[Leica] Home again

[firkin@netconnect.com.au (Alastair Firkin)]

Dear friends,

We've made it back from Japan, and delivered my two nieces safely back to
their families. The trip was a huge success, thanks to the people of Japan,
who are friendly, courteous, respectful, honest and in most cases warm and
welcoming. Only 2 grumpy taxi drivers and one grumpy salesperson in 2
weeks, and not a single rip-off !! The success was also partly due to luck-
the girls found a sale of second-hand Kimonos and were able to therefore
afford real silk, and also to the efforts of Claes Bjerner, [who gave us so
many useful tips on Tokyo], Paul Brodek and Ayako, [whom I owe a box of Tim
Tams for confirming our reservations at Takayama - the best Ryokan/Minshuku
we stayed in], and Satoshi Oka, [who with Jun Nakajima and the other
decandant Leica users gave us a great evening and day in Kyoto.] Others
also gave us help and tips. This group is a fantastic resource.

Last night we attended a slide meeting for a potential trip with Leica to
Vietnam. More travel with like minded people is hard to resist, though I
must admit the thought of setting off again did not raise enthusiam at this
point. It did raise an interesting question however, and one I should like
to put to the group. In Japan, there are cameras everywhere. The Japanese,
take photography very seriously, and all seem to be equipped like fully
fledged pros. They are happy to be photographed, and pose readily for the
camera, expecting the same of you. [The girls adorn the photo albums of
about 200 Japanese children by now].

The question; should we always ask permission before taking someones
photograph? In doing so, you end up with mainly posed portraits, some fun
[especially children], but many stiff and dull. I suppose this "stiffness"
could be overcome with communication and time, but when travelling there is
rarely too much time for that intimacy. In some countries of course they
strongly object to having there image recorded [would you still try/want to
photograph the people?] and in others, you take an image only to pay the
sitter a fee, usually in coinage [which is why I used the TLR Rollei in
Egypt]. The travel company urges us all to ask, and I'm not against this,
only that the images will not be those that I am after. I asked Leica at
the meeting about their feelings - HCB, who seems to embody the Leica
technique and philosophy would not have been asking all his subjects, and
indeed his concepts would have been often ruined by doing so. Leica were
diplomatic. Yes we always ask, but sometimes if you are using people as
shapes or part of a scene as HCB it is not really the person you are
imaging and sometimes it seems being unobtrusive is as polite as directly
asking. OK- how do all of you go about capturing the people you see on
trips, what are the ethics involved and can we get some sort of LUGnut
concenus?

Back to Japan - I will be posting my home page dedicated to Japan over the
next 2 weeks, when the Kodachromes are back, and will let you know, so that
you might comment and critisise my efforts. As for equipment, Tokyo is a
Leica heaven. I found the best selection and very professional service  at
Lemon Camera in Ginza. I held and tried the Tri-elmar, the new polarizer
[both of which I would have bought but they were only for demonstration],
picked up a 21 asph for the M, a 35-70 zoom for Helen's R7, the 100mm macro
for her as well, then thought hang it you only live once, and entered the R
world with a chrome R8 and 70-180 zoom and winder. The snaps/prints we have
back from these cameras/lenses have been wonderful and we are both very
excited- I found I still preferred the M for wide angle and mid range work
and loved using the zoom tele for longer work. As I've said before I'm not
really a telephoto user, so tips on the use of longer lenses will be
greatly appreciated as time passes. The winder however seems to have a bug;
without warning, it fires the shutter and advances the film - as a result,
I have several images of my blurred Nike runners taken whilst the camera
hung around my neck. Has anyone else struck this one?? On one occasion it
fired off two shots, but usually only one. So the winder had to come off
for the rest of the trip, and will find itself back home in Germany perhaps
in the near future.

Sorry to be so long winded, but you could be thankful that I don't just
keep rabbiting on at the mouth, so good and interesting has been our trip.
My next installment will be of the DL meeting in Kyoto, but I'll let you
all go for now.

Good to be home
Cheers

Alastair Firkin,

http://users.netconnect.com.au/~firkin/AGFhmpg.html