I am now the proud own­er of a Leica M3 and three lens­es (50mm f/2 DR, 35mm f/2.8 and 90mm f/4). And a MR meter, but no bat­tery for it (yet!). And I am grow­ing very, very fond of the camera.

How­ev­er, it is an uphill climb. The first ses­sion with it, when I was test­ing it out before pur­chase, was a frus­trat­ing mix of fits and starts. Remem­ber the first (and sec­ond, third and fourth) time you tried to dri­ve stan­dard? But do you also remem­ber the first time you real­ly were able to get a smooth take­off and run through the gears? The start of the roll was fum­bling and awk­ward, but by the end of my sec­ond ses­sion I felt like I could at least get the car around the block. I’m look­ing for­ward to con­tin­u­ing to work with this gear — espe­cial­ly next week when I’m in Vancouver! 

The pho­tos below were tak­en at Van­der­bilt Uni­ver­si­ty around Ben­ton Chapel.

All the above were done with the 50mm and 35mm lens­es, with HP5+ shot at 400 and devel­oped in Ilfos­ol 3 1:14 dilution.

From a late-Decem­ber hike along the Fiery Giz­zard trail, tak­en with Neopan Acros 100 (shot at 200). Devel­oped in Ilfos­ol 3 1+14.

A some­what stren­u­ous trail, but well worth the effort. I did­n’t bring along a tri­pod so this was bal­anced on a con­ve­nient rock. Plen­ty of those around for using as makeshift sup­ports! The water was so clear, and so cold, it was amaz­ing. Some­times I still expect all water to be the same as that in south Mis­sis­sip­pi — silty, yel­low and so thick you lose your hand three inch­es under. This was the total oppo­site and just beautiful.

There are more pho­tos to come off this last roll of the year, but I had to go on and post this one (which may be my favorite from the walk).