Daily Inspiration #73 by Franz-Georg Wand

Ok guys, this is a great story. First, check out these two images submitted by Franz-Georg Wand. Then, read his email and story. THEN, check out what his M9 and 18 Super Elmar lens looked like afterwards! I love this guys spirit and his photos are amazing! Thanks so much!

Hello Steve,

after spending a beautiful weekend with your homepage and an endless searching for some information of the 18mm Leica lens I thought it would be a nice idea to send you one ore two pictures for your “Daily Inspiration” πŸ™‚

I made these pictures on the german north-see island “Norderney” some weeks ago. And it was very hard for man and material …

Picture I / II

Leica M9, 18mm 3,8 with a grey-filter and a long-time-exposure of nearly 45 seconds.

The vignetting comes from the big big filter-holder, but πŸ™‚ I like it so much!

OK, itΒ΄s another winter picture, but … taken with the 18mm.

While at the first picture I had to stand in very deep snow at the second picture I had to fight with strong winds about 100km and a flying sludge of sand, ice and snow.

I tried to protect my camera AND the lens, but at the end I needed more than an hour to clean myself, the M9, the tripod and the lens.

To clean the 18mm was not so easy as the sludge went between the rings for the aperture and the distance. So I decided to bring it shortly under a soft water jet … yes, I did …

Really, it is so hard to hear the sand making sounds while trying to move the rings πŸ™ and I knew that probably I would have to give the lens to the service … but with some great pictures in my pocket it should be worth it.

But … after some hours, the problem was gone by itself and I had no problems any more! Leica-prices, Leica-quality …

Best wishes from the heart of Germany, Castrop-Rauxel, Ruhrgebiet … only 2,5 hours away from Solms by car (sometimes not too bad if you need the service like me) …

Yours

Franz-Georg Wand

13 Comments

  1. Don’t worry Mike, all the sand will be washed out from overcoming waves when I’m taking pictures of our next sailing trip in the north-see, I promise! πŸ™‚

  2. Great story. Very brave indeed! Du hast wirklich Nerven.
    Wonder when we’ll see pictures of the springtime again.
    Missing colours very much by now, after the long winter.
    Best wishes from the Ruhrgebiet, European Capital of Culture 2010!

    Eva

  3. I have to say that if you look up the definition of dedication in the dictionary, you may well see the photograph of the sandy M9!

    Respekt! That is all I have to say.

  4. That rather quick loss of family-background knowledge seems to be more true among Americans descended from Germanic and Scandinavian origins than among those descended from Mediterranean roots ? I wonder why ?

  5. Nice composition and winter mood. My mother told me her grandmother came from the Frisian islands, from Pelworm. She claimed that her ancestors were Danish, not German. Like many Americans, I can’t trace my ancestry very far. That’s really bad, lack of good roots.

    I’m afraid to even use my leica M9 in a little drizzle !

  6. Hey guys, thanks for your comments and Steve for this publishing! The sand is still scrunching in the legs of my tripod πŸ™‚

  7. Last month I dropped a metal lens hood on the sidewalk. From where I stood the grass/cement was 50/50 coverage. Of course the Murphy law applied here. The impact was a clear “ding” that rung in your ear and stayed in your memory for a long time. And if I choose to forget the sorrow the small dent in the lens hood would remind me so. I can’t imagine how my stomach would take this kind of sand coverage

  8. Your a brave man to have taken photos in such weather conditions,
    great images thanks for sharing.

    Terry

  9. Have you ever seen a grown man cry…..that would have been me!
    Thanks Franz, wonderful photos but an even more compelling story of how they were made. Thanks for sharing.

    Pete

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