Photography: Those were the days . . . . (Film vs Digital)

Where did it all start for me? As I’ve heard so many times before, anyone who hit puberty around the early 60’s and had aspirations to be fully fledged photographer one day, more than likely got going with something like a Kodak Box Brownie 127.

Ah ! those wonderful days of roll-films. Of holding onto those last three frames left in camera, even though it meant delaying getting to see some holiday snaps taken at Butlins three years previously.

Keep you elbows tucked in prompted the camera guide book, to avoid camera shake and keep your fingers away from the front of the lens. Check the sun is behind you over your right or left shoulder the good book chastised. Even at this early stage in my interest in photography, I had sussed out that if the sun was where the so-called experts said it should be for taking the best photograph, most of my subjects would be so dazzled by the sun, their half closed eyes, would give the impression that they were suffering from a bout of acute constipation.

These were exciting times for me as I realised that a career in photography would be just the right road to take for a lad who didn’t have any idea what to do for a job after leaving school. Toting nothing more than three ULCI certificates, I still don’t know what the initials stand for, but the boss at my first job was suitably impressed.

This was it! My first step into a job or what the success books call JOB, just over broke!. It entailed processing films, collected from the chemists, that had been taken by everyone who had been on their hols. We’re talking the early part of the 60’s here so the films were almost 100 per cent black and white. One’s imagination had to be vivid back then because the lovely blue sky recorded on holiday, well at least one day of your holiday ( we hadn’t heard of Benidorm at this point in time) produced only as grey, or black if your photography had progressed to using a red filter.

To read more on this topic contact Nick Clarke via his website to enquire about his new ebook.