Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/01/20
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Birkey, Duane writes: > As some of you may know, we've had a mini Lug outing in Ecuador... > > That would be George Hartzell and myself... I'd like to thank Duane for playing host to me over several days. He made my trip much richer. It's a great thing that folks from the LUG are willing to take time out from their lives to visit with others! I ended up spending a night in Miami on the trip down, so I didn't think that Duane was going to be able to meet me at the airport as planned. I speak almost no spanish and didn't have particularly good directions to the hotel my group was using, so I was pretty nervous about how I was going to get there. I'd screwed up my courage and was working my way out of the airport to the cabs for big mystery trek when I heard someone yell "George". Wow, was it a relief to see Duane smiling there! He spent that afternoon and evening with me and my friends, drove me up to Otovallo (a nearby town with a large market) the next day, and gave me a tour around the "Middle of the World" and his offices later in the week. It was great to hang out and talk cameras, to shoot, and to see his home. He came in useful in other ways too.... > Anyhow... I did have a chance to spend some time with George... One of the > more humorous moments so far was when he got snagged trying to climb over > some razor wire at the presidential palace.... I did get to know George on a > more personal basis through that event.. But maybe I should let him tell > you that story... : ) Wow, you make it sound so impressive. There's George at the Presidential palace. Serious Events are happening, but we're prevented from seeing/shooting. First Amendment! Freedom of the Press. Over the wire.... Sadly, it wasn't that dramatic, though the consequences could have been. There was a leftover roll of razor wire at the end of the patio that we were walking down, presumably from some earlier craziness. Rather than walk back to any one of the many other open stairswells, I decide that I can just strech and reach over. It seems that you have about a 35 inch inseam to make it over a spool of that stuff w/out hanging up. I'm just a bit shorter and managed to catch the inside of my jeans. Razor wire's like flypaper. There I stood, with one foot down on the far side, one foot up in the air, and every time I'd hop to keep my balance I'd stick another part of my pants onto a new barb. As the saying goes, it could have been a _lot_ worse. Once I was free, a video crew that had enjoyed the demo showed us how to unhook the wire and the others just walked on through. Where the fun in THAT? > Unfortunately we were too involved in getting him free to take pictures... > Oh well.. I guess it leaves more for the imagination.... I'm glad that no one took the time. It might have become "ugly". > After a few hours around old Quito, we had dinner together and George was > kind enough to let me borrow his Noctilux for a few shots and wow... Now I > really want one... Mea culpa.... > If the strikes end, or the president, congress and the supreme court resign > by Saturday (like that is going tom happen)... we hope to spend Sunday and > Monday photographing the highlands. If not, we'll have to settle for tear > gas and police clashing with demonstrators.... well... something like > that... Well, the strike didn't materialize while I was down there, but it did control my movements in the final days of my visit. We ended up spending an afternoon out at The Middle of the World (equator tourist site) and I got a great tour of Duane's office. As I mentioned above, it was definitely service above and beyond the call. I haven't seen any of my M6 work yet (back from the lab tomorrow evening), but got back the rolls of stuff that I shot w/ the Nikon SLR while running rivers. Some happy stuff, some trouble with steamed up lens, some trouble with dim light/slow film, some great thoughts that didn't work, and one or two that did. I'm really happy that I had a chance to take the trip and that I lugged my personal albatross along on the river. One of the high points of the trip was hanging out with Phil DeRiemer, half of DeRiemer Adventure Kayaking. He's a world class kayaker (many first descents to his credit), an incredible kayaking instructor, and a great adventure kayaking tour guide. He's also an excellent photographer with a lot of great work to his credit. He recently was profiled in the July/Aug/Sept issue of Photo Insider and shoots for a variety of outdoor mags (e.g. Outside) and gear manufacturers. I really enjoyed hanging out, benefiting from his "lessons learned the hard way", and just talking about the sport and how to record it. I don't think that they advertise "adventure photography" as a perk of boating with them, but maybe they should consider it! Of course, just boating with him and Mary (the "other" half of D.A.K.) down there would have been worth it by itself.... Phew. Now to dig out and catch up with my "real" life. Thanks again Duane! g.