Ah, the wonders of technology!
Ok, remember back if you can...to the days before we owned digital cameras, or had cameras on our phones.
Yeah, I know. Those were some sad times!
Who can forget when you actually had to 'pose', or prepare correctly before snapping a photo? You couldn't do three or four takes because Mom would KILL you for wasting all that film!
Yeah, that's right. You had to actually BUY film...and it wasn't cheap!
Going to the store and purchasing a 36 exposure roll of film cost you about $6 back in the day, so you better carefully plan out those pictures!
AND, you didn't have the pleasure of seeing the results immediately (unless you were using an old Polaroid instant camera). You had to just cross your fingers and hope that you didn't have a booger on your face, or weren't victim to really bad lighting!
Oh, the anticipation of waiting for Walgreens to call you up and say that your photos were ready! Then, you would rush to the store to pay for them, and open them up immediately to take a look!
Of course there were always a few photos of 'nothing,' where your finger was covering the camera lense.
But sometimes there was a nice surprise! Like, when your sister's friend decided to sneak the camera and take a pic of her boobs!
Oh...that's another thing. If you had nudity on your camera, the place that was developing the film would usually discard those specific pictures. CENSORSHIP!!! Today, we are able to take our own dirty pics and post them all over our phones and the internet if we choose!
(Yes, I admit...there was a part of me that wanted to work in a photo lab so that I could catch everyone's dirty pics as I was developing them. Hey, we didn't have the internet for our porn back then!)
Speaking of the internet, in today's society we take pictures and then immediately publish them to our facebook and twitter accounts for all of our friends to see as many times as they choose to look at them! But remember back in the day when you would develop your photos and take them around in an album, forcing your friends to look at them?
We didn't have facebook back then, so generally, people only saw your pictures that one time.
I tell ya...I love my digital camera. I can't begin to count the number of unflattering pictures I've deleted.
You: "Hey Paul, remember that picture we took standing in front of the statue? Why didn't you ever post that one?"
Me: "Oh, it didn't come out right."
In all actuality, I just hated the way I looked in it, but you don't need to know that!
Now, if they could just make a camera that does instant photo-shopping. (who knows...they actually probably already do!) THAT would be a real technological win!
Yes, so true. I remember taking my pictures to school with me and making all my friends look at them. Talk about Narcissism! LOL
ReplyDeleteDo you think physical photo albums will go the way of physical music. My friends never print out photo's anymore (me too) but at least in the pre digital ago, we had boxes filled with photos and yet to be developed canisters of film rolls.
ReplyDeleteThey do make a camera that does instant photo shopping. We bought it and it's pretty cool. The Samsung ST550. It has a setting, called "beautiful", that automatically smooths out wrinkles and shiny spots, instantly.
ReplyDeleteMerlin
When I was a kid, I remember my parents dropping film off at these little booths in the middle of parking lots. It was like putting a letter in a mailbox on the street corner. Weird
ReplyDeleteI recently put a camera into a pharmacy for development, it was 4 years old. The excitment of getting those photos developed was immense!
ReplyDeleteI actually don't own a digital camera and I much prefer physical photos to digital ones.
Last year took 4 rolls of black and white film to get developed and just got the negatives and it cost me $76. And I still haven't scanned them to my computer, that would probably have cost another $76. :( Sometimes I do miss the random pics from disposable cameras though. Good post!
ReplyDeleteI am so happy I made the switch to digital a few years back. It saves SO much money. I take hundreds of pics so it is well worth it. AND, I love knowing if you need to retake a photo. There was nothing worse than getting back photos and the one you wanted the most, was the one that never turned out.
ReplyDeleteLike you---any pics were I don't think I look good--are never posted anywhere. :-)
Also, if you want to send me some of your nudes--you have my email. :-)
I sort of miss actually having pictures printed out. Remember when you had to choose a mat or glossy finish?
ReplyDeleteI need to check out this Samsung photoshop camera. The older I get, the more unkind the camera is to me. HAHAHA! Love you boo!
ReplyDeleteChristopher P!
ReplyDeleteFotomat!
I remember 'em, too.
I used to have the polaroid, loved that thing...I found it not long ago in an old box...I swear it looked like something from the dark ages, lol
ReplyDeleteand I cant imagine you ever looking bad in a pic;)
I much prefer the actual photos. I still get photos printed and keep them in a photo box. Love it.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you are back on the interwebs.
I think I snorted throughout your entire post! haha!
ReplyDeleteI seriously did not even remember the old cameras!
And you are so right about the whole album thing I did use to force people to look at my album. lmao!
I think about this sometimes too. I can't imagine how we got along without digital photos. There were so many bad photos that we had to pay for and just through away. The only drawback to digital is that you keep taking the picture over and over until you get a perfect one (well, at least a pix where yourself looks great). But it's so worth it!
ReplyDeleteHhaha, this totally took me way back!!! Technology is oen crazy thing - moves so fast! Can't even imagine what's next in store for all of us!
ReplyDeleteThese days of instant gratification, it's hard to imagine having to wait to have your pictures developed.
ReplyDeletePaul, I like remembering the "old world" of photography, but I love living in the digital age.
ReplyDeleteおはよう！お元気ですか？
ReplyDelete私はあなたより多くの成功を得ると思います。
Thank God for digital cameras!
ReplyDelete-Dean
I hope you've had a great summer. I was happy to read that you found gainful employment so quickly. My partner has been unemployed for a year, and I can see the toll the unemployment has taken on his selfconfidence.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious if you plan on continuing your blog. I genuinely enjoyed reading it. As an amateur blogger, I really get my inspiration from other blogs (like yours) and hope to hear or read an update from you soon.
Cheers,
BosGuy
yeah, thank God for digital cameras!
ReplyDeleteMiss you! Hope you had a great Christmas and New Years! Hope u come back to us.
ReplyDeleteOMG - I totally remember buying film and waiting for photos to be developed. Thanks for making me feel old!! But you left out the part about needing flash cubes for indoor photos. ;-)
ReplyDelete