Ever since I registered my ownership of Lili, my Leica X-U camera with Leica back in late August, they have been sending me regular emails, bringing my attention to cameras and lenses they think I might like to buy, articles I might like to read, photo exhibitions I might like to attend, and courses I might like to go on.
Clearly I'm in. And they want me in deeper! Leica want to immerse me in their world, and make me an habitual buyer of new and used products - somebody who has embraced the Leica way of life and the Leica approach to seeing. I'm not knocking it. Not at all. Leica has a lot to give, and I would take it if I could afford to. But I can't. Buying Lili has to be the limit to my involvement with this alluring world. Any more spending will divert me from other things that matter, and quite possibly lead to my financial ruin.
But it's nice to window-shop!
Lately, in the run-up to Christmas, Leica have been emailing me daily, drawing my attention to this or that. Yesterday it was a series of courses I could attend, organised by the Leica Akademie. Four of them. Not their full range of courses by any means: only those relevant to my known photographic interests. Let's look at them.
A five-day workshop masterclass in Central London. To take participants 'out of their comfort zone'. Only £1,250.
A five-session online course on 'documentary photography'. Looks intriguing. Only £600.
A three-session Street Photography workshop and walkabout masterclass in Central London. To learn how to take 'striking' street photographs, and turn them into fine art prints. Only £750.
But this is the one that I'd most like to attend - and not just for the opportunity to discuss and take pictures! 'Join Us In The Highlands' say Leica. A seven-day residential course in a little-known but beautiful glen in northern Scotland, with luxury accommodation in a Victorian mansion. Stunning scenery, leaping salmon, soaring eagles, snarling wildcats. And a wonderful resident chef. Only £2,995 - or a bit more if you want a single room. What's not to like? Look at this:
Alladale Lodge is a remote mansion west of Bonar Bridge in the northern Highlands, well off the usual tourist trail. It's one of several luxury hotels and private houses dotted around the almost-empty Sutherland countryside. You know: drab, waterproof country clothing during the day; cocktail dresses at night. I'd like a slice of this.
Of course, for me, the food is an equal draw.
No prices are mentioned, or at least not unless you commence the booking procedure. I backed off, not wishing to make a booking by mistake! One slip of the finger...
Getting up there involves significant trouble and outlay. Here are a couple of location maps:
The nearest station is Ardgay, near Bonar Bridge. It's no bleak wayside halt. It's a civilised station, albeit unstaffed. I went there in April 2019:
Ignoring the cost of my getting up to London King's Cross from Sussex, and the cost of conveyance from Ardgay to the Lodge, it seems that most off-peak fares - with a Senior Railcard concession - currently mean paying £142.25, just for the return ticket. There would be a seat reservation fee on top of that, and a Caledonian Sleeper supplement too. I don't know: £300 all told? I'd be changing trains at Edinburgh and Inverness. It would take me about a day altogether to get up there.
Nice though it would be to go on this course, and big adventure it would be, I'm sure I'd be shelling out not much less than £4,000 for the privilege. I'd still be tempted - 2022 being the year of my 70th birthday and all that - if I hadn't had to spend so much on Fiona recently. But as things stand it's utterly impossible to contemplate.
But actually, I can still go to that part of the Highlands - for nothing. The course is in September, and I've decided that although I can't now go to Scotland in May, I will go in September. So, supposing I'm pitched at Brora again, I can get to Alladale, or close to there, on public roads. So I could in theory bump into a group of course attendees, showing off their Leicas.
Perhaps I could discreetly track them, and get some eagle and wildcat shots of my own. Here, kitty kitty...
