The old days
Nov 28, 2011 13:11:43 #
I worked for a daily newspaper some time ago
and in the Old days thing were a little different
When you actually bracketed your shots.
When someone showed you how to bounce a flash.
When if you didnt know about aperture and shutter speed you didnt get a shot.
When if you were hung over you didnt focus very well.
When you had 16 rolls of film in your bag with 4 different ASAs
When the dark room was yours and you had to buy a 60 watt bulb for the enlarger.
When your auto winder blasted out 2 frames a second.
When you shot with whatever camera was on hand.
When you could make a chain link fence go away with depth of field.
When the old guy showed you how to push your film speed.
Tell me your stories .
When you actually bracketed your shots.
When someone showed you how to bounce a flash.
When if you didnt know about aperture and shutter speed you didnt get a shot.
When if you were hung over you didnt focus very well.
When you had 16 rolls of film in your bag with 4 different ASAs
When the dark room was yours and you had to buy a 60 watt bulb for the enlarger.
When your auto winder blasted out 2 frames a second.
When you shot with whatever camera was on hand.
When you could make a chain link fence go away with depth of field.
When the old guy showed you how to push your film speed.
Tell me your stories .
Nov 28, 2011 13:40:22 #
ggttc wrote:
I worked for a daily newspaper some time ago
and i... (show quote)
Thanks for my daily smile. Mostly the "good ol' days" weren't. But, these are good memories for sure!
Nov 28, 2011 14:48:47 #
John Brown
Loc: New Mexico
Lots of truths there.
1. Had to use different developers to change ASA (ISO) or time when pushing film.
2. Usually smelled like vinegar.
3. Had a paper safe.
4. Film didn't always roll on to the spool correctly.
5. Temperature was important.
6. A good timer was important.
7. And now and then the film did not attach to the take-up spool in the camera.
Such were these days and so were the in the dark (:>)memories.
JB
1. Had to use different developers to change ASA (ISO) or time when pushing film.
2. Usually smelled like vinegar.
3. Had a paper safe.
4. Film didn't always roll on to the spool correctly.
5. Temperature was important.
6. A good timer was important.
7. And now and then the film did not attach to the take-up spool in the camera.
Such were these days and so were the in the dark (:>)memories.
JB
Nov 28, 2011 14:54:36 #
I took my film to the D & D Hardware store and they sent it off to Chicago, or St. Louis, or somewhere, and a week later I went back to the D & D Hardware store and collected my prints. And bought another roll of film.
Nov 28, 2011 17:20:51 #
dont get me wrong...digital is a wonder...and I have four cameras...but there are no contact sheets and a loop anymore...
And B&W is becoming a lost art...
But most of the time we didnt have a choice.
And B&W is becoming a lost art...
But most of the time we didnt have a choice.
Nov 28, 2011 17:25:53 #
having lunch at mcdonalds after spending the morning shooting with your nicromat and a all metal and glass 50mm 1.4 A buger small fries and a coke and you got change back from your dollar. big macs cost 75 cents and they had more than 2 registers open at the time. or do you rember shooting with a poloroid camera and having to shake the photo when it came out. Or what about flash bars and flash cubes?
Nov 29, 2011 06:38:32 #
rayford2
Loc: New Bethlehem, PA
Seeing "Sylvania 'Blue Dot' " for seconds after someone took your picture with #5 flash bulbs.
...Great advertising.
...Great advertising.
Nov 29, 2011 06:53:50 #
rayford2 wrote:
Seeing "Sylvania 'Blue Dot' " for seconds after someone took your picture with #5 flash bulbs.
...Great advertising.
...Great advertising.
Now that was some light, remember AG-1's too?, The size of the flash for an Argus C-3 was bigger than my Electronic flash now and that's without the egg carton of bulbs that I had to carry. Bob.
Nov 29, 2011 07:37:18 #
rayford2
Loc: New Bethlehem, PA
bobmcculloch wrote:
Now that was some light, remember AG-1's too?, The size of the flash for an Argus C-3 was bigger than my Electronic flash now and that's without the egg carton of bulbs that I had to carry. Bob.
rayford2 wrote:
Seeing "Sylvania 'Blue Dot' " for seconds after someone took your picture with #5 flash bulbs.
...Great advertising.
...Great advertising.
Now that was some light, remember AG-1's too?, The size of the flash for an Argus C-3 was bigger than my Electronic flash now and that's without the egg carton of bulbs that I had to carry. Bob.
Some of those flash bulbs were as big as a standard 100 light bulb. As a high school prank we substituted 4 of these in a light fixture of a girls rest room...Lots of laughs, but lots of detention as well.
Nov 29, 2011 07:41:27 #
photocat
Loc: Atlanta, Ga
fun thoughts.
Am lucky that I get to relive most of these on a weekly bases.
Not the flash bulbs, or the need to have my own enlarging bulb, but surely the smell of fixer never leaving my clothes even after repeated washing.
Am lucky that I get to relive most of these on a weekly bases.
Not the flash bulbs, or the need to have my own enlarging bulb, but surely the smell of fixer never leaving my clothes even after repeated washing.
Nov 29, 2011 07:53:30 #
Lucian
Loc: From Wales, living in Ohio
Well guys just to correct a few things here, you can still make a chain line fence go away today, with focus on a digital camera. B&W is not a lost art, it is alive and well, go and play with Nik Silver Effects Pro software, fantasatic for B&W and you can choose what ever B&W film effect you like, they have them all listed in there.
But I do miss the days when the McDonalds sign read... Over one million sold. And I miss the days when you could go into a sweet shop/candy store with a dollar bill, get three pretzel sticks, 2 packs of gum, 4 candy bars, 3 gob stoppers, some wax lips and a few little wax coke bottles and still come out with 75 cents in change!!
Course, nowadays that's impossible to do with all those darn convex mirrors in every corner and the surveillance videos at all angles, plus in store security guards watching all over the place... ;-)
But I do miss the days when the McDonalds sign read... Over one million sold. And I miss the days when you could go into a sweet shop/candy store with a dollar bill, get three pretzel sticks, 2 packs of gum, 4 candy bars, 3 gob stoppers, some wax lips and a few little wax coke bottles and still come out with 75 cents in change!!
Course, nowadays that's impossible to do with all those darn convex mirrors in every corner and the surveillance videos at all angles, plus in store security guards watching all over the place... ;-)
Nov 29, 2011 07:57:02 #
Lucian your last paragraph really gave me a chuckle. I always love a good punch line.
Nov 29, 2011 08:04:59 #
When first learning how to use the camera, opening the film compartmen and reuining several frames. MacDonalds, The Arches were in the side of the building
Nov 29, 2011 09:22:09 #
Lucian
Loc: From Wales, living in Ohio
For those still using film here is a tip that saved me forever, after my first run in with that very special roll of film, that enabled me to get more shots than normal.
Now for all us old film guys, you recall that if you were very careful when loading and only used the bare minimum of spool leader, then closed the back, you could end up with 37 amd sometimes 38 usable negatives from a roll of 36.
One day I was extra vigilant while loading my film and when the expected end came, I was soooo pleased to see the counter go to 37, then 38 and then... YES 39! WOW - a new personal best. Then 40, then 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48! Was this to be an alltime record roll? Did I have that dreamed of roll, where maybe the machine screwed up and it rolled on an extra foot at the factory or something, before cutting it off? Well it could happen!
So when 50 turned, I thought maybe I'm not so lucky after all, and slowly had that sinking feeling. You know, the kind of feeling you get when in the dentist's chair with his hands in your mouth and you faintly hear him say ooopss, damn, muffled through his mask. The feeling you get when your girl friend rings you up out of the blue and say... "we need to talk".
The same sort of feeling you get, when on take off, as you eagerly look out the window, camera at the ready, you see a faint puff of smoke shoot out the back of the number two engine and hear a muffled thud immediately followed by a slight vibration. One that no one else on the plane seemed to pick up on.
Yes that's right, I sadly had to accept that nothing had gone through the camera. ALL THOSE BLOODY WASTED SHOTS... AAAHHGGRRR, and some were the best I had ever captured. I think the words "oh darn" or something close to that, came out of my mouth. It was a long time ago and my memory has faded somewhat.
From that day on, when ever I loaded a film and did the... close the back and wind on two turns to be sure you have clean film for your first exposure... proceedure, I added an additional step.
Now I would close the back and wind on once only. Then, ever so gently, I'd flip up the rewind lever and carefully, slooooowly and gently, begin to rewind the film until I felt a slight tension. Then, while not allowing that lever to move back at all, I would flip the lever back down flat, keep a thumb gently but firmly pressed on the rewind knob, and release the shutter, then wind on once more, feeling the rewind knob turn under my thumb as I slowly wound on.
Now I felt good, I was absolutely sure the film was going through the camera and would also, periodically, press a left forefinger on the rewind knob during my shooting as I wound on, to reconfirm that the film was still going through the camera. Never again did I have a roll of film not get exposed due to it jumping out of the sprockets when the camera back was closed.
Hope this helps anyone still shooting film, especially for new high school students, whose teachers make them use film to start of, to understand the whole process.
Now for all us old film guys, you recall that if you were very careful when loading and only used the bare minimum of spool leader, then closed the back, you could end up with 37 amd sometimes 38 usable negatives from a roll of 36.
One day I was extra vigilant while loading my film and when the expected end came, I was soooo pleased to see the counter go to 37, then 38 and then... YES 39! WOW - a new personal best. Then 40, then 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48! Was this to be an alltime record roll? Did I have that dreamed of roll, where maybe the machine screwed up and it rolled on an extra foot at the factory or something, before cutting it off? Well it could happen!
So when 50 turned, I thought maybe I'm not so lucky after all, and slowly had that sinking feeling. You know, the kind of feeling you get when in the dentist's chair with his hands in your mouth and you faintly hear him say ooopss, damn, muffled through his mask. The feeling you get when your girl friend rings you up out of the blue and say... "we need to talk".
The same sort of feeling you get, when on take off, as you eagerly look out the window, camera at the ready, you see a faint puff of smoke shoot out the back of the number two engine and hear a muffled thud immediately followed by a slight vibration. One that no one else on the plane seemed to pick up on.
Yes that's right, I sadly had to accept that nothing had gone through the camera. ALL THOSE BLOODY WASTED SHOTS... AAAHHGGRRR, and some were the best I had ever captured. I think the words "oh darn" or something close to that, came out of my mouth. It was a long time ago and my memory has faded somewhat.
From that day on, when ever I loaded a film and did the... close the back and wind on two turns to be sure you have clean film for your first exposure... proceedure, I added an additional step.
Now I would close the back and wind on once only. Then, ever so gently, I'd flip up the rewind lever and carefully, slooooowly and gently, begin to rewind the film until I felt a slight tension. Then, while not allowing that lever to move back at all, I would flip the lever back down flat, keep a thumb gently but firmly pressed on the rewind knob, and release the shutter, then wind on once more, feeling the rewind knob turn under my thumb as I slowly wound on.
Now I felt good, I was absolutely sure the film was going through the camera and would also, periodically, press a left forefinger on the rewind knob during my shooting as I wound on, to reconfirm that the film was still going through the camera. Never again did I have a roll of film not get exposed due to it jumping out of the sprockets when the camera back was closed.
Hope this helps anyone still shooting film, especially for new high school students, whose teachers make them use film to start of, to understand the whole process.
Nov 29, 2011 09:24:52 #
Blake wrote:
When first learning how to use the camera, opening the film compartmen and reuining several frames. MacDonalds, The Arches were in the side of the building
OK the arches wer out front too'
Remember the little red window in the back of the camera, showed the exposure number, remember turning the knob, double exposing accidently, waitng...Bob.
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