RE: [Leica] LA LUG Goes to ChinaTown

["B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net>]

Terry - That all certainly sounds more than a little worthwhile - I was
simply responding to what seemed to be your having felt severely constrained
in your shooting by the constraints imposed by competition judging
standards. So let me modify my original suggestion - which, like many of my
comments and suggestions, might have been a 'tad' extreme: Don't quit the
camera club - but do "throw out the judges rules for competition..." ;-)

B. D.

- -----Original Message-----
From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
[mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us]On Behalf Of tm
Sent: Sunday, March 17, 2002 9:03 PM
To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
Subject: Re: [Leica] LA LUG Goes to ChinaTown


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. ;-)





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