I love the ancient Greeks and Romans. They give us great modern words with meaning. If you love Photography, then you have an insight into the art captured in the word itself – Drawing with Light. Brilliant. A Camera (Obscura)- a vault or chamber, darkened and with a pinhole which gives a reverse image on the opposite wall. Talk about the miracles of modern miniaturisation. What about the first Camera being the size of a room and shrinking that down to the size of something portable, never mind hand-held or miniature, like the one in your laptop or cellphone.

I have been a photography enthusiast from the days I had a Box Brownie at eleven (1961). I can remember processing rolls of film into negatives and developing my own prints in the Auckland Grammar photography club darkroom as a third-former. Strictly black and white. Rescuing old negatives from boxes in the family garage and bringing those images to life, and later, when I went to Massey University (1969) with Dad’s old Minolta 35 mm to have and to hold. In those days it was always black and white photos because colour film and developing was too expensive on a student budget. I had to learn how to use the light, because I didn’t have a flash or colour. I had to learn how the different settings for shutter speed and aperture affected my results depending on the available light, movement of the subject, how close or far away the subject and the depth of field involved in my composition. And all without batteries !  Now there was an advantage ) So I became that annoying guy who snaps his mates all the time, although years later they were grateful !

After university and finally earning decent, steady money I could take advantage of technology advances with cameras, even so at first I stuck with the old Minolta, but got a little box film 35mm camera with a flash so I could be an incognito impromptu photojourno. I didn’t graduate to a honking 35mm SLR (single lens reflex) with a honking telephoto until dashing through duty-free at Sydney airport  in 1975, I bought a Yashica, and nearly missed the plane!  The big lens didn’t focus that well, but fortunately  it was stolen in a burglary a few years later (by a real burglar !). With the insurance I was able to upgrade to a tophole Minolta 7000 and later when that fell in the Avon River with me ( accidentally !) I upgraded to the new Minolta 700si (1995) still got it – well, not the same one, as you guessed it, burgled in about 2000 and bought a low km second hand 700si ( I think my insurance company got sick of replacing me). I still have this great camera, but succumbed to the convenience and economy of digital cameras in about 2004. Have had a Nikon Coolpix 200 compact (lens trouble), Canon Powershot A550 compact(problems with battery compartment lid) , and one year ago a FujiFinepix S8000fd SLR (mode selection knob just broke off last week). The compact cameras have been great for the kids and as easy family snap machines, saved heaps on prints (look at them on computer) and they are great value for money until they break. To get quality SLR digital I think you have to spend good money, have plenty of spare batteries (preferably rechargeable) and 1gb plus memory cards to hold lots of rich shots.

I hope you’re still here after my trip down memory lane. Cameras are like cars, and pop songs, they evoke nostalgia bigtime. This is my longest post so far. I want to post a few photos but can’t find the widget in Wordpress. Upcoming photo posts will be more about tips and tricks, technical and artistic, and on to the challenges of protecting your pictorial heritage. So please feel free to opt-in for updates to my blog.

ciao JJ

PS I’d love to hear your photo stories.