Leica Akademie Weekend, Venice Beach, CA

The stars and the universe aligned for me for one day when Los Angeles street photographer, Craig Semetko Facebooked me, to let me know that indeed there was space for me to attend Leica Akademie the next morning. He was the guest speaker and Tom Smith was the Leica instructor. I jumped at the chance and never regretted it.

I could only attend one day out of the 2-1/4 day event due to the last minute notice, but I learnt so much about photography and the Leica M9. I was in heaven when Craig talked about how he made his shots and what his principles were to making great street photographs. Really looking at the aesthetics and design of a shot. Then Tom walked through on how to use the camera correctly and take advantage of its strengths. We learned zone and hyper focussing for depth of field or shooting for the bokeh. Tom is also a photographer. So between him and Craig, we were given lots of advice and tips. We had one on one and hands on photo exercises while in the classroom as well as walking several hours together on the street, taking pictures. Tom also touched on Lightroom principles and helped me begin to understand the workflow required.

After the all too short day, I now feel more confident using my camera. I hate to admit, when O first gave me the camera as a present, I just started shooting without really learning much about it.

Eberhard and Mary Jo Kuehne, the Leica district representatives were also on hand with their large selection of Leica M9 bodies and lenses. So I took advantage of the service and tried out several wide angle lenses. Eberhard was so dedicated to servicing the class that he schlepped a heavy case filled with lenses for the three hours we were walking. Just so we could switch out a lens at our leisure.

I wish I could have stayed for another day because the class had more Lightroom, photo processing, critique and another couple photo walks.

I highly recommend taking the class if you're interested in learning and using the range finder camera (you don't have to own one- they provide bodies and lenses for you to test and use for duration of class). For sure, I think this course is essential if you own or want to own a Leica M9. Go here: http://us.leica-camera.com/service/leica_academy/


Thanks again to Craig for letting me into the class!

Runway landing

Shadow Dancer

Hey,you looking at me? Are you looking at me?!

Flying body

Yep, I'm da' Man!

The White Suit

Blue beard

Hmmm. Which one?....

Beach hair culture

J'adore...

Freakshow

The End