One of the blowback pitfalls of 9-11 has been how difficult is to fly as a large format photographer. Part of my commercial career was on site work with 4×5 and 8×10 format cameras. Often on site shoots required flying to whatever location, schlepping camera cases and forking over overweight and extra luggage charges to the airlines. Sheet film was always encased in x-ray proof pouches, and it was a simple matter of telling airport security that there was unopened boxes of film in the film case. It wasn’t particularly easy to deal with, but it was manageable.
No longer. Traveling with large cameras, film, tripod and lights on an airplane is a nightmare beyond imagination. I finally gave up. I’ve even given up traveling with a Hassleblad and film (my point and shoot camera of choice). So, I’m like ever other digital photographic slob out there, which may not be such a bad thing. But I still miss making 8×10 images on location.
The image below was taken of my son, Alex, on the southern tip of the Osa peninsula in Costa Rica with an 8×10 Sinar P2. I miss traveling with big cameras, and I’m glad I took the time to make this image of him.
