[LargeFormat] largeformat in aeroplane

[Dan Andrews]

Tom--

I'm new to LF but amazingly experienced at traveling with LF gear.

Here's how new I am: I got my first LF camera while in the US for
Thanksgiving.  That's less than two weeks ago.

Since then, I've traveled with LF gear on six separate flights to two
different countries.

I'm an American living in Cairo Egypt.  Most of the time, I teach
history, but when I can get away with it, I take pictures.  35mm wasn't
satisfying enough and digital doesn't look like it will provide
spiritual fulfillment, either.  So I bought a whole heap of used LF
gear: a Toyo 45 monorail camera, Nikkor-W 105-5.6 lens, Quickload film
holder, pack of Velvia, and a case to haul this stuff in.  Desert
landscapes and Islamic architecture seem like logical places to start
... but I'm getting ahead of myself.

First, getting the gear from the US to Egypt:

Mistake: Correctly believing the case would protect my gear, I foolishly
double-checked the carry-on baggage allowance before coarding my flight
from the US to Egypt.  Seeing that the case was too large, I checked it
on the plane.  Upon arrival in Cairo, the case (and its contents) were
not to be found!  A baggage trace took three days to determine that it
neever left the airport of origin, and would be sent by December 3.  The
case arrived, intact, but I had to retrieve it from Customs.  Customs
helpfully suggested that I pay a hefty duty on the goods, or have them
permanently inscribed in my passport to prevent me from selling them in
Egypt and making a profit.

I let the Customs guy scribble in my passport, then began scheming to
get the gear OUT of m passport lest I be forever condemned to giving my
carryon baggage allowance to a huge piece of metal and glass.

Got the bag home, opened it, and Toyo's custom-built case did the job,
protecting the contents with no damage at all.

Now, to get it OUT of my passport, I got a quick and cheap flight to
Cyprus on December 5.  I fully disassembled the monorail, standards,
bellows and GG, packed it into a Tamrac camera backpack (carryon!) and
headed to the airport.  I fully reassembled the camera for Egyptian
Customs so they could strike the notes from my passport, then
unreassembled the entire camera, packed it up, flew to Cyprus,
rereassembled the camera, shot my first few frames of film,
reunassembled the camera, packed it up again, etc.

Returning to Egypt, I passed through Customs a second time without a
glance.

Lessons:
1. Do not check your gear, no matter what.  Carry as much as you can
with you in the smallest pack possible.  If you must pack a piece or
two, make sure they are not fragile, or critical to your work.
2. Use a backpack.  It is so much more comfortable and so much less
conspicuous than any type of shoulder bag.
3. Make sure you know how your gear works so that you can break it down
as fast as possible, JUST IN CASE.
4. No matter why you're lugging the gear, use it as a chance to shoot.
Instead of my first LF photos being desert landscapes, they are
Mediterranean landscapes.
5.  Do not, no matter what, under any circumstances, lose it when you're
at airport security.  Most airport guards are very competent, and those
who are incompetent have inflated egos.  Either way, better to be
helpful and patient and polite.

Next step:  to those desert landscapes and the Islamic architecture.

Regards,
Dan

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*                                                *
*                  Dan Andrews                   *
*             Cairo American College             *
*     High School Social Studies Department      *
*                                                *
*        Home email:  danger@mindless.com        *
*       Work email:  dandrews@cacegypt.org       *
*                                                *
*               Visit my website:                *
*        http://www.danandrewsimages.com/        *
*                                                *
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