Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/03/17
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]B. D.: There are distinct advantages to belonging to my club and they are as follows. Months ago, frustrated to no end with the crappiness of the display of slides on the club's Kodak projector with a lousy 125mm Kodak lens, I called the club's president and, revealing my exasperation with same, told him I wished to bring in my Leica RT-S projector and 120mm APO lens so as to show all a remarkable difference. The dimwits in the club failed to register that, whereas the serious photographers surrounded me after the competition and gushed about the acute improvement in the display of their slides. Thus, therein I made a distinctly positive Leica impact on their experiences within that environment and we shared a quality moment and repeat that every time we gather. While there are, indeed, failures in some competitors' slides due to numerous factors, the successful, ribbon-winning entries are wonderfully educational and inspirational. And while some of the members, 80+ % of whom are elderly, exhibit dysfunctional personality traits I have bonded with some within that age group who produce exceptional images with various camera bodies and lenses and have exceptional personalities and dispositions. Therefore, I, in my 40s, have inadvertently established a commeraderie with some members of the generation that precedes mine and they continue to enrich my life as we communicate weekly via the telephone about their latest photo efforts and my efforts just the same. Third, while there have been some off-nights wherein many of the entries have been suboptimal, wonderful slide images nevertheless appear on the large screen and enhance the evenings. The elation amongst the members is palpable and it is so wonderful to see them experience a sense of elation, joy, or nirvana -- emotional experiences not necessarily easy to feel in my parents' generation while they are experiencing physical pain and the loss of life-long companionship. Fourth, as I failed to state before, the amount of learning I have experienced from the PSA judges' analyses of our slides has been valuable. They don't taint my efforts in the field; rather, their input provides a source from which I know I can learn to be a better image maker and aspire to be a more competent shutter release button presser, an improving/improved photograper with my Leica equipment. Best regards to you.... Terry - ----- Original Message ----- From: "B. D. Colen" All of which - in the message below - sounds like an excellent reason to quit the damn camera club, throw out the judges rules for composition, etc., that you have had hammered into you, and start all over again looking for subjects and ways to shoot them that appeal to you. ;-) - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html