[Leica] My upcoming photo trip (long)

[Jim Brick <jim@brick.org>]

Hi all,

Wednesday morning (4:30 AM) my wife, my daughter, her best friend, and I,
are leaving for three weeks in Europe, and, of course, Photokina. I am
going to relate the approximate path of our trip, through England, Holland,
Germany, and Switzerland, just in case there is an opportunity to meet a
LUGnut along the way. Except for two Aunt's in England, we are avoiding our
normal friends, relatives, and acquaintances on the rest of the trip
because we want to explore and photograph, not visit. However, the
exception... LUGnuts.

We arrive in Manchester England Thursday 8AM. We will get a car and go
directly to Bradford (my wife was born there). Visit one aunt, spend the
night (recover), spend the next morning in Bradford, then north to Bellerby
(1.25 miles from Leyburn to visit the other aunt. Spend the night in
Bellerby, then through the countryside and to York. Spend the night in
York. It's the 6th today. Drive to Stratford-on-Avon, spend the night.
Drive to Burford, spend the night. Drive to Bath and on to London. Spend
two days in London. Turn in car, take the train from London to Amsterdam
(Sept 11). Get a car and drive to Darmstadt Germany. Briefly visit European
Space Agency (my old stomping grounds), then on to Heidelberg. Spend the
night. On to Tubingen, perhaps Konstanz, spend the night. It's the 12th. To
Lichtenstein, Lucern, and Interlaken on the 13th. Two days in Interlaken
(Jungfrau etc.) then to Lausanne, Vallorbe, spend the night. It's now the
16th (or 17th) and drive straight to Bonn Germany. Spend 17th, 18th, 19th,
and morning of the 20th at Photokina. To Amsterdam on the 20th. 21st in
Amsterdam. Home on the 22nd.

The above probably looks like rush rush rush. But we aren't going to do
that. We will simply do what we want, as we go along. The distances for
most days are short. The only critical items are the train from London to
Amsterdam on the 11th, Photokina on the 18th & 19th, and home from
Amsterdam on the 22nd. The itinerary above is a best guess of our time and
path. And I outlined it in case there are any LUGnuts near where we are
going to be. If not, maybe I'll see you all at Photokina. Morning of the
19th? at the Leica booth, 11AM? Let me know.

What am I taking? In a LowePro MiniTrekker (small backpack), two R7's, one
for Velvia, one for B&W (APX 25), 28/2.8 PC, 50mm Summicron, 70-180/2.8
Vario APO, and polarizers, ND grads, KR3's. A small Carbon fiber tripod and
B1 ball head. The R7's will only be used on a tripod, MLU, etc.  In my
vest, while wandering around towns, inside stuff, and other non Velvia type
places, an M6, 35/1.4 ASPH, latest 50mm Summicron, latest 90mm Elmarit. In
clear one gallon zip lock bags, and in the old, really clear, Fuji
canisters (I saved them from years ago) 40 rolls Velvia (at EI 40) for one
R7, 40 rolls MS100/1000 (at EI 200 & 800) for the M6, 20 rolls APX 25 (EI
25) for the other R7, assorted rolls (28) of E200 & T400CN for the M6.

The clear gallon bags and clear canisters are for airport security. Each
bag tightly holds 32 rolls. After putting in four rows of seven film
canisters, put in four canisters crosswise just below the zip lock. Zip it.
Then fold the zip lock (blue and yellow make green) over tightly and tape
it down. This will hold the cassettes tightly in their rows, all aligned,
so they can be viewed without any problem by airport security.


My daughter is taking her R7, 35-70 E67 zoom, 70-210/4 zoom, and a 24mm
Elmarit. She will be using print film mostly (Agfa Portrait 160), some
E200, some T400CN.

I will photograph more things with the M6 than with the R7's. Because the
M6 is hand held and carried around. The R7's will be used for great 'scapes
and scenes that would look good as a large Cibachrome. Tripod, incident
meter, bracketing, with and with out filters, etc. will burn up a lot of
film. For the same amount of film used, I will photograph easily ten times
more "stuff" with the M6, than with the R7's. But for a different end.

My wife does not take photographs. She's great at carrying equipment and
standing around waiting. But she loves the results. My daughter is really
into photography (the art of photography - she is a musician - piano). I
need to spend more time with her on the technical stuff. She has been using
her R7 on "P" mode and I have to tell you, the results have been
outstanding. My R7's have only seen "M". It's nice to know how well they
work on "P".

gotta go,

it's late,

Jim


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