Re: [Leica] OK Walter, I'll Bite

[Walter S Delesandri <walt@jove.acs.unt.edu>]

Kevin, that's a great idea.  (although I don't think I set myself up to 
grade any stories!)

I have enjoyed the evening/mixed light stuff for years, and it sounds 
like you have a system all worked out.  And no, there's not a better 
tool for the job that I know of.  

One thing I do know, which you already have noticed, is that after 
a fatiguing day, sitting in a bar or laying infront of the TV makes it 
worse.  Getting out walking around with a camera is the best "therapy"
there is!

Good luck, and maybe some of you could post photos as attachments if 
you have access to a scanner.

CU later, 
Walt
On Mon, 16 Nov 1998 12:16:17 -0800 Khoffberg <khoffberg@email.msn.com> 
wrote:

> Apologies to all - I posted this incorrectly a few hours before. Anyway . .
> .
> 
> Walter recently wrote:
> 
> "I'd love to hear more about their experiences, stories, travels, dangers,
> drunken stupors, etc. and a hell of a lot less about the DAMN 135 lenses."
> 
> I'm new to the list and still trying to understand the lore, conventions,
> taboos, shibboleths, rules, and secret handshakes of the LUG.  I will say,
> however, that I'm thoroughly fascinated by the threads, much more so than
> medium format digest which I also get.
> 
> Anyway, here's my "experiences, stories, etc."
> 
> I guess I fall into the sister of that cursed "doctor" category.  I'm
> president of a consulting firm in California and find myself flying hither
> and yon to the tune of 120,000 or so miles a year.  For the last year or so,
> I've been carrying my M6 and some other gear in pursuit of a project which
> I'm calling "Ends of the Day."  I don't know how many hard core travelers
> there are out there, but it can be pretty hard to do anything other than
> drag back and forth to the hotel room and order room service when you're on
> the road for clients.  So I resolved to take my camera and make myself get
> out and shoot pictures both before and/or after the work day.
> 
> In Miami earlier this year, this resulted in some splendid sunrises off M.
> Beach.  I also went for a couple of walks in the Art Deco district and shot
> the neon and passers by.  My typical solution is M6 on a small gitzo, 35mm
> 2.8 or 50mm 2.0 at f11 and 6, 8, and 10 second exposures (E100S).  Got some
> really lovely stuff.  (Don't have a nocto.  Like the slow exposures.)
> 
> Many trips to NYC at different times of year generated some lovely late
> afternoon stuff in and around Times Square (hand held 50mm).  Most recent
> trip I did my tripod trick up and down Fifth Ave. (Empire State Building in
> red) and slow handheld inside Grand Central Station.  You all probably
> already know this but the city takes on a different feeling at night.
> Pictures that wouldn't amount to a hill of rattlesnake poop suddenly take on
> a whole different quality.
> 
> A trip to Chicago found me wandering along the water to Navy Pier.  Low and
> behold, they've spruced it up since I was last year and have quite the
> arcade going there, complete with a wonderful old carousel, Ferris Wheel,
> and wonder of wonders, fireworks.  Same business with the tripod, settings,
> etc.
> 
> More of the same from Sydney, Santa Barbara, Seattle, and elsewhere.
> 
> So what do I conclude by all this?
> 
> 1) I have a pretty extensive Hassy rig and a bunch of Canon stuff and I
> can't imagine doing any of this with anything other than the Leica.  I know
> what exposures work.  I set the hyperfocal distance and I'm done.  Not to
> mention it's a much smaller kit.
> 2) Getting my ass out of bed in the morning (that darn time zone thing)
> and/or making myself change my clothes and go back out on the streets after
> a full day has proven a wonderful tonic for the work sodden soul for all the
> reasons I'm sure all of you understand.
> 
> In fact, some of the folks around the office were sufficiently taken by the
> whole proposition that they've started to carry their cameras around and
> take pictures as well.  Double in fact, we're going to publish some of these
> pictures as part of a product we have called Stop Winging It(r) which is a
> sales related journal.  The "ends of the day" theme serves as a reminder to
> our users that they should stop and look around every once in a while.
> There's beauty and wonder in the details of even the most prosaic or
> troubling day.
> 
> So how'd I do Walter?  Hope this is a reasonable missive for this forum.
> 
> Cheers
> Kevin Hoffberg
> 
> 
>