Re: [Leica] Leica Bug

[Charles <chaslor@mindspring.com>]

Subject:     Re: [Leica] Leica Bug
Sent:        6/14/98 10:11 PM
To:          leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us

I've enjoyed everybody's post on this subject. It makes one reflect on 
one's own growth. Familiar story, born in '61 my parents had a Polaroid 
land camera. I used to get the biggest thrill when they let me be the one 
to take the picture. Instant too! Fast forward to a Kodak 126 then a 110. 
At 15 I got a Vivitar 35mm. It was pretty cheap. It always previewed when 
stopping down so everything got dark so I never stopped down. To this day 
I prefer wide open. Got into it pretty well till other things preoccupied 
me. I abused the Vivitar to the point of really wanting something more. I 
got a Canon AE-1 with a couple of lenses. Nikons were too expensive. 
Photography seemed to be something I could to do for a living. 
Practicality won out and I went to a local tech school. Not interested, 
goodbye. During this time I really got into shooting. Shot a roll of 
Kodachrome once and didn't shoot anything else for several years. I was 
dirt poor at 19 working in a factory spending all my cash on pot and 
Kodachrome. It's the best way to learn to expose film. Not stoned, but 
poor. Lots of bad exposures and lots of wasted money. But eventually, 3 
out of 36 missed exposures.

A flash of inspiration sent me to art school. Studied commercial 
photography. Left school with a student's portfolio and set out to assist 
commercial photographers. I worked for nearly ten years as an assistant. 
Travelled the world on shoots for Nike, Am Ex, Nikon, cruise lines, and 
the likes. Learned a ton. We shot with Nikon and Hasselblad mainly, did 
some other stuff on Sinar and Linhoff. The guy I worked for had a couple 
of Leicas. We never used them but I thought they were pretty cool. 

Then I went out on my own. Had built up a pretty good selection of stuff, 
had converted to Nikon by this time, but still no Leica. Always in the 
back of my mind, but not in the front of my pocketbook. I shoot most 
assignments on the Hasselblad. Square clicks with me from a design point 
of view. Finally, commercial success enabled me to indulge, an M6 w/ 35 
Summilux! Wow! An eye opener. Literally. Changed the way I see and work. 
Still can't shoot with it as the main thing when working, but am weaning 
it into the picture. It's my "personal" camera. I need more. Started 
trying to learn all things Leica. Subscribed to this group. I like it. I 
look forward to years of use. There ya go, that's my story and I'm 
sticking to it.

Charles