Disneyland will wait and so will my "Summer Vacation" story. In discovering my Swan
photo from yesterday's blog I have realized that the photos of my youth are becoming like my memories: faded and torn and unorganized. My uncle had a really good camera, one of those "single lens reflex" kinds made in Japan. I didn't then and still don't realize what this even means, except to say he had light meters and all kinds of dials and buttons on his camera. My "Brownie Starflash" had one button, up close for portraits and flowers or moving this switch for landscapes and farther away photos. It was a camera for idiots and lazy people but it had this flash attachment which was so new for me! Even today my camera is a point and shoot although it has a lot of buttons and dials I almost always keep it on automatic mode and it thinks for itself.
My uncle lived in Washington the state north of us and would visit us about twice a year bringing a slide projector and screen with him and put on a show for us! I loved these and the concept of a little photo blown up big against the white screen. He traveled a lot for fun and for business and brought us pictures from China or India or the last exotic place he had been. Always photos with a story, an adventure! My father didn't really like these evenings but would watch them out of politeness to his brother and my uncle knew this so about every 20 pictures or so he would throw in a photo of a naked woman just to see if we were awake! I was eleven years old and very awake!
I eventually discovered that I could take slide photos with my "Brownie" camera and I was really happy with that! When we went to Disneyland I took three rolls of slide film with me.
When we returned I made popcorn for my family and put on a show and made them watch.
I still have those slides and went through them last night, digging out the same old projector
that was once my uncles, making popcorn and reliving those days and others.
I sorted out about 100 of them, from Disneyland, from old camping trips, from when I ran away when I was seventeen and went to Europe and even a couple old girlfriends and took them
to Walmart to be put on a CD. Wow, how times have changed, a hundred pictures, my entire youth, put onto a little plastic disk! If I get them today I will tell you about Disneyland tomorrow! M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!
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3 comments:
An amazing thing ... I really get angry at it somtimes, but then again we would not have been able to know each other... I have 'met' some wonderful people.. Our world is smaller.. and we can help each other so much more.
That makes it all worth while.
My 2 cents worth.
BJ
I have Canon T70 Multiple Program AE Dual Metering System camera....a very expensive camera; a gift from a long-ago friend. Comes complete with various and sundry lenses and attachments...and a carrying case that I swear is as big as a backpack!. By the time I figure out the dials and setings for a misty morning scene I am shooting a sunset!
So I love my digital. Aim and the camera does the work. Good news on my camera that wound up in the drink...I was trying to take it apart and one screw just wouldn't come loose. Tried again yesterday and dropped the camera.....it is now working again! Pictures a bit cloudy on the one side but that is fine!
So back in business again this morning....shot 67 pictures of frosty landscapes.
Thanks for sharing your memories. They are delightful.
It is fun gong through your childhood with you. Keep writing Jerry, for now you are in your writing mood, make the most of it. Have fun reliving your childhood days.
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