Much of my life can be traced along the lines of the history of computers – that is, I can relate many changes in my life in tandem in my use of computers. This is why visiting the Computer History Museum was a lot of fun. Thinking to the start, I won’t include the Casio fx1000 (although that was very cool and a significant aid), I like to think of my TI-55 with its red LED display (how cool was that?) as my first computer – it was programmable!
Back to photography. I like to think of the photographic timeline because of the massive transformation that happened due to digital photography. I remember spending many happy hours in a dark room in high school working with chemicals, photo paper, glove bags, film, tanks, reels, and enlargers. The smell of the chemicals are still vividly in my memory. Then there were the stores or drive-throughs where you dropped off film and picked up a week later (initially) or 1 hour (later). That is mostly in the distant past now, with a trickle of activity at the photo labs of drugstores or Costco.
So what changes best define photography to me? Well, my first recollection is the Kodak Instamatic with its cubic flash attachment. Somewhere in there was the Polaroid although I personally didn’t have one. One of my first serious cameras was the Pentax ME (I think my first hobbyist camera actually wasn’t an SLR). It was good enough for snapshots around school to develop in the dark room. When I graduated from high school, I got myself a Nikon FM and a Nikon EM. Used them on my trips to Sri Lanka and Europe. Then we tried a Canon APS format camera which was used for a relatively short 2 years; it still sits in a drawer but the APS technology didn’t make sense. We went back to regular 35 mm film when my first child was born – an Olympus, I believe. Then we got into digital photography before my second child was born – and the changes were more than I could have ever predicted. We’ve experienced several solid Canon Elph digital cameras, an Olympus which used a flash memory that quickly disappeared, an un-durable Casio Exilim, a hand-me-down Pentax that was tired, a Nikon D50 that drowned in Gatorade and even an Apple QuickTake 150. I’ve also used disposable cameras and even underwater disposables. It’s been fun trying all of them but I’ve learned not to expect too much. I now have a Nikon D40 which has served me well but is now starting to disappoint and a Sony Cybershot (so now I have a lot of fun taking panorama photos). With the D40 I have invested in lenses – finding out my older Nikon lenses were of no use – and lighting equipment including flashes, stands, and a commander. I continue to learn new things – most recently about lighting options for more interesting shadows.
I recognize myself by this history with cameras. They have changed physically and in their emotional effect. They have impacted my routines (as far as processing and archiving photos). I wish that everyone could look fondly at their life with something so emotionally attached. It’s good practice for other things which become a huge and wonderful part of life – having children.