Photo Finish

I woke up this morning with a blog entry outlined and half-written in my mind. I took that as a sign to get my rear in gear and get back to writing.

I was in the car the other day, and I saw a car that looked just like my first car, a 1982 Plymouth Gran Fury. I already told you about that car when I wrote this post. Funny thing, though, when I saw that car the other day, I got a pang of nostalgia. Yes, you're right, I really didn't like that car, but my mother did. Of all the cars I remember my dad having, that was her favorite.

I suddenly found myself wishing I had a picture of my car.

Then I realized, for all the photos I do have, there are probably a billion I wish I had.

It's so different and wonderful and easy now with digital cameras and phone cameras. I grew up in a house that always had a camera, but we seldom used it except for super special occasions, if we remembered to take pictures at all. For example, if I had a bestie sleeping over, we didn't bust out the camera and take goofy pictures. I sure wish we would have. Once in a while, we'd take pictures of regular days, but those were far and few in between.

Taking pictures with old film cameras was almost a daring feat. You took a photo. Maybe it was one of the first shots on a roll of 24, then you put away the camera. If you remembered, you got out the camera for the next occasion. You snapped a photo or two, then the camera went back to its waiting place. Maybe it was a few months, maybe it was a year or more until you used up all of the pictures on the roll of film. Once you got to the last picture, you usually took a picture of any old thing just to finish up the film.

Once the film was all used, you had to have it developed. You could take it to a drug store, you could take it to a grocery store, you could send it away to York, or you could drive up to one of the little booths that littered parking lots all over, Fotomat.

All of those options required more waiting time. By the time you got the photos back, you had usually forgotten what was at the beginning of the roll of film.

The anticipation of opening the packet of pictures was almost like waiting to unwrap gifts on Christmas. You'd try not to rip the paper, but sometimes you were just too excited to see what was inside! Many times, you'd have an envelope full of disappointment on photo paper. Maybe the film was so old some of the photos couldn't be developed. Maybe heads were cut off. Maybe you got a roll of black pictures, Maybe the developer overexposed the film and you couldn't make anything out; it was just a wash of shades of whites. Oh, but those times you did get the shot, those pictures were favorites.

We had a Polaroid camera at one point as well; the instant kind where you take the picture and the camera spits out the photo. We seldom used that camera because “the film is so expensive”. And it was; back then it was probably $15 for 10 pictures. I was a kid, and I didn't really get it, though. They are selling instant cameras again, and I can't believe the prices of them! I know I sound like an old curmudgeon, but the camera is at least $60, and the film is about $35 for 50 prints. I looked into them because my daughter wanted an instant camera at one point. By contrast, I just ordered prints from my digital photos, and I spent $9 for 100 photos. By the way, my daughter doesn't have an instant camera, because “the film is so expensive”. I'm not a kid anymore, so now I get it.

When we moved to Chicago, I bought an inexpensive 35mm camera. We took pictures. Lots and lots of pictures. Back then it was still a film camera, so we still had to play the waiting game once we finished the roll of film.

One night, my husband and I met this guy whose company had box seats for the White Sox games. Not luxury box seats, but box seats right near home plate on the first base line. The guy was kind enough to give us the tickets for every time the Yankees came to town that season! I was very excited; I'd never seen a major league baseball game before, much less seen the Yankees play.

My husband and I went to the game decked in our full Yankees regalia. I couldn't believe we were so close to Wade Boggs, Don Mattingly, Danny Tartabull, and Paul O'Neill! We took lots and lots of pictures that day. In fact, I believe we used all 36 pictures at the game. The ready date for that film couldn't come fast enough, and of course, we ordered double prints! Oh, the excitement, the anticipation of waiting to see our close shots of Don Mattingly on first base!  We went to the store to get our pictures, and there had been a problem with the film. None of the pictures could be saved. Not one. Talk about disappointment.

These days, I'm all about the digital cameras. You know when you got the shot you wanted, you can take goofy photos for no good reason and it doesn't cost a dime. Even if you want to order prints, it still doesn't cost a dime; it's only 9¢ a print.