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The Vacation And The Camera
Nothing At All How It Use To Be

Take me back in time... at least the late sixties while I was on family vacation in Florida. From what I can recall, my parents did not make a a whole lot of photos on those vacations. But when they did, it was with the family Kodak Instamatic 126 camera and if indoors you popped on a flash cube.

Then a of week or so later when you got the prints back from the photo-lab, you picked out the good ones and put them in the family album. It seemed like everyone had one or two albums in their home. They were a lot like a life long chronology of your families life and times. Especially when it came to vacations. It seemed like it was tradition that families took a one or two week vacation every year, and ours typically in the summer.

It seemed like everyone had an album with vacation photos, and any others slipped into clear sleeved binders that you would add pictures to over the years. Sadly for me, I can only track down about a half dozen of those old family photos from childhood vacations.

Sadly, out of the photos that have been taken on those vacations and assorted albums are not to be found but except for a few. This torn and faded photo of Me with my Dad and younger brother exemplifies the way we see the traditional photo album in todays digital age.

Along with the couple other photos shown, I have to wonder if in 60 years we will still be able to view our digital photos we are currently making. Since many things evolve in the digital world that leave some older technologies in the dark and unusable. For example one of the first methods of getting our film on a Kodak Photo CD... It is virtually impossible to find a program that will still open a .PCD format.

60 Years is a very long time in the digital world, I actually doubt we will have the same methods to view photos like we do now on our mobile devices. By then we may just be talking into our wrist to make calls. In any case, I certainly don't see the same devices in use, even in another 20 years.

Even in my own life, I had at one time gathered together over a dozen photo albums. I recall going to a party once and shooting 7 rolls of 36 exposure (252 frames) Kodacolor film. While that may not seem like a lot to take with a digital camera, believe me... that was a lot of pictures to be made with film. The processing cost was a small fortune to the photographer.

I remember enjoying the chance to relive each of those moments in my mind as I sifted through the photos. To me it is still a more rewarding experience when compared to looking at images on a mobile device. The big album in your hands or the page after page of photos in plastic sleeves. Whatever it is, I still like looking at an actual album... much like I still prefer to read through a printed magazine instead of a digital version.

Although the early experimenters in photography like Nicéphore Niépce, who first managed to fix an image that was captured with a camera, but at least eight hours or even several days of exposure in the camera were required and the earliest results were very crude. In 1839, his associate Louis Daguerre, went on to develop the daguerreotype process, the first publicly announced and commercially viable photographic process.

Once we had stable light sensitive materials that led to the the roll film camera George Eastman introduced in 1888, we have become accustomed to photographic images being made to save a moment in time on film. And the "Snapshot" is born.

Fast forward to today… with film pretty much dead in everyday use and the traditional camera following close behind, photographers must embrace the fact that the hybrid camera is becoming the most used to make photographs now. And not only is the cell phone smaller and lighter but it also makes a better image than any cartridge film camera or most consumer roll film cameras ever made.

My wife and I recently went on our anniversary vacation in Isle Of Palms. As we sat on the balcony of our room we have a great view of beach goers. And throughout the day it seems as if one group or another that they are posing for pictures and selfies. From mothers posing their infant on a towel to the two girls making multiple selfies that they probably were posting in Instagram, Twitter & Facebook… the cell phones were out in full force. I also have not noticed any other tourist carrying a traditional camera other than myself.

Although I’m still a shooting with my traditional 35mm style camera, I feel kind of a rarity being the only tourist that carry's around a camera anymore. I have made about three shots with my iPhone but I’m still primarily making image captures with my traditional camera while making snapshots I know I most likely will never print with my phone camera.

Vacation photos are going stronger than ever due to the hybrid camera although those images are rarely if ever printed. While the amount of photos being made is going up, the money made from making prints has all but almost gone extinct. At least for the casual user who would have previously sent the film off to the lab. Instead of looking through a stack of 4x6 color prints, we now get instant gratification of seeing the image as soon as the shutter is snapped and can share it amongst a plethora of mobile and digital devices.

Selfies, group photos, couples, beach sports, food porn and more top the list of the hundreds of photos made today just in my line of sight. Interestingly the phone camera has introduced some new categories like selfies and food porn. I certainly know back in the days shooting vacation photos with the 126 Instamatic, that selfies was not something commonly made like they are today. Also with food porn, the old Instamatic film cameras would not focus close enough to make those shots.

Personally I miss looking at a photo album filled with prints as compared to a "folder" full of digital images on my tablet or phone. With social media and digital devices to share photos with, it’s more likely the images will be seen by more people but they don’t have the longevity that an actual print does…

Just remember that a photo print does not need an electronic digital device to view the photo.

I wish Kodak would have gone into making cell phones at least for the brand name to stay in the current photography world. In fact, I am surprised that Camera Manufacturers like Nikon and Canon haven't partnered with a phone maker to get their name on a phone camera before those brand names are associated with the past and not the present.