The getting set up took longer. I put my Leica R7 with Motor-Drive-R (and tripod adapter) on an old Tiltall tripod, and while I wanted to use my favorite (I use it for at least 70% of my pictures) 100mm APO-Macro-Elmarit-R, the angle was just too sharp and the camera too close to permit it. Hence, the 50mm Summilux-R f1.4 was my lens.

I connected a remote cord to the Leica Motor, and had the Remote Release-R at the other end. (One of these days I'm going to learn to use it as the intervalometer it is!) I placed the release where my right foot would be, so that my bare, big toe could trip the switch as often as I felt I needed to.

For light I positioned a Paul Buff WL 10,000 monolight at about 45 degrees and three feet from Molly's back and bounced it off the wall and ceiling, metering carefully with a flash meter. At 2/3 power, with Kodak TMax-400 film (properly identified as TMY), I got f/11 for aperture. (I wanted front-to-back sharpness.) A careful focusing of the camera and connection of synch cord, placement of R7 mode selector on Manual, setting of shutter speed at 100-flash and aperture at f/11 ,and I was ready.

Now, to find Molly! Never very far away, she appeared on call and, seeing me seated on the stairs ignored all the junk and sailed into position. Pop-pop-pop-pop! Four shots in about 15 seconds and I knew I had at least one I could learn to love.

I developed the film at "N" for my darkroom, i.e., six minutes at 68 degrees, in Kodak HC-110(B). Later, after studying the contacts with a retoucher's magnifier (I need at least 10x to read a 35mm contact sheet.), I made the print you see on Zone VI "Brilliant" (which is all I will use), Grade 3, and processed in Zone VI Developer, Fix and Hypo, then toned in Kodak Rapid Selenium, which I find clears any coloration the paper may have from its silver, beefs up the D-Max and, in a lot of shots, gives very close to a 3-D effect. I know, I know, but it does.

One final note that probably nobody cares about: I think the shot is an excellent illustration of why nobody should be snotty about using a 50mm lens. I have always liked them, and I have owned just about every Leitz 50mm objective from the collapsible, screw mount 50mm Elmar f3.5 right through to today's 50mm Summilux used for this shot. (Never did own a Noctilux!)

Now, about lens choice. In addition to my 50 and 100, I have a 28mm Elmarit-R f2.8 and a 180mm Elmarit-R f2.8. The 180mm I knew was clearly out for this photo since even the 100mm was too long; the 28mm would have presented maddening perspective and distortion problems. The 50mm, I think, kept it cozy without being down our throats.

We spoil ourselves, of course, with all our choices. Walter Heun, the Leica raconteur and photographic guru, used to maintain that you could get 90% of all your shots with a 50mm lens, and cited the example of Cartier-Bresson. And, it's funny: as much as I love that 100mm APO-Macro-Elmarit-R, I have noticed lately that I carry the 50mm if I just set out snooping with my camera, and let the extra weight come from the Motor, which I love, not the lens. Using the motor drive, I can correct instantly for a bad facial expression, an averted eye, or whatever. And, I can talk the subject into what I want and get a half-dozen shots off while I'm doing so. (The photo writers all go mad for a variety of lenses, and that's appropriate, but there's not enough enthusiasm for the Motor Drive, or for motor winder, although I consider the motor winders a waste of money).

At any rate, that's the long-winded scoop on the self-portrait called "Molly and Me."