Cameras Over the Years

I love taking pictures; my dad did too. The first camera I remember dad owning was a huge Kodak camera. When taking a picture outside, you held it down on your belly to line it up with the people you were taking a picture of. When it was dark or in the house, it had flashbulbs that looked like golf balls. They, for the most part, were made by Sylvania. They had a blue dot on the top. If the blue dot was not blue, it would not flash. When it flashed, the bulb would partially disintegrate and produce a melted piece of plastic. I can remember my dad always licked the bulb before he put it in the big reflector that held the flashbulbs. The reflector was about five inches across. The moisture from his tongue made sure that there was a good connection between the batteries and the metal screw in the bottom of the flash bulb.
In the early sixties, a new kind of camera was invented that was very easy to use, affordable, and produced pretty good pictures. That was called the Kodak Instamatic. It was a revolution in cameras. Everybody could afford a camera then. More exciting than anything was it’s size. It was small and could fit in a shirt pocket or a ladies purse. My ninety four year old mother in law still has one held together by a rubber band.
Then came the Polaroid Camera. Instant pictures. They were ok, but the pictures eventually faded, the color wasn’t always true, but a person had a finished picture immediately.
For years we have had at our convenience the disposable cameras. I loved them because if you forget to take your camera to a family reunion, or some big gathering, you can stop at the Dollar store or Wal-Mart and buy a camera for five dollars and you are all set. That is the kind of camera I used for years and was perfectly satisfied with them.
Well two years ago, my daughter Melanie, and her husband gave me a digital camera for Christmas. I can remember I kind of looked at this huge box and had no idea what was inside. I have always been scared to death of anything electronic. Melanie was worried that I wouldn’t like it. The box also held a picture screen that she had put a chip in that played pictures and music that she had loaded for me. I knew how to work a disposable camera. What was I going to do with a digital? I thanked her appropriately and took this gadget home. My youngest son, Mike, was excited to hook it up and got the picture screen going. I was thrilled, but had no clue how it worked.
A few days later, my husband and I got out the CD that explained how everything worked and how to take different kinds of pictures. Low and behold the pictures that I took ended up on my computer. Then they ended up as a slide show that I got to watch as I walked by the computer. I was amazed. As time went by, I discovered that my friends envied me because they could look at the pictures I took immediately at the party I was at or some other function. Soon my friends were buying the digital cameras also. Now we exchange chips and share our pictures with each other. I no longer have to pay for pictures that are no good and can keep, enlarge, make videos, scrapbooks and also put some pictures on my blog. I love my digital camera.
Those of you who read my blogs know that I like to put pictures with them. You have no idea the misery I go to to get the 2x2 pictures that have been taken seventy years ago to enlarge and crop so that they show up on the computer without being completely distorted. Thank you for being forgiving.
How I wish my dad would have had a camera like mine. He would have loved it.
I really really love western movies. They often show photographers get under this black drape and take a person’s picture. Once in a great while, it makes me feel old. That’s what it was like the first time I can remember getting my picture taken at a studio. Oh, the pain!