Colombia

[henrysamson]

Hi,

Does anyone have any experience traveling to Colombia (South America) by air with 8x10 or any knowledge of what may be available in Bogota as far a black and white film and chemistry are concerned?

Thanks!

Hank

[Michael Rosenberg]

I was there about 12 years ago with my medium format camera. There was on store in Bogata that you could get 120 film, but nothing larger was visible. I would suggest exercising great care. The hotel we were staying at provided a trusted cab driver that stood by watching my gear bag while I was photographing.

How you dress is also important - I stood out as an american because I wore sneakers! Not a good situation. I threw them away and bought some black dress shoes to wear with my jeans!

Mike

[sergiob]

Not as bad as people say. I live in Bogota, and it is actually a safer place than other cities such as Rio, Sao Paulo, Caracas and so on. You will not get LF film, so bring a good stash of it. You can develop slide film up to 8x10 locally, though I don't know how well. I only shoot BW that I develop myself. The nice thing about LF cameras is that they look like worthless old cameras, too large and heavy to steal, especially if it requires a run to do. I feel a lot safer with them than with DSLRs, which are very valued items to steal any place on the planet. If you need more specific info send me a PM. There great photo opportunities here. And regarding chemistry, you can get Rodinal, D76, HC-100, ID11, and similar off the shelf stuff. And you can use my humble lab if you need. And you will stand out as being a foreigner not because of your sneakers, but because of the language you speak.