Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/07/02
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]>I wonder, have any members of LUG been robbed while traveling? >Bill Lawlor bill, i've never been robbed - while traveling or at any other time - and i hope i never will be! (hope i'm not speaking too soon!) i live in los angeles (ted's favorite city), and worked as a musician there for some 20 years, lugging expensive musical equipment in and out of bars and clubs all over town. at one time i rehearsed in a warehouse downtown, just off l.a.'s skid row (7th & gladys, near san pedro st., for those who know the city), and on occasion, some of the people living in the alley would actually help load equipment back into the warehouse when we would return from a gig at 3 in the morning! to bring this back on topic, i'd just like to say that, like with musical equipment, i *try* to be careful and excercise some common sense when moving around the city with my leica gear. i NEVER run around town with my m6 hanging around my neck, bouncing off my chest as i walk or dangling from my arm, for the world to see. i always have the strap going over my neck and shoulder, the camera resting beneath my coat against my left side. i bring it up to my eye to shoot, and put it back when i'm done. it's not only safer this way, it's more discreet, and i (hopefully) don't look like a camera-toting tourist, a prime target for theft. when just roaming around the town, looking for an opportunity to shoot, i keep the camera and lenses in my bag - a domke camera satchel. it looks sufficiently unlike a camera bag to not necessarily draw any undo attention. when i find a situation i want to explore photographically, i take out the camera and go to work. when finished, i put it back in the bag and move on. if i'm in an area that doesn't look photographer-friendly, i don't take the camera out of the bag. this is my m.o. both in l.a., and elsewhere. while i tend to be slightly paranoid by nature, i haven't felt unduly so working in this way; i definitely would not want to have such wonderful gear, and not be able to use it because i'm worried that it will be taken from me. guy