Going to Iran next week! Check me please.

[lsucadien]

Negative film to fight the high contrast in the summer. Negative film has way more latitude then slide film or digital.
Kodak ektar 100 will give you nice results close to slide film. The new Kodak portra 400 is just gorgeous. BUt I'd take two bodies to mix films.
http://michielfokkema.wordpress.com/?s=tehran


Cheers,

Michiel Fokkema

Michiel, I enjoyed this series very much, thank you for posting. I shot half a roll of Ektar 100 tonight (ran out of light), I'll finish it tomorrow evening and see how she looks. Thanks again for the help everyone!

 

[lsucadien]

I visited Iran some time ago, working on a travel story, I shot everything on med format film, and considering the light and your experience with film I would suggest colour negative film, if I was going now I'd take Ektar100. I would keep gear to a minimum, there's nothing worse than the confusion created by having too much gear to choose from when your surrounded by information overload.
Iran is an extremely beautiful and interesting place, with some of the nicest people I have ever met. Not once did I feel unsafe with my large camera and tripod etc, in fact if anything it made people come and talk to me! the first question was usually why do Americans want to change us? I'm not American, but the resulting conversations were always interesting. Iranians are very educated intelligent people with a great cultural history. Take every opportunity you get to talk to them, the man in the street is more than often nothing like the regime would make you think. Like anywhere in the world one needs to be careful and observant of what is around them, even here in New Zealand!

Thank you for the suggestion, I'm looking hard at the Ektar 100, shooting a test roll now.

I can't wait to experience the Iranian curiosity and hospitality. If they are half as friendly as the Syrians I'll be thrilled.

As for that question, I'm actually really glad you posted that, if asked I'd like to have thought my response through.

 

[ZeissFan]

I really like Portra film. The reformulated film has excellent color and much more latitude than slide film.

When I traveled, I was always very cautious, especially when in countries ruled by totalitarian regimes. In my case, it was China. And when I was in Tiananmen Square, for example, I didn't push my luck. I generally always felt safe in China, except for the time when I was taking photos near an embassy (and didn't realize it), and the guard almost began to chase me.

But I did the same things that I suggested: photocopy of my passport, extra RMB and kept my passport in a body wallet under my clothing. I think these are common sense things.

A colleague had her passport stolen (can't recall which Asian country), and it was a major ordeal getting it replaced.

I also had a colleague's wife get ripped off in Hong Kong -- group of youths surrounded her. One sliced her backpack and removed her wallet. Within 30 minutes, they had maxed out her cards.

I just think you should always be cautious. Not paranoid. Just be aware of your surroundings, especially if you're an American in a country that is hostile toward the U.S.

Just ask those dumb American hikers -- of whom two are still sitting in an Iranian prison. And it doesn't matter if they're political pawns. The bottom line is that they're still in prison.

Of course, this might not apply to you with regards to Iran.

 

[lsucadien]

I really like Portra film. The reformulated film has excellent color and much more latitude than slide film.

When I traveled, I was always very cautious, especially when in countries ruled by totalitarian regimes. In my case, it was China. And when I was in Tiananmen Square, for example, I didn't push my luck. I generally always felt safe in China, except for the time when I was taking photos near an embassy (and didn't realize it), and the guard almost began to chase me.

But I did the same things that I suggested: photocopy of my passport, extra RMB and kept my passport in a body wallet under my clothing. I think these are common sense things.

A colleague had her passport stolen (can't recall which Asian country), and it was a major ordeal getting it replaced.

I also had a colleague's wife get ripped off in Hong Kong -- group of youths surrounded her. One sliced her backpack and removed her wallet. Within 30 minutes, they had maxed out her cards.

I just think you should always be cautious. Not paranoid. Just be aware of your surroundings, especially if you're an American in a country that is hostile toward the U.S.

Just ask those dumb American hikers -- of whom two are still sitting in an Iranian prison. And it doesn't matter if they're political pawns. The bottom line is that they're still in prison.

Of course, this might not apply to you with regards to Iran.

I appreciate the advice. The great thing about touring as an American in Iran is that they force you to sign up and use a government sanctioned tour service. It's the guides job to keep you out of trouble, letting you know what is or is not appropriate when they are with you. However in other countries, Syria for example, one has to be much more cautious, the secret police are everywhere and they appear out of no where.

 

[Ranchu]

You should also take a small film point n shoot, imo. And a bunch of superia 200.

 

[rxmd]

I appreciate the advice. The great thing about touring as an American in Iran is that they force you to sign up and use a government sanctioned tour service. It's the guides job to keep you out of trouble, letting you know what is or is not appropriate when they are with you. However in other countries, Syria for example, one has to be much more cautious, the secret police are everywhere and they appear out of no where.

I've spent a fair bit of time in Iran and I had several occasions when people from the various branches of security services and law enforcement looked at my camera and asked me if I was a foreign journalist where I could see that they were getting tense. (I'm German and I speak Farsi). Seeing that you have to be around a guide anyway all the time it's good to rely on the guide as much as possible. For one thing, behave like a tourist and try to avoid engaging in covert candid street portraits, hip shooting and that sort of thing.

The situation in Iran is tense at the moment for a number of reasons, the regime getting nervous about revolutions in the Arab world and there are reservations against foreigners over the questions of nuclear power generation (as the Iranians see it) or the nuclear bomb (as the West sees it). That said, the Iranians are one of the most friendly people I know, and people in general are quite favourable to the US as soon as you get out of the official channels - everybody has relatives in California and people watch Iranian-American satellite TV all the time

The CLE and lens selection sounds fine, apart from the usual caveats of embarking on a journey with gear that you're not 100% familiar with. However, I think it's a fundamentally bad idea to start shooting slide film on a big tour when you have no experience with it before. It's tricky enough, I think, that you should get some experience before going on a trip, or if you can't get that, take negative film instead.

 

[starless]

I've been to Iran a couple of times. It is one of the safest places in the world. Just avoid shooting around military buildings. There are usually signs along the fence of a military base or area that photographs are forbidden.

 

[lsucadien]

First of all, NEVER go on a big & important trip with a new camera setup 😀

Having said that, and knowing that you'll do it anyway 😉, I would suggest that you only take one type of film, and plenty of it. Since you seem to have a preference for ASA100 film (which is a good choice for general photography), I would take at least 15 rolls of it (one roll of 36 exp. film per day of sightseeing, plus a couple of rolls extra.

With a rangefinder (i.e. no mirror slap) and non-zoom lenses, you should be okay with 100-speed film in most low-light situations.

Enjoy -- and show us some results afterwards 🙂

Ha you're right, I'm gonna do it anyways and *hope* I capture some beauties while there.

I will most certainly post the results back here when I return (Easter, give or a take a couple of days to develop and scan)!

Thank you for your kind and helpful response!

 

[lsucadien]

I've been to Iran a couple of times. It is one of the safest places in the world. Just avoid shooting around military buildings. There are usually signs along the fence of a military base or area that photographs are forbidden.

Glad to hear you felt it was safe there, funny seeing your location. My first trip to the middle east we actually tried the whole "No we're not Americans, we from Canada!" just in case the Lebs/Syrians were none to happy with us visiting, turned out to not be further from the case.

Sometimes I wish I was Finnish, Canadian, Norwegian, Swiss, etc, no one seems to have a problem with people from countries like that.