[Leica] Report from the field

[David Rosen <DavidSRosen@compuserve.com>]

Lugnuts (and especially Tom A):

I thought I would momentarily un-lurk in order to tell you all how I spen=
t
my summer vacation and in so doing, share  a report from the field...

As some of you know, I'm fairly open minded format-wise (Leica M, Leica R=
,
Hassy, 4x5), and fairly close-minded subject-wise (almost exclusively
pictures of teensand pre-teens in their natural habitat).  I spend two
weeks every summer vacationing at a summer camp, the ideal venue for me t=
o
exercise my muse.  I've been doing this for nearly two decades.  I fill a=
n
entire car with equipment and spend a considerable amount of my vacation
time shooting (the rest of the time is spent decompressing from my day-jo=
b
and enjoying the accoutrements of summer camp-- nature, friends, sun,
beach, horses, etc.).  This year, as in recent years, I worked in all
formats.  It was my expressed goal to spend a lot of time behind the LF
camera.  Well, things turned out a bit differently...

To cut to the chase, I did the vast majority of my shooting with an outfi=
t
consisting of my M6HM, 50mm 'cron, Abrahamson RapidWinder, accessorized
with an Abrahamson "Softy" (red).  Despite no shortage of equipment to
exercise and play with, I'd estimate that about 75% of my exposures were
made with this single rig!!  Perhaps I was simply in "Mike Johnston mode"=
,
learning and plying the nuances of a single focal length, but I don't thi=
nk
this was it at all.  Really, I think that the HM/50/RW/Softy quartet
quickly became so organically a part of my hand/eye, that it was hard to
put down for a another photographic tool.  Public thanks to Tom for
creating his superb accessories and making them available to all of us.

For those of you on my postcard list, be watching your mailboxes.  But no=
w,
I've got 40+ rolls of film to develop, so I'm off to the darkroom!

Best,
DSR