The Beautiful Journey of Shooting 8x10 Film in Death Valley

The Beautiful Journey of Shooting 8x10 Film in Death Valley

I recently came across this great series of videos that follows Landscape Photographer Ben Horne as he travels through Death Valley with his 8x10 cameras and deals with anything from cameras falling off the top of dunes to chipmunks chewing through his engine wiring. It's a fascinating and enjoyable series to watch that gives a wonderful inside look at the love of the art.

Ben Horne's landscape photography vlogs are highly enjoyable: they offer a very realistic look at the struggles and triumphs of the genre with a pacing that underscores both the meditative nature of the practice and the patience required in its pursuit. His recent set of videos follows him as he spends time in Death Valley, a beautiful, but challenging location. I really recommend watching the entire series, as the story it tells is strong; you can really follow both his photographic process and the emotional ride as he endures hardships.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Film Reveal

Return to Death Valley

Horne provides all his YouTube content ad-free, relying on the donations of his supporters. So, if you liked what you saw, be sure to subscribe to his YouTube channel and consider a donation.

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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5 Comments

Amazing! Thanks for sharing.

Now that's a real "full frame" camera.

The last photo is great! Ben seems to have problems with leaving his camera set up overnight. Perhaps, if he would collapse the tripod legs to just one section, it would have a lower profile and also have a shorter distance to fall should the wind topple the tripod.

Yeah, he mentioned somewhere that this is the first time he's ever had issues with that. Such a bummer!

I'm sorry, I don't want to hate on this guy but 1- Death Valley has so much more to offer than the places he chose to spend all his time. And 2- He must have more money than he has sense (as evidenced will all his expensive camp gear, truck and those 8x10s aren't cheap) I mean, really!? camera fell over once the day before and he chose to leave it out overnight again and expected a different result?