Large format in the Amazon Rainforest

[Francisco Disilvestro]

Good suggestions here, If you can keep everithing dry (as in your Dryzone 200) I would be more worried about the heat than humidity, so keep the bag where you put your film always in shade.
About your 15 hour boat trip, Is it a large boat with cabin or a small open one? If it is a small open boat, assume that everything will get wet and will be exposed to strong heat.
Besides vaccines and bug dope, bring pills against diarrhea and vomit. Also quinine is recommended against malaria
Bugs will be the most annoying thing by far, especially one very small (smaller than mosquitoes) which I don't know the exact name in English or Portuguese. In Venezuela (where I live) they are called "Jején" and they can pass through regular mosquito nets. You'll need a very fine screen. Anyway ask the locals what would they recommend.

[Charles Young]

Hey Scott,

Where exactly you going? Mamirauá reserve?

I recently took my LF kit to the Amazon and had no issues at all with humidity, animals, sickness etc... but I'd suggest taking some DEET for early morning and twilight shoots, because that's when the mosquitoes are out (not at daytime or night). Just keep your stuff on the bag and make sure it has a rain cover in case you're travelling on a boat with no cover. The amazon is surely humid but it's not gonna dissolve your equipment!

some shots from my recent trip: http://www.brazilianlandscape.com/ga...2009_Tapajos12

Cheers and enjoy!

Charles

www.paisagembrasileira.com

[Greg Gibbons]

Hey Scott,
...
some shots from my recent trip: http://www.brazilianlandscape.com/ga...2009_Tapajos12

Cheers and enjoy!

Charles

www.paisagembrasileira.com

Beautiful shots Charles! What camera did you use? Seems to me like using LF is impractical for a lot of those.

I'm going to go to either the Amazon or Costa Rica soon, and trying to decide whether to take the Crown, or just a Mamiya. Suggestions?

[Francisco Disilvestro]

A medium format system will be more practical than LF in those environments. You wil trade Image quality for convenience of course. Just the fact that in those environments it is difficult to stay clean (your hands will be sweating and get dirty very easily) will make the use of LF more difficult.

[jwaddison]

See your local health dept. regarding a recommended anti-malarial drug. Most malaria is resistant to chloroquinine now.

[John Kasaian]

I was on the Mammon tributary of the Amazon years ago.
My observations:
#1 A good guide is invaluable!
#2 Bring drinking buddy along (the beer is chilled in kerosene powered refrigerators and is icy cold. It comes in large bottles but becomes tepid almost as soon as you open the cap, so quickly pour two glasses and chug it. If you try to drink the whole thing yourself the beer will become hot about halfway down the bottle)
#3 Wait unitl you get the South America to start taking malaria tablets----buy them down there, since they know what works in the area you'll be visiting.
#4 Wear lightwieght cotton clothes (long sleeve shirts you can roll up) and bring a hat
#5 Minimize your equiptment---gear grows amazingly heavy and "snag-able" when you're carting it through the jungle.
#6 Bring lots of Chiclettes gum. The kids love Chiclettes!
#7 Beware of thieves. They are more likely encountered in tourist hubs like the airports ( having a savvy guide is your best defense!)
#8 Don't accept any packages someone might ask you to mail for them when you get back home (you'll be begging for trouble with the authorities of you do)
#9 Don't worry about snakes. Let the snakes worry about you.
#10 Photography supplies even in larger cities was practically nonexistant when I was there, and what was available was very expensive.
#11 Have fun!

[Charles Young]

Hey Greg,

Thanks! Indeed I should have mentioned on the previous post I was also carrying a digital kit w/ a tele for the wildlife... The only LF-suitable place I found was alongside the Tapajós River - the B&W pic with the rock on the foreground and the falls on the mid-ground. It's the digital shot on the gallery. I only just recently developed the film, which has some different viewpoints and compositions, and haven't scanned them yet.

The camera choice for me is based on weather it's a photo trip (assignment, workshop, etc) or just regular travel. If you're planning to stay a few days on each spot and explore, take the Crown, if not take the Mamiya (I'm assuming it's a 6 or 7!) which is more responsive for the 'grab' shots.

Btw, carry water ALL THE TIME - and I mean 2 litres+! - I've never sweated so much in life as in the jungle.

Cheers,

Charles

www.paisagembrasileira.com

[Heroique]

Bugs will be the most annoying thing by far, especially one very small (smaller than mosquitoes) which I don't know the exact name in English or Portuguese. In Venezuela (where I live) they are called "Jején" and they can pass through regular mosquito nets. You'll need a very fine screen. Anyway ask the locals what would they recommend.

Just for fun, a few additional words about all the insects…

Alexander Von Humboldt may a dead-white-affluent male – and his entertaining observation below may be more than 200 years old – but the greatest European naturalist who ever visited the Amazon basin may, nonetheless, have some words of wisdom about the airborne animals that could surprise you in June!

“Those who have not traveled the great rivers of tropical America, like the Orinoco or the Magdalena, cannot imagine how all the day long, ceaselessly, you are tormented by mosquitoes that float in the air, and how this crowd of little animals can make huge stretches of land uninhabitable. However used to the pain you might become, without complaining; however much you are trying to observe the object you are studying, the mosquitoes, jejunes, and zancudos will tear you away as they cover your head and hands, pricking you with their needle-like suckers through your clothes, and climbing into your nose and mouth, making you cough and sneeze whenever you try to talk. In the Orinoco missions the plaga de las moscas, or plague of the mosquitoes, is an inexhaustible subject of conversation. When two people meet in the morning the first question they ask each other are: ‘Que le han parecido los zancudos de anoche?’ and ‘Como estamos hoy de mosquitos?’ (‘How were the zancudos last night?’ and ‘How are we for the mosquitoes lately?’).”

Sounds like he was missing three modern solutions you won’t have to:

1) Decide how much Deet repellant you think you’ll need
2) Double that amount
3) Repeat #2

[jwaddison]

I was on the Mammon tributary of the Amazon years ago.
My observations:

#3 Wait unitl you get the South America to start taking malaria tablets----buy them down there, since they know what works in the area you'll be visiting.


#9 Don't worry about snakes. Let the snakes worry about you.

#11 Have fun!

Well, #11 is dead on, I don't agree with 3 or 9.
Most malaria drugs need to be started two weeks before arrival in the area, and continued for 4 weeks after. And they may not have the "best" drug, just the cheapest.
You shouldn't be paranoid about the snakes, but not careless about them either. They're not uncommon and some are very aggressive. Take your cue from the local people.

[Scott Chandler]

Thanks again for the advice.

I'll be photographing the remains of a former plantation town along the Tapajos river, I have a guide who is taking me there and he will be introducing me to friends who have allowed me to stay with them.

Large format is necessary, most of the prints will be around 36x45" and some will be 36x85", so I'll need the quality of a 4X5 (I don't like grain). Originally I was going to bring a 6x17 back or dedicated camera for the panoramic prints, but I think it will be better to just stitch two 4x5 negatives together, instead of bringing more equipment and roll film.