Recently I visited the small western town of Pendleton, Oregon, known primarily for the historic Pendleton Woolen Mills, renowned maker of fine Indian blankets and men's plaid shirts since 1893 (several of their Indian blankets adorn my living room walls).

I used the visit to get some experience shooting with the Leica SEM 18/3.8 lens on my Leica M9 camera, and I have to say I came away impressed with the lens. I stopped in for a late lunch at the Great Pacific Wine and Coffee Co. on Main Street, which was a terrific find. They had great food and reasonable prices, so stop in for a nip & sip if you ever get to Pendleton. Below are a couple of photos with the SEM 18/3.8.

After finishing up my late lunch I went back out on to Main Street to find that a farmers market was being set up. I strolled around for a few minutes and snapped some photos with the SEM 18/3.8.

Pendleton has an old underground that you can tour in the Pendleton Historic District.  The buildings included in the underground tour are all listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and reside in what used to the city's red light district. There are basalt-rock tunnels under the sidewalks and foundations of the buildings that once housed illegal gambling establishments, Chinese immigrant societies, opium dens, illegal drinking establishments, the afore-mentioned brothels, and even a few legit businesses. I wondered how well SEM 18/3.8 would do in the low light of the underground, but I wanted to give it a try.

An old opium den in the underground ...

Chinese immigrant community housing in the underground ...

The Leica SEM 18/3.8 acquitted itself quite nicely in the low light of the Pendleton Underground, in fact much better than I had expected for available light photos.

However, after touring the dark and dreary Underground it was time to get back on the surface to check how the colorful Farmers Market was doing. It was in full swing and I switched over to the Summicron 50/2 lens for the photos below.

This is what happens when you spend too much time in the opium den of the underground ...

No visit to Pendleton would be complete without a stop at the Pendleton Woolen Mills. All photos below are with the Leica Summicron 50/2 on the M9 camera.

The Heritage collection of Native American art was really stunning, a few photos of which are below.

Well that's all for now. The Leica SEM 18/3.8 and Summicron 50/2 lenses on the M9 didn't disappoint, and the Leica gear really made for a fun photo session.