Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/08/08
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]LOL! Things have certainly become strange since September 11th, you are sneaking around with your 11x14, I attracted 3 squad cars outside St Louis in January while taking pictures of some old gasometers. Apparently Al-Qaeda operatives on reconnaissance missions can be expected to take photos using Hasselblads on large tripods, with their entire kit (extra lens (wide), teleconverter, proshade, filters, 45 prism, etc etc) spread out on the hood. Have you ever tried to explain to a cop what a light meter is? Apparently, it's analogous, to a Geiger counter or radar. Even I'm confused which. I had just visited St. Louis State Hospital (It's closed:))- and copied part of a book on Thomas Kirkbride. The last page gives a standard plan of his design, about 5x7". "Are those blueprints?"... "You have to understand sir, we do have to be careful." Yes occifer. So if the crop circles are not being made by you, I do hope whoever is making them does check with you. The thought that the first alien contact will be at the local station is more than I can bare:) (R8 with 19mm lens - kept that quiet - VERY nice!) Best Stuart Phillips - -----Original Message----- From: Jim Hemenway [mailto:jim@hemenway.com] Sent: Thursday, August 08, 2002 2:38 PM To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us Subject: [Leica] Crop circles - was Newsflash! Incoming Pic Stuart: You're closer to the truth than you think, as for as the Police are concerned. Last Autumn, a few weeks after September 11th I took a few "vacation mornings" to carry the 11x14 and required other stuff over to Horn Pond to shoot some chromes of a swamp maple. (I also brought the R8 with 19mm lens, on topic sorta). The first morning I attracted a lot of folks who wanted to know what I was doing. I invited them to look under the black cloth to see for themselves. You probably can guess the rest: "I can't see anything!" "Why do you bother with this, my Nikon is better and it has a meter in it already?" "Something is wrong, it's upside down!" and "I don't get it, is this some kind of television?" One woman looked under the cloth, made a grunting sound and walked away, more on her later. One man in his late 60s and was named Jerry. He was a lot more interested and asked me about the big filmholders, the lightmeter, etc. A week or so later I was in the same spot trying again for the same shot as I had ruined the first when trying to process it in a print drum in the kitchen sink... hard to keep the correct temperature. Jerry came by and told me that a woman had written a "Letter to the Editor" to the Woburn newspaper asking if anyone had checked out that man with the big camera to see if he might be taking pictures of the pond to find places to drop POISON. Jerry went on to tell me that he had TAKEN CARE of things for me. He had called the police and told them that he had met me and had visited my web site and that I was "legit." When I later dropped by the police station myself, the two in the office at first pretended that things had become serious for me but then happened to look at each other and started laughing. They allowed that they had no idea of the identity of the grunting woman... my first pick as the letter writer. So, if crop circles begin appearing in Winchester or Woburn, they'll probably check on me first. I can see the headlines, "Strange 61 year old photographer with televison-sized camera is being questioned by police about last night's crop circles, ties to Al Qaeda being investigated." Jim - http://www.hemenway.com - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html