Cattle Guard

Then, there is the damage done to lenses and fine equipment. Not to mention the screws in the cameras working themselves loose while driving on washboard back roads.

This is a problem for us all when shooting in the boonies and even in more civilized areas. Having had the great experience of driving into Death Valley from Big Pine, 78 miles one way on dirt, talk like powder, sand and grit for over 20 trips in a short time, as well as my habit of shooting in the middle of nowhere in the Western USA, I have eaten too much dust. I am not always successful in keeping it out of the gear and off the film, but I am successful more often than not & want to share some of the strategies of keeping stuff clean & in good repair.

I start with my vehicle. Since I carry everything from 35mm to a borrowed 8x20 I tend to have more film surfaces than most to catch & hold dust. On some trips I will have 3-5 35mm bodies and 3-7 lenses for them. One or two 4x5 cameras with both chromes and B&W loaded, usually at least 50 sheets minimum, plus a changing bag and an extra 50-200 sheets of film with me. The 5x7 back for one of the 4x5 cameras(the Ikeda Anba). Then possibly an 8x10 and/or the 8x20. Oddly enough, even though I have them I seldom have a 120 back or camera in all this stuff. That is only personal preference as many friends have & love 120 format. I just don't shoot much of it.

I first check over the vehicle. I prefer a 4WD, for years using a small pickup with a camper shell. I now have a small S10 Blazer which I like better for travel. It seals tighter which helps me in my fight against the dust. It also has a roof strong enough to hold me, tripod & camera when I want a higher viewpoint. As for being dustproof, it isn't perfect. I am still working on that. I start by a good cleaning in the carwash or at home, including the inside areas of the doors and the tailgate & rear window. Then I hit all the rubber sealing gasket areas on doors, windows and tailgate with ArmorAll. Oversoak it. Saturate it. This will help stop a lot of dust from coming into the vehicle and will provide a lot of protection.

Then, I treat all the windows with RainX. This 'slicks' the glass & dust doesn't layer on it as heavily, it seems to fall away, almost like magic. In the rain, once I hit about 30 mph, I don't have to use wipers either as the rain runs off like on a newly waxed finish. It also makes the bugs on the windshield easier to clean off. But, it does help with the dust. I treat inside as well since I have found doing so to make it easier to clean dust off with a damp cloth after treatment.

I put down my ground pads in the back of the vehicle. I sleep on Ridge Rest foam pads used for backpacking. I find they absorb a lot of vibration that would otherwide get to the cameras. On top of them I put an open Army surplus sleeping bag or a cheap Coleman type bag. This further absorbs vibration and allows me to layer it over the gear as well. I put camera cases on the sleeping bag and layer the top of the bag or another one over it. Bag or blanket, use something that doesn't have a lot of lint. I also find the army & Coleman style bags don't generate as much static electricity as my nylon backpacking bags. One other advantage of these cheap bags is that if you come upon an accident or emergency, you can leave it if needed and not be out much money. I buy them at surplus outfits, yard sales and thrift stores. They are a far cry from Marmot, North Face or heavy duty bags but they provide a lot of use for protecting photo gear.

I usually keep my gear in camera cases. Everything goes into the same place every time. I can reach into any one in the dark & know which lens, meter, cable release, etc., I am getting. It saves a lot of time and aggravation. I usually only zip the cases. If I know I am going into the areas where the talk style dust is, I wrap the gear I won't be using right away in plastic garbage bags for double protection. Then, after I have it all in place in the car or truck, I spread a light colored blanket over the whole thing for one more round of protection.

Am I paranoid, going to so much trouble? Have you ever picked up a 600 f/4 and 1.4 teleconverter and put them on the camera body & have them fall apart in your hands? I have and so have a number of other photographers I know. Vibration kills cameras. It backs screws out. It loosens everything. It is a killer.

With sheet film in holders, it causes problems. Especially when combined with dust & grit. Load your holders, stand them on end as many sheet film users do and then drive through Monument Vally for a couple of hours. Throw in the dirt road up the Burr Trail and through Capitol Reef for good measure & then look at your processed chromes with small scratch marks, all running in the same direction. The exact length of the play the film has, up & down, in the film holder. It happens. Moreso with Fuji than Ektachrome(I don't know about Agfa). Fuji emulsions are softer than Kodak emulsions and scratch more easily in the holders. There are two main solutions. One is to use quick/readyloads. The other is to lay the holders flat. Set them on end and the film bounces up and down. Lay them flat & it is minimized and you will seldom have another scratch from this cause.

Put your sheet film holders in ziplock bags and then in a cooler with a lid that will fit tightly. Pad the inside of the cooler with a number of old, well worn and washed(less lint) towels. These will be used later on location by getting them damp & wiping down stuff-a big help during your travels. Then, if you expect really dusty conditions or the wind is whipping up a sandstorm, wrap that in a trash bag. If you hit a bad dust storm, use only an older or beater camera for shooting as the bad ones get dust everywhere. Don't push your luck with the F5 no matter what the ads say. If it gets bad, dampen a few towels & lay them over the sleeping bags covering your gear. Damp cloth absorbs a lot of dust that would otherwise filter into the gear & bags.

When you drive, dust seems to be everywhere. When I can I drive with the fan on and the air circulating in the vehicle. As long as I am not following someone or in a duststorm, this keeps a positive pressure inside my truck & helps keep the dust from coming in. Try it, turn the fan off & drive awhile and then do it with the fan on. It works. If you plan on going far in your vehicle, make a few short trips no dusty roads & then come back & carefully check around every door, wheel well, and tailgate or trunk. You will be able to see where the dust is coming in. Newer vehicles are sealed better than the older ones, but they still leak. I get some spray on rubberized coating and spray the small areas under where the dust enters. Tears in the rubber sealing strips get replaced or repaired. Windows, doors, wherever dust comes in has to have attention or you will end up eating dust the whole trip.

I carry 35mm film in the factory cannisters. It seals well. If it is really dusty I keep all the extras in a cooler with a damp cloth over the top & a couple of towels under it for padding. It helps a lot & you just rinse the towels & replace them, clean & re damped, at rest stops. I also take off the top blanket & shake it out when we stop. You would be surprised how much dust gathers on them, dust that would be filtering down to your gear without the protection.

Cameras are precision machinery. If you have digital gear or tend to carry a lot of nylon in the vehicle-carry a can of some kind of static neutralizing spray with you. When you stop & start taking gear out, spray some around. Static attracts dust. I spray & wipe down with damp towels & it helps a lot. I think(mainly mental-little difference in reality) it even helps in the middle of the night when I am in the nylon tent in the sleeping bag in the middle of a cold night. As I said, it is a mental crutch more than anything here as I can almost read with the static light show when getting in and out of sleeping bags in the dark. I don't know anything that really helps here. When it is too cold to use a damp cloth for wiping you can guarantee static. The dry desert areas are particilarly bad, as is anywhere once it gets below zero.

Changing sheet film on location can be a real bear. Static electricity, dust & dirt, heat & humidity, heat & dryness. All seem to conspire to attach both film & equipment. A good changing bag helps. But most of the rubberized and well sealed changing bags quickly become sweat soaked, humid swamps while changing film. Put a small well worn towel in the changing bag & it will help a lot. Change a few holders at a time in short sessions, allowing the changing bag to dry a bit between each. It quickly becomes miserable and you don't want sweat dripping on the film.(it can happen) And, from personal experience, don't get in the back of a blacked out camper shell, covered with sleeping bags in Death Valley in the summer. Instant swamp inside & your water intake for the next two days will increase tenfold. It is miserable. The smaller purpose built changing bags are a lot nicer, easier to use and safer in these conditions.

Some may wonder at my padding so much camera gear so heavily for travel. If you take a lot of dirt roads you will understand. The last trip was into Hole in the Rock. 112 miles of dirt. Twelve of it, the last 6 both in and out, are 4WD only. You only need it for about 100 yards, but without it you may get in but probably won't get back out. But all of it is washboard, rutted and with some good whoop-de-doos. Washboards smooth out very well after one gets over 50 mph. But with ups and downs as well as curves & the dust layered 2-6 inches thick in many areas of the road this speed is often an impossiblity. Add to that the fact that you are going along and 20-40 mph and then hit a couple of washouts that put you airborne by surprise and you will quickly see the benefits of extra padding. My latest has more ceiling padding than the last truck & it is easier on the head because of it when I get surprised. It try to not let it happen, but it still gets me every now and then.

A few items in the camera case help once you are on location, hiking or using the gear. One is a good boars bristle shaving brush. I brush stuff off with the bristles and tap the camera a few times as well while holding it up. This gentle tapping dislodges dirt particles I can see fall out. Canned air seems to blow it into the cracks. I also use a static neutralizing brush with sheet film holders & it works OK. A damp cloth helps here, usually a bandanna I would wear anyway.

When I can, during our travels, I hit a car wash. I soak the doors in the vent holes & watch mud run out. I spray all the cracks around the door jambs & tailgate & then hit them with more Armor All, it helps a lot. It also makes the traveling easier as I feel cleaner. This has to have a beneficial effect on my shooting.

I find that protecting gear pays off big time in fewer images lost to dusty damage. Fewer pieces of camera gear falling apart on location and fewer repairs needed after trips. Keeping gear cleaner helps me to enjoy the trip more. And if I enjoy it more I tend to go more often. So, if you are going to Hole in the Rock, my vote for the worst road getting into one location in the lower 48(even worse for me than Death Valley & Monument Valley), a few precautions will keep your gear clean and your film ready to use.

If you go into these areas when it is raining, you face a whole new set of problems and a deadly set of dangers. Flash floods, mud that won't wash out and hypothermia in the middle of the desert are only a few.

Rain, snow & wind combine to form a more deadly combination than heat in the desert. Hypothermia is a real danger and more prevalent than you might think. If you hit these conditions the rain jackets you packed & use for padding will come in handy. The extra hundred dollars you paid for a good 4 season tent may save your life, not to mention your photo gear. The extra sleeping bags you use for padding can come in very handy. Dust isn't the problem here, mud and cold are. A hot summer day can quickly turn into a cold, wet, miserable night if you aren't prepared. Extra baggies, ziplocks & trash bags, not to mention camera bags like LowePro all weather models come in handy. The real problem is you keeping warm & dry.

The extra towels you packed for padding & vibration absorption will help a lot when getting in and out of the car while shooting in the rain. A good umbrella is nice when it isn't too windy. Light gloves & an extra pair of boots and socks are good for more than just comfort. And the shovel you always keep in the vehicle can be used to rebuild roads after the ever present flash floods wash out the road you drove in on. This is when you are glad you packed extra food and a water filter. Even in the rain you need to drink fluids & if you get trapped for two days or so while you shovel & push rocks into a washout before you can drive out you will be glad you brought the stuff.

If it happens to you, getting stranded by weather, use the time for photography. Deserts in rain are underphotographed. Even if you have to sleep in the vehicle, try to enjoy it. Bundle up in the extra sleeping bags you use for padding & relax. The rain will end and things will dry out. The mud will be thick, stick & miserable & may never wash out of some of your clothes. But the precautions you took with your camera gear for protection from the dust will work in the rain & mud also. And if you get stranded in most of our US remote areas you can drive to, remember that there really isn't any place in the continental US that you can't walk out of to 'civilization' within two days if you are reasonably healthy.

Yes, I protect my gear as much as I can in dust, rain, heat and cold. My basic rule is that if I can stand it the gear and film probably can as well. This has held up through the years quite well. Even in coastal areas with the salt water and salt spray. Since I live on the shores of Great Salt Lake here in Utah, I see salt in even greater concentrations than in the coastal shores. All the same protections I use for dust work well here. But combine high salt & minerals blowing in the air with hot & dry & it sure can be miserable. Especially when the damn no-see-ums start going after you. But that is a topic for another time.

Attached image: This cattle crossing sits in the road on the way to Hole in the Rock, about 60 miles outside Escalante, Utah. It is one of the most punishing roads in the Desert Southwest. To get all theway to Hole in the Rock, you need a 4WD vehicle. Once there you realize the only way out is to drive the 57 miles back. Washboards and dust and the site where a group of Boy Scouts died when the brakes failed on their vehicle. Fifty Mile Bench parallels the road. It is the formation you see on the right, jutting in your path as you head toward Lake Powell. Massive sandstone formations are everywhere, with you having to drive over the petrified sand dunes on the trip. Even if you can't go all the way there is plenty to see and visit in the canyons, rock formations and dunes as you travel.