Old family photos & slides

Tachyon

Tachyon

Tachyon

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Same oul' town
Just a couple of observations after a very good family evening. Tonight our family had a surprise 70th party for one of my uncles, the family gathered over at his sons house & my dad brought along an old projector and slides that were taken anywhere from 20 - 40 years ago. he couldn't remember what make his camera was other than it was a german one.

It's been a while since I've seen any slides projected and I have to admit for pictures that were taken so long ago, I was amazed at the quality of those pictures. The screen was maybe about 5' x 4' and the pictures were so sharp, the colours so perfect, it was just so much of a pleasure seeing them being shown again. The amount of times someone chirped up about the detail, or clarity was countless, it was mentioned so many times.

Then on to the photos themselves, they were the ones I'd probably think of deleting because they were just family snap shots. But then after 30 - 40 years those family shots have become so precious, it made me wonder if I'm really overlooking the important photo subjects rather than chase that perfect landscape or whatever I'm after. Not that there's no point in doing that because of course thats what photography is about, but sometimes I often don't take pictures because I think certain elements aren't right or whatever. In other words what might seem like a family snap shot not worth keeping for some reason or another in years to come is a precious keepsake.

The night was brilliant, having everyone round a big screen & having so many laughs at clothes, haircuts and faces. When I was a kid I had a right set of knobbly knees & my wife had a real laugh at them. Probably the bokeh wasn't great, it was half a stop underexposed but did anyone notice? nah, they all noticed my knees though. So I'm goona be that bit more careful in future before I bin that not so perfect photo. Thats my Saturday night story, thanks for reading. :)
 
Pictures are a snapshot in time - good or bad. Random candid pictures I take while running around the house of people are ones i never delete, because it captures the moments, expressions, things that you cant pose for. We sometimes take if for granted that the people we snap will always be here, next to us, still alive. When that is no longer the case, you'll be glad you didnt delete the pictures.

I look at old family albums and im amazed how much a story they tell, the places, the countries visited - some of these wont win any prizes for composition, but they help piece together history in your mind.
 
Tachyon, thing you have raised some very valid points, and one that should make digital users think !!!
After 20-40 years you were able to access those slides and pictures. In 20-40 years will we still be able to read the CDR, the Hard drive or the memory card, will the ink-jet prints have faded...or simple been deleted as you state.
Personal I think we have a whole generation of "snappers" who will will have no "memory(ies)" in 20 years time.....
 
Personally once I've enough digital photos taken I get the best of the bunch processed in a bureau and stick them in an album. Some people just prefer looking at the photos in a album. Old folks, kids, myself.
 
Sparky191 said:
Personally once I've enough digital photos taken I get the best of the bunch processed in a bureau and stick them in an album. Some people just prefer looking at the photos in a album. Old folks, kids, myself.
Click to expand...

I'm the same, once I have a certain quanity processed I'll pop them on a card leave them in to get prints.
That's another thing though, I heard a couple of the folks say last night that they thought it was better than looking at photos. Whether or not it was because it was blown up on the screen or maybe it was the atmosphere of everyones reaction once the next slide popped up I don't know. Of course you could always use a projector for your digital shots too and have the family round. What was handy though was that a few family members brought slides over and all just popped them into the loader.

As 9designs2 mentioned though about not having memories in the future, it's so true about a lot of my friends never leave the images in to get printed. They will probably transfer them to disk, won't back them up or get a new pc and not transfer them over or something.

The flipside of course is I probably wouldn't have enjoyed photography as much if it wasn't for the instant feedback of digital, that in itself without the cost of processing & getting back a bunch of duff shots won me over. Swings & roundabouts.
 
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