[Leica] the loud mouth beats the quiet camera most every time....

[kyle cassidy <cassidy@hector.asc.upenn.edu>]

all this talk of photographing in cathedrals with quiet cameras urges me
to make a point ... it rarely hurts to ASK. especially with something
big and slow like a cathedral that's not going to get away from you. it
works like this:

tourist approaches woman leaving cathedral.

tourist: "this is a marvelous cathedral, i'm left speechless. do you come
here every week?"

woman: "yes, for forty years."

tourist: "amazing, it must be very inspiring."

woman: "oh yes it is, i never get tired of it."

tourist: "my name's darth jones, i'm from cleveland."

woman: "pleased to meet you, i'm mrs. furtnot. i've lived here since 1917
when we moved from alsas lorain. my whole family. mother, brother, six
dogs and a pig. i was 31 at the time i remember it as though it were
yesterday."

tourist: "so you know this town very well, you must. i love old churches
like this. i'd really like to take a picture of it to show my friends at
home. who should i ask for permission?"

woman: "why, monsegnior blursplat, he's right over there, i'll introduce
you.... monsegnior, this is mr jones, he's all the way from america."

tourist: "fantastic place you have here. it puts my local church to
shame."

msgr: "why yes, we've been building it since the 5th century."

tourist: "you're constructing it now? even today?"

msgr: "yes, yes, we just added a ping-pong table and a cistern."

tourist: "amazing. so it's been growing all this time?"

msgr: "yes it has. we're very proud of it, it's the life of our little
town."

tourist: "i was just telling mrs. furtnot that i'd really like to take
some pictures of the inside to show my friends at home. your church is
spectacular."

msgr: "of course, of course, mass is in session until 6:45, when that
let's out, please let me show you some of the best places, and
we'll get the sextant to let you up in the bell tower, you get a really
beautiful view of the town from there. and if you can come back tomorrow
afternoon around 3:30, that's when the light hits the stain glass windows 
and it's very spectacular."

tourist: "do you mind if i bring my tripod?"

msgr: "not at all, as long as it won't scuff the floor. say, is that a
leica! i have six myself!"

etc. etc. etc.

it really works & the ability to do it properly and enthusiastically is
one key difference between a great photographer and a tourist with a 
roll of snaps...... access is nearly everything.....

my .02

keep pushing that shutter button, it'll come unstuck.

kc