Shooting Large Format Film in Dallas

Over the years, my day job has taken me to a number of different places. As such, I have enjoyed the opportunity of getting to photograph a number of different places. Recently, I’ve been spending time in the Dallas metro area and this last time, I decided to take my large format camera along for the ride.

Flying with large format film is definitely an adventure and one that I have now done on three separate occasions. In the United States, you are presently allowed a hand check of all film, saving it from going through the scanner. This is especially beneficial when you are traveling with a 100-sheet box of Delta 100 like I was on this last trip.

To prevent security officers from randomly opening my film boxes (and exposing / ruining the contents!) I always tape all sides with gaffers tape. This actually works quite well, because if there is any concern from the security officer around what this box contains, this allows there to be civil conversation around how the boxes contain light-sensitive photographic film and opening them would ruin the contents. This conversation (if it even happens) is usually fast, cordial, and sometimes leads to more interesting conversations about analogue film and photography in general. I have been treated very well by our security officers in the United States and have no concerns traveling with this setup as long as I tape everything up.

For this, my first business trip traveling with the large format camera, the weather was all but a bust. The temperatures were in the 30s Fahrenheit and it rained a significant amount every day. There was one night where the rain let up and it happened to correspond with the night that I was out with one of my co-workers to specifically do large format photography. It was his first outing with a big camera and the conditions were certainly less than ideal. Even though it wasn’t raining, the wind was gusting quite a bit and it was a very humid cold, the worst kind in my opinion. That said, the bad weather had also made this a fantastic night to be out making images as the tops of the buildings in Dallas were covered by a fog and the Trinity River had flooded, making for a very unique composition with some nice atmospheric elements that aren’t usually there.

I have the following images to share from that night:

Both of these images were shot on Ilford Delta 100 developed in Perceptol 1+3.