Film in the Desert

T

That Guy

Guest
So I'm planning on a trip to the Southwest this summer. Yeah, I know; desert in the summer, I'm crazy. But you gotta love heat like that. :D

Anyway, I'm sure that Arches and Bryce will have plenty of landscape photo-ops. But temperatures will probably hover around 100 degrees during the day, at least. I doubt I'll have the AC on in the car, if at all. And about half the time, I plan on being in the backcountry. So I'm not sure what the heat may do to my film. Do I need to worry? Any advice on what to do? I'll be out for around a week.
 
heat can be a killer...i have used various coolers for day trips. small beer coolers to vinyl sandwich coolers, usually with a frozen gel pack inside.

joe
 
I live in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It's hot, but it is a dry heat (grin). The best part of it is that in a dry heat, a little shade goes a long way. Keep your film or film container out of the direct sun, and you should be fine, really. If it really seems like it might get that bad, a cooler as suggested should easily do the trick. It's not like you're in a sauna down here!

I'd worry more about letting your camera bodies or glass sit out - there have been cameras that have burnt holes in rangefinder shutter curtains, etc. Metal bodies heat up in direct sunlight down here pretty quickly!

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
In my experience, Joe got it right. Last summer I used a vinyl lunch bag with a gel cooler and it kept my film cool all day, even inside the car. Had to re-freeze every night, but it worked.
Mike
 
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