Two Sabbaticals

By no gift of planning I found myself the beneficiary of two personal breaks in a young man’s life. Sabbaticals if you like, not paid but never-the-less earned. The first, some three years after college, I managed to break free for about 5 months and traveled. The year was 1973, I landed in Luxembourg and launched a train and public transport self managed tour. My resources were post-cards in train stations, Frommer, and friendly Europeans. Europe, north to south, east to Berlin and the ‘Wall’ and the Adriatic coast.

The second found me changing careers in 1984. Having acquired some extensive sailing experience before hand, I launched a new Carl Alberg 9 ton cutter. Thence for 6 months left the east coast for Bermuda and after a rest there, onward north to Halifax, NS and further still through the Bras D’Or, Cape Breton to the Gulf of St Lawrence side. Finally, a leisurely sail down through the northeastern USA and Chesapeke Bay.

Obviously, the photo opportunities were beyond my ken but I managed Europe with a 1968 Pentax Spotmatic with the Takumar 55mm f/1.8. The sailing experience found me ready with two identical Ricoh 500 G rangefinders with 40mm Rikenon, f/2.8. One of them survived.

Filling in blanks, my first 35mm was the Konica Auto S2, 42mm. Today, I am using Fujifilm’s X-T5, the X100V, and for a lark, the old X-E1 all sharing assorted Fujinon lenses (after transitioning through a number of Canon products).

I will happily respond to emails for any question about my photos or my gear…..just ask, I would be delighted to respond.