LOST

Pictures LOST.    It has happened to a lot of folks.
The chance of it happening is why I would never be comfortable as the solo photographer at any important event. If it’s happened to you, then leave your “story” under the comment section - - I’m interested in who has the “worst” story to tell.

I know it happened to Rebekah on her first trip to New York City. She came home with a memory card full of pictures that she couldn’t wait to share, but the card was “corrupted”, and the pictures were mostly lost. Luckily she had friends that took pictures on the trip also, so some group shots were recoverable.

It happened to my brother just this past Christmas. His card also became corrupted, and he lost a lot of Leah’s Christmas pictures.

A friend of Jonathan and Lindsey visited the United States from Italy this past year. He left his camera behind accidentally on the bus – but miraculously an honest passenger turned it in to the driver. However, the pictures had all been deleted (probably by accident, since the menu was in Italian). The good news for him is that he and Jonathan were able to download a program from the Internet that recovered the deleted pictures from the memory card.

The first time I experienced “lost” pictures was right after we brought Rebekah home from the hospital. I had just a few pictures left on the roll in my camera, and luckily we used them to capture Jonathan’s “first” meeting of his baby sister. I then put in a new roll and took the full roll of film of brother and sister together for the first time – it was so sweet. When we sent the pictures off for developing, that second roll of film didn’t come back – and it was never recovered. I was devastated --- those precious moments were not “re-creatable”. But I am very thankful to have the three last pictures on the roll that showed the very first moments of my children together.

 

 

Lesson -- Sometimes things like this happen, and sometimes there is nothing to do but move on. However, you can protect the pictures you do have by having a duplicate backup – very important. I used to keep my negatives in storage at my mom’s house and I kept my albums of pictures at our house --- that way, if there was a fire, I’d have one or the other. That was my first “back-up” system.

The Beginning of a Hobby

 JULY 1984  ---
 I love
this picture!

We were loading Jonathan in his car seat to take him home from the hospital....and this is the expression we got from him.   Doesn't he look excited to travel home with his inexperienced parents?!!  (you should have seen his Dad "securing" him in that car seat for his first ride home) . .. Did you know babies don't come with instruction manuals?!  lol

I knew the Kodak Instamatic (pictured in my first blog post) was not going to be enough for me with such a precious model as this.  Jerry and I stopped at K-Mart on the way home from the hospital and splurged on as nice of a camera as we could afford (considering we just had a baby and had no insurance at this time to help with the doctor or hospital bills!).

We bought a 35 mm Chinon -- and it turned out to be a really good camera.   I am very grateful we had it -- and I can't tell you how many, many rolls of film I used in it -- especially considering we had a beautiful baby daughter 17 months later.   Our only regret is that we could not afford a video camera also.   The video cameras were huge and expensive at that time.   We were not able to get one until Jonathan was around 3 and Rebekah was 2.

The Lesson for today is to always have your camera loaded (from my "film" days) and ready to grab quickly -- especially if you have children ... 'cause you don't want to miss any precious shots.   The time your children are entrusted to you is all so sweet, and all too brief.   Enjoy.

The Polaroid

“Why can’t I see them now?” was the question Edwin Land’s daughter asked as they awaited pictures made from a recent holiday. Land was an American inventor and physicist; and this question led to his invention of a one-step process for developing and printing photographs – “instant photography.” The first Polaroid camera sale made to the public was in November, 1948. This first camera sold for $89.95, which was nearly the equivalent to a year’s salary for the average amateur photographer at that time.

Well, I didn’t get that original model . . . I received mine in the late 70’s, but I still remember the excitement of taking that picture, watching the camera shoot out the film card, and seeing the picture develop as you watched. It was like magic! Although the album I have containing these pictures is a testament to the poor quality of the shots, the pictures themselves evoke many memories for me now.

And isn’t that what photography really does? It is a “memory keeper” for the future. How fun it is to sit with an album and reminisce with family and friends over the past.

So, Lesson One is . . . Don’t wait for that “perfect” camera. Start making lots of pictures today, and preserve your family memories





(The above picture of Jerry is a Polaroid from April, 1980 --- 5 months before we married. That cool burgundy car he's standing beside was his "first" car -- purchased used with money he earned from driving a school bus .... by the way, we first met because he was my school bus driver -- the schools employed students as drivers "back then". See how old pictures just keep on preserving good memories?)

(The second Polaroid is of our first home, taken in the New Year of 1981. We were so proud to be able to purchase our trailer and live in the country -- interest rates at the time were over 20%, pushing many housing options out of our reach. Both of our children were born while we lived here, and we have many happy memories of those times -- this picture is treasured as a reminder of humble beginnings.)

SanShots - New Year's Resolution

I have made a commitment to learn more about photography this year. I enjoy photography has a "self taught" hobby, but I received a nice digital camera for Christmas . . . so I want to learn more about the camera and photography techniques as a whole. I figured the best way to learn is to commit to a blog where I can share my little discoveries along the way. Usually I am "too busy" to allow myself the time needed to really learn these type techniques -- maybe you the reader can encourage me to stay on my discovery path when my blog fails to show progress.











I might pull out some old pictures and explore the technicalities of why they are favorites. So if you are friend, family, or acquaintance -- you might find your picture on this blog. Since I don't have any "model releases", you will have to contact me if you want the picture removed. lol
I'm going to start by reminiscing about how I got interested in "picture taking" and some past learning experiences.