Another M shooter outs himself...

[tapesonthefloor]

...and who it is might surprise you!

I take a lot of pictures. I am very, very into photography and I was certainly going to take this opportunity to take some. I'm going to show you all the equipment I brought with me. I'm not showing off here. I'm not rich. I just spend all my money on cameras. It's important to me. I am sharing it with you because to me it's part of the story.

USO Tour weblog. Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan.

 

[tapesonthefloor]

Okay, so, the blog post is a bit old. If this is a repost, I'll delete. But still. Still! Louis!!!

 

[jasonhupe]

Louis CK

Louis CK

I did not think I could like this guy any more, hilarious comedian, and now I find out a photography buff.

 

[robklurfield]

I knew I liked him for a reason. Now, you've given me one more. Cool!

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

Oddly, I just watched the episode of Louis with the teenage bully in it...one of the best things I have ever seen on TV. Love the guy!

 

[DamenS]

Interesting - don't know why it surprised me so much ... but it did - I'm sure he can afford more now though.

 

[tapesonthefloor]

And there was a part II of his Baghdad trip.

The gunners reached out into the open air and leveled their guns with a great slot and click sound. They trained them on the ground. I felt my hands tense up. I realized, for the first time, that both my hands were wrapped tightly around my Leica. Oh my god, my Leica! I have the greatest camera in the world in my ****ing hands and I'm in the middle of this **** right here.

In that moment, ALL FEAR was gone. I was right where I wanted to be in the whole world. I reached into my pocket, which was difficult with the armor, and took out my light meter. I got readings out the window, inside, the floor under my feet. I did quick averages of the readings in my head. Now all my thoughts were of film. "Okay I'm at about 5.6 outside if I'm at 250 which is a good speed from a moving helicopter. If I want to get stuff outside, I'll squeeze the fstop down to about 8. If I want inside the bird I'll open to 2.8, 4 if I want a bit of both." I set all these functions on the camera and started firing away. The helicopter leaned forward and we tore off across Baghdad.

USO Blog: Baghdad. Day one PART TWO

 

[hipsterdufus]

FREAKING AWESOME! I really admire this guy and this story only makes me admire him more.

 

[dave lackey]

Okay, so who the hell is this guy? Seriously, what am I missing?😛

I seriously doubt he spends all of his money on cameras. Just another joke,....???

 

[Frank Petronio]

He's a really funny middle-aged comedian who makes jokes about, umm, us.

He can probably afford two MPs now ;-p

 

[planetjoe]

His blog post reads like an RFF thread. Even the near-profanity and dark humor. I love that the meter on the MP was busted when he got it.

Doing a tour in theater is a serious piece of business. Honestly, I don't need another reason to like this guy.

Thanks to the OP for the link to the blog.


Cheers,
--joe.

 

[AlexanderR]

Thanks for posting. I read all the entries related to this trip. It's always interesting to see the life from a civilian perspective where the person gets to jump in and jump out in a matter of days. His observations were great and his story is well told. The fact that he actually has a clue about photography and shoots a rangefinder is just icing on the cake. My favorites were the pictures he shot when riding between the two gun positions on the helo.

 

[hipsterdufus]

Wow, just watched the latest episode of Louie. It seems like a lot of it was based of from his USO experiences in these blog entries. Highly recommended (as is the rest of the series).