Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/07/06

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Final thought on snobbery
From: Eric Welch <ewelch@ponyexpress.net>
Date: Mon, 06 Jul 1998 07:38:05 -0500

At 10:59 PM 7/5/98 -0700, you wrote:

>with that huge lens on it.  The photographer who was clearly between shots
>and not looking through the camera said with a scowl : "an expensive one"
>and looked annoyed that the person had dared to interrupt him.  Give me a
>break.  Never mind that his set-up was taking up a quarter of the entire

Well, when one carries a lens like that, people can get very annoying with
their questions. The guy really has no excuse for being rude for sure, but
a simple answer will be the best option. My usual reply to a dumb question
from an art director one time while I was shooting is: "No it's not a zoom
lens, it's a telephoto."  It was my 75 Summilux. I looked real annoyed for
a second, then I snapped out of it and explained what the difference was,
and she said "Oh, no one ever took time to explain it before." She was
obviously young. Earlier she had asked for a Polaroid form my R8. :-)

I had been in the worst freelance job I'd ever been in. I was shooting ads
for Bayer, at a Plasma center they own. My Broncolor Flashes (the best
there are if you ask me!) are tripped by infrared slave. Unfortunately, the
security system AND the plasma machines themselves are run by infrared
somehow. Anyway, whenever a plasma machine did it's thing, my flashes would
trip. That meant pop, pop, pop about as fast as I could imagine it
happening. Then my flashes would set the plasma machines into diagnostic
mode, while people were hooked up to them! Ouch! I was sweating bullets,
under extreme pressure, and apologizing all along as I was shooting, hoping
that some pictures came out. I didn't need an art director distracting me
with dumb questions. But I kept my cool. Ended up sending them over 30
frames, and I'm still waiting for payment a month later. 

I like being a staffer and a photojournalist. I'd go nuts if I had that
kind of job more than once a year.
- -- 

Eric Welch
St. Joseph, MO
http://www.ponyexpress.net/~ewelch

The secret of the universe is @*&^^^ NO CARRIER