Things Used To Be simpler..and larger
I have three
Canon AE-1 film cameras that are dusty. They have not been used for about 5 years.
Back in 2004 was when I bought my first digital camera. I would no longer need film.
The "memory card" that was included showed a capacity of
8MB.
According to a chart that came with my new 2 megapixel camera, the card could store about 12 pictures.
Hmmmm. Back in the 1950s, I had a camera - a film one - that could take 12 black & white pictures on a roll. Then you dropped it at the drug store for processing and printing.
In about a week, you came back and picked up the prints. As I remember, they were in a yellow Kodak envelope.
Usually a few were blurred and some were pitch black because the bulb didn't flash.
Telephone poles and other weird objects often sprouted from heads because you forget to check the background.
I bought my third digital camera a few months ago and it takes pictures in
8.1 megapixels.
The memory card I bought is a
4 Gig and the camera shows me I can take about 1,100 pictures.
On a 2-week vacation to Ireland and Germany I filled three
2 Gig memory cards. That's 1700 pictures.
Now, of course, people are taking pictures with their telephones, laptops and netbooks. Hope they check the background.
Labels: 2 Gig, 2.0 megapixel, 4 Gig, 8.1 megapixel, Kodak, laptops, memory cards, netbooks
In my photo darkroom....
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In this, the computer age, most people have a digital camera. Or even a cellphone that takes digital pictures.
The
Kodak Company has made film for a 100 years - and was stunned by
Polaroid for a while - but continued making film for cameras and X-Rays and other uses but eventually even they conceded that digital rules.
Film is basically a roll of celluloid coated with silver that changes when light hits it and, of course, color film and processing is a bit more complicated.
Machines were made to collect the leftover silver in the developing process and newspapers, photo processors and other large companies made a tidy sum from this reclaimed treasure. But, now it's all mainly digital.
But, back in the 1950s when I got into photography, I learned you could buy simple equipment to process and develop your black and white film
"at home." Just find a dark spot to set up your photo lab. I worked in mine all through high school.
After you developed your film in total darkness, you put the negative into your enlarger and, under a yellowish
"safe light," made enlargements on light sensitive photo paper. After sloshing them through several trays of chemicals you had mixed, you washed and dried them. Simple.
No more dropping off rolls of film at the neighborhood Walgreen's and waiting a week to come back by to pick up the envelope of small prints.
Now my education continues as I learn more about computers and Napster and Anti-Virus programs and blogging and iPods and Macs.
Oh, and being grateful I never bought any
Kodak stock.
Labels: Base Photo Lab, darkroom, Kodak, Napster, Polaroid, Walgreen's
A GREAT Way To Celebrate A Birthday...
Now that everyone (well, those who read this blog) saw my old college student ID card, you know I just had a birthday.
It's at the end of April so I'm a Taurus. It's my 68th.
Hopefully many, many more to come!
Growing up on Society Street in Ansonborough, we had an unusual family tradition of borrowing a camera to take snapshots of birthdays and other important events across the street
"in front of Mrs. O'Rourke's house." There are no photos of
OUR house or our backyard.
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See, across the street, the sunlight would shine over my Mom's left shoulder ...just as Kodak suggested.
Or with the sun directly overhead so your face was mostly in shadow.
We had a lot to learn about photography and, getting our own camera would be the first step.
But, this posting is about
my birthday and a suggestion on how to celebrate your birthday so others can enjoy it for a long, long time.
In honor of my turning 68, I sat down with a Funeral Director and planned my funeral. We even wrote an obit.
My children will not have to make these decisions at a sad time and I bought it with today's dollars. The funeral is all paid for and I can cross that off the list of
"things to do before I die."Labels: Ansonborough, birthday, funeral, Kodak, pre-need
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