Somebody of questionable etiquette once said you can’t truly know somebody until you have slept with them.
For my entire digital career I have been a Canon loyal. That’s not to say that I never looked over the fence for greener grass, but essentially I have had Canons as my weapons of choice at weddings.
About a month ago I played with somebody else’s toys.
I took the new Leica M9 for a drive around somebody else’s wedding.
With no responsibility and a finely tuned pixel writer in my hands I had an excellent chance to momentarily decisively capture somebody else’s dream. (As a bystander)
There were several things in play here. It was not my wedding. It was not my camera. and it was not the first time I had ‘slept’ with a Leica.
Brett Prestidge kindly let me ride shotgun at his wedding.
I realised that we had different ways of doing our own ‘wedding thing’
That was a big lesson.
Brett briefed me on driving the Leica and then set me loose.
This camera is agile.
It is not for everyone.
It changes the way things happen.
It changes how you impact the wedding.
Suddenly I felt free.
Suddenly the technology did not rule the imagery.
It was strange because it took me a while to shed my Canon ways.
The freedom and agility took my breath, and then became the way I breathed. This of course will sound weird to anyone who has yet to have the experience, but trust me, it is real.
The urge to almost dance with a Leica is undeniable. The interesting thing was the difference between our dancing styles. Brett was a quiet and respectful dancer, gracefully moving from scene to scene gently aware of the people in his peripheral vision. I was more of the crazy dancer with erratic moves briefly flirting with the audience in my excitement of the new freedom I had ‘discovered’.
Who would have thought that a camera could do this to you.
The real lesson I learned was about different shooting styles. We all have our own way of doing things and can easily become myopic in our opinions and methodology. Having the opportunity to observe others in action allows us to get a better idea of other possibilities.
Thank you Leica. Thank you Brett.
Very well expressed in writing - and captured in the exceptional image. Once free, it is difficult to allow our creative spirit be bound with the chains of techno-lunacy again.
A pleasure to have you as my dancing partner, Johannes... I propose more worldwide collaboration and interaction with our fellow professionals... in search of freedom.
I agree Brett. There should be more interactions. I like the way you are thinking. You are always welcome to come and play in our backyard.
Happy new decade
Johannes