This morning, I had my second Zoom Leica lesson with Sawyer Flint, an instructor at the Leica Adekemie in Boston, one of a series of Leica teaching centers around the country. I call him Professor Flint.

All my life, I’ve stubbornly refused to get help when I needed it and caused myself a lot of grief and misery. When I got this great new camera – this is a massive deal for me –  I swore to learn how to use this camera and take some beautiful photos.

I gambled on the Leica Q2 monochrome because I am very drawn to black and white photography, and, yes, it was also the only Leica model I could afford. I’m also enjoying the camera on the new Iphone 13 Pro Max. It is astounding.

Even then, I traded every piece of photographic equipment I had assembled over ten years and shipped it off to B&H Photo for a trade.

Professor Flint is an excellent teacher; he knows everything there is to know about the Q2 Monochrome and is patient and precise. Today, we worked on the camera’s powerful focusing system and how and when to use the ISO. He has dyslexia himself, so he knows how to teach me in a way I can understand.

We also went over the manual focus system and the different shutter speeds and aperture settings to my photographs. He has invited me to attend a Leica Workshop in Boston in early Spring, and I am continuing my one-on-one lessons with him over Zoom. I’m going to the workshop; Maria and I will make a weekend out of visiting Boston.

When I got the Leica, my biggest fear was that I would not get support when I needed it. The Leica users are like a cult, they are expected to know things, and there is no customer support to call. If the camera is broken or damaged, it has to go back to Germany to get fixed.

Sawyer is the angel I was hoping to find; he gave me several ways of getting help in an emergency. That is a great relief for me and encourages me to experiment and learn.

I took a lot of notes today. Sawyer has dyslexia himself, and he told me how he compensated by setting the camera in different ways. This was very helpful to me. I love what I’m doing with this camera, but I know I can do better and learn more. Maria has been a gracious model and test volunteer.

I’m sure she is sick of seeing me with the camera.

This Wednesday, I’m taking another online class with Andrew, my Apple wizard; he shows me how to use my desktop computer efficiently and effectively. I’ve been using Apple computers for all of my writing life, and I got sick of not knowing how they work.

It’s late in life to be taking some classes finally, but  I love the experience. Perhaps I could have amounted to something if I was together enough to stay in college. But all in all, I did pretty well. I love having teachers so much younger than me. I’m learning a ton.