Last night, just before midnight, Maria suggested I go outside and look at the clouds, they were especially  beautiful in the three quarter moon.

I’ve always wanted to get a decent photo of the moon late at night, surrounded by clouds.

So I went for it. I was very pleased at the results, a first.

I’ve gone after this moment several times with my teachers, I got my tripod out, attached the camera inside, turned all the outdoor lights off and stumbled through the grass to an open spot.

I set up the camera, tilted it straight up and set the delay to 12 seconds, then opened up aperture and the shutter speed..

Thanks to the lighting in the Leica, I could see the viewfinder and read the settings clearly. I tried a dozen different things, and then I got six or seven sweet pictures

Just what I had always wanted to do.

Above is one of the photos, I was shocked to see the leaves so clearly backlit against the moon, which was peeking through between a thick screen of cumulus clouds.

It was exciting, a breakthough for me. I’ll put more photos up tonight in my Photo Journal.

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Some interesting Leica news.

One of my teachers contacted me today and said someone  – another of his students – had traded in a used Leica Q2, the color and opriginal model from 2015. He said it was in great shape and he was willing to sell it to me at a very low price.

I  read a dozen reviews of the camera last night and all of them were raves.

This is the other camera I’ve been drooling at, how wonderful it would be to bring Leica’s optics to my color photography.

The settings are the same as the Q2/Monochrome, same size, same settings mostly, another small and portable camera designed for peole who wish to record their lives.

This one would be for color.

I’d have to say no at the asking price, as low as it is. But I sense a possibility.

I don’t have several thousand dollars lying around – more with accessories. But it is a great price.  At  B&H photo I could work out a delayed payment program, they know me well and my credit is very good there.

I think I’d go for it there.

Used Q2Leica’s are pretty rare and usually run for much more than he is asking, or then I could afford. I’ve always consider them out of my league.

I traded in ever piece of camera equipment I owned – cameras,lenses, the works, for my Monochrome, and I have never regretted it for a second. I love what I am learning.

I’m just beginning to explore the boundaries of black and white, I’d love to do the same with a color camera that had Leica’s technology and special .28 mm fixed lens.

But it’s not something I need to do now, and the price of everything we have to buy is going up, along with everyone else.

When you’re 75, which I will be in August, time has a different context. Am I likely to get another chance in the next few years? Will my eyes stay sharp?

I know how important the Leica Monochrome has been to me and my photography, the Q2 was the mother ship for that kind of camera – small, compact, and with wonderful Leica glass.

It is exhilarating at my age to find a creative challenge like this and learn so much. I realized how important color photography can be the other day at Bishop Maginn, and I got to record those joyous faces on prom dress day.

But I’ve learned to be less impulsive, more cautious and much more frugal than when I was a big deal knocking off a book a year and before I got divorced and joined the lower middle class.

My life is better than ever, I have everything I need. That doesn’t mean I have everything I want, but who does? I’ll see how good a haggler I am.

So I’ll talk to them both tommorrow and see if there’s any wiggle room or way to spread out the payments. I think I could. I’d like to do this if it’s at all possible, but only if it’s also practical.

I’ve learned that lesson.