I’m trying to get a new gallery posted to my new website every week to get some content built up. This week is Ireland. The photos come from 2002 — the last international trip I made before moving to digital. The shot above comes from a frosty morning overlooking Killarney.

I still remember going through airport security with my large ziplock bags full of film. I’d taken the film out of their boxes but had left them in their clear plastic canisters. The security folks would first try and run the bags through the x-ray but, when I asked for a hand check, they would comply by taking each roll of film out of each cannister and wiping them with little swabs they held in tongs. Needless to say, with hundreds of rolls of film, it made the connections a little tight.

I do everything I can to make getting through airport security a simple thing. On days that I’m flying I take all my change out of my pockets, don’t wear a belt and make sure I have shoes on that slip off easily. My camera bag is packed to hold my keys and anything else metallic that I need to have with me and it all rides through the x-ray machine just fine. I like to do what I can to get through the metal detector in one try so that I can catch up to my gear as it comes off the conveyer belt on the other side.

The security people have an important job to do and it’s often a thankless one. By doing everything I can to make their job a little easier it will hopefully make both our days a little better.