booked for a tour when you hit an island. For a few extra bucks you might convince them to go ashore with you.

But you do have to keep in mind that, by their laws, you have to be accompanied by a licesnsed guide. Not that I saw any attempts to enforce this, but being off on your own could get complicated in many ways.

Good luck, I know you will enjoy the experience one way or another.

Terry

Kimberly Anderson · Jan 7, 2006

Terry Hayden said:
One option you might try would be to see if your ship has any qualified guides that aren't booked for a tour when you hit an island. For a few extra bucks you might convince them to go ashore with you.

This seems to be perhaps the best solution.

If you're on a ship then you might make yourself visible before you get to the islands by cleaning or inspecting your gear on deck, maybe taking some LF 'test shots' on deck or something similar to let those others on ship know you are a serious photographer with some unique gear.

Odds are you'll find another like-minded soul that would be interested in maybe even splitting the fee for a quasi-private tour with a guide.

If not, you ought to see about doing that on your own. It's a great idea and could end up being your most profitable time shooting.

David A. Goldfarb · Jan 8, 2006

Sounds like once you've done some scouting down there, Brad, you'll have to organize the APUG Galapagos LF tour with its own private guide.

Troy Ammons · Jan 8, 2006

My first choice for a big neg and mobility would be a Mamya 7 and 2 lenses or a Fuji 690.

Plus 220 MF film is so much easier to deal with than 4x5.

My next step up that hopefully would keep the group leader from killing me would be a 4x5 folding camera with a RF or something like a fotoman with a WA lens, that I could just stop down focus, with about 8 graphmatics or a bunch of readyloads.

The fotoman is pretty much point and shoot, but I like a RF. I use a Super graphic and use the wire hoop a lot for hand held.

What i have been doing lately is carrying 4x5 and 645 via a Fuji 645 auto camera that I can use one handed. 35mm does not do it for me anymore. The fuji 645 cameras weigh around 2#. The 645 fuji cameras are really point and shoot cameras and are perfect for travel, and very useful when you dont have time to set up or hassle with 4x5 plus with 220 film you get around 30 shots per roll. I am not sure that 220 is available in all parts of the world though.

BradS · Jan 8, 2006

Hi All, Sorry to have not kept up with the community. As our departure date draws near, I find less and less time for my usual routine. I spent the whole day yesterday fixing all those little nagging plumbing issues that we've just lived with for a while - my wife doesn't want her parents to call a plumber while they're here and we're not....

Anyway,Thank you all for all of the suggestions, insight and support. The outpouring is almost overwhelming. There are some really good ideas and suggestions too.

Here's my plan as of about 10:30PM yesterday. I've decided (tenatively) to take the following kit...

Lowepro Micro Trekker-100 with the following...
- Nikon FM3a
- Nikon AIS lenses 28/2.8, 50/1.8, 105/2.5 180/2.8)
- a handheld light meter
- filters, spare lens caps, spare batteries, lens brush, etc...

Another small hand held carry on bag:
- Nikon FA with second 28/2.8 AIS mounted
- Crown Graphic with 135mm Xenar (focus scale is calibrated for this lens)
- film lots 35mm including 7 rolls of Kodachrome 25 and a little of 4x5 perhaps 25sh of 320TXP and 20-30 sheets of Provia or E100G

In luggage:
- ten film holders
- changing bag
- empty film boxes
- monopod (if it arrives in time - da^%& Adoramma waited three days to ship!)

Thanks all! We leave ***EARLY** Thursday morning. Hopefully, my kids won't burn the house down while we're away!

Love you all!

Brad.

PS...An APUG trip sound like the ticket!

luvmydogs · Jan 8, 2006

wow! Brad - have a wonderful trip. I'm sure you'll have a blast and I look forward to seeing some photos from the trip.

roteague · Jan 8, 2006

Have a great trip Brad, and bring back lots of pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!

Largeformat with a tour group?

MattCarey

Curt

roteague

John Kasaian

BradS

MattCarey

PCGraflex

MattCarey

BrianShaw

roteague

David A. Goldfarb

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BradS

raucousimages

seadrive

KenR

Kimberly Anderson

roteague

hortense

Terry Hayden

Kimberly Anderson

David A. Goldfarb

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Troy Ammons

BradS

luvmydogs

roteague

Largeformat with a tour group?

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