Re: [Leica] Leica bug

[ATanabe@aol.com]

Al Tanabe, 40, Mercer Island, Washington
My interest in photography started at a young age, just can't remember
exactly.  My father had  a subscription to National Geogaphic and Life
magazine whose images took me to far off places.  When you grow up on  small
island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean life is pretty much the same year
round and the sights are very similar.  Photography was a way to go out and
experience the world and record a story.  I used our Kodak Brownie to record
pictures of friends and family in B&W photos but wanted more.  My aunt from
Japan bought me a half frame Canon RF when I was 11, I was now hooked!  I
started shooting everything!  What a great experience!  I started shooting for
my 6th grade yearbook, but all the Time/Life guys were shooting Nikons and
Leicas!  
My parents, saw that I had really found an activity that they deemed "safe" so
they encouraged my obsession.  My mother purchased a Canon FTb on one of her
trips back to Japan (360 yen to $ days).  This just fed my addiction!
Entering high school I started shooting for the yearbook and my mother bought
me more equipment, Canon F1 and lenses in those days the dollar sure bought a
lot of equipment in Japan.  My father on the other hand, wanted to start
shooting with a Hasselblad, I of course objected :-).  So here I was a 15 year
old shooting with a bunch of great equipment and not making a red cent.  A
family friend owned a tour company that would photograph the tour groups at
certain vista points.  He saw some of my photos and offered me a summer job
doing these photos.  So at 16 I had my first job in photography.  
The local color lab that I got my film and prints done at took notice of my
interest in photography and offered me an after school job processing E3 and
C22, this progressed into printing.  One day a photographer stopped in to pick
up some prints and we got to talking.  He offered me a job as his assistant
and as he shot a lot of interiors most of his work was done in the evening.
This was great!  We did a lot of work for Sunset Magazine, Architectural
Digest and all the fancy restaurants in town.  The side benefit was that I got
to use all the equipment and darkroom to my hearts content.  In return I got
paid minimum wage ($2.25 per hour) but got the best learning experience that I
could imagine.  
At age 19 I started college at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.  What
an eye opening experience for me.  I was now being taught by people whose work
I admired but did not know who created it.  Avedon gave a lecture there,
Helmut Newton did a seminar, Pete Turner hired me to assist him for a month
long assignment in the desert.  By this time my collection of equipment grew
exponentially, Hasselblad, Sinar, Canon (soon to Nikon).  Still no Leica. . . 
Canon changed their lense mount so I changed my gear, to Nikon.  I knew that I
would be moving to San Francisco after graduation and that I would be close to
Nikon Professional Services.  NPS at that time loaned out equipment to any
professional and they just happened to be one block away from my studio.  So
Nikon was a logical choice to go to.  I specilized in shooting product and
food in the studio, mainly large format.  35mm work was done for multi media
slide shows so my Nikon gear was sufficient.  My wifes' grandfather shot with
a Leica M3, he took many trips around the world and shot some exquisite
slides.  The only lense he traveled with was a DR Summicron and although he
had a 35 Summarit he just used the one lense.  My fascination with the Leica
images was very intense, but if the gear failed (R3s were not the best) my
carreer would be on the line.  So I kept plugging away.  On about the eigth
year in business, fourth in my new studio, the economy took a major downturn.
With the downturn, my landlord wanted to double my lease rental to $3000 per
month.  I did not posses a Harvard MBA but it seemed logical, move or change
carreers.  I chose both.  
I sold the business, all the Hasselblads, Nikons, Sinar and lighting and
bought an R4sP, 28, 90, 180.  Went back to school in health care.  Two years
later, we moved to Portland, OR and started a new life.  My collection of
Leica stuff grew and grew.  The R4 was replaced by an R5 which in turn got
replaced with an R7 and now R8.  Lenses increased to include 21, 50, 100 APO,
180 APO, 280 Mod APO.  Oh, and it is the LUGs fault for my purchase of an M6
and 35 Summicron.  I now live on Mercer Island, Washington, and enjoy taking
pictures of far off places, just living out my childhood dreams.  
Al