Camera Connections

When we set out to move from our home of thirty plus years in Upland, paring down became a necessity, and two huge garage sales helped to that end. Having lots of space in your home is conducive to saving items, and our cameras, childhood through the new century, were a dust-gathering collection. We placed each one in a box for the sale, reminiscing as we went.  Probably the oldest were a Brownie and an Ansco box camera, battery-less, eight print film eaters, which needed loading by hand.  Carefully hooking one end of the roll of film onto the take-up spool, and holding your breath as you turned the knob and hope it caught so the film could be advanced, the photographer prepared to take a prize-winning shot.. Of course, your subject had to be outside because there was no flash, and if a jiggle occurred, there went the prize.

            Several of the cameras in the carton were 35 mm, the type into which a film canister was loaded and advanced by manually turning a knob.  No more rolls of film accidentally exposed due to butter fingers! Later on, with the addition of a battery, film advanced on its own but needed to be rewound at the end of twenty-four exposures.  Flashbulbs were being added now, in single bulbs which crackled after flashing, and then in the amazing cube which rotated to provide four flashes before ejecting.

            Since the technology of camera design went forward at a faster-than-flashbulb pace, there were a few more different types in the box, including a Polaroid. Oh the joy of being able to see the picture just a few minutes after taking it!  I think that was the beginning of photographers needing instant gratification. Each photo still had to be thought through and carefully considered before pushing the button so as not to waste the precious rolls or film packs. Many important scenes were lost in those few seconds of thought, and unless you were also able to process your film, there was never anything in photography so disheartening than getting back a set of prints which were not what you’d hoped.

            Digital cameras changed all that, and there were none in the box for the garage sale.  The ability to see the scene, captured immediately in the tiny window, changed my way of taking pictures. No longer afraid of wasting film, I snapped with happy abandon and deleted with satisfaction any picture which didn’t suit me. The memory sticks, thumb drives, and computers can store thousands of photos. Several online sites I use not only store my treasures for me, but will turn them into souvenir mugs, books, and magnets. When my parents passed away, there were many albums and scrapbooks left behind for me to go through, and not a one was digital. What fun (tongue in cheek) my kids will have sorting out my memories!