Good story. Yes, a fellow photographer can relate to it. My very first camera was a Kodak Duoflex II TLR that my parents gave me for a birthday. My first pictures were terrible and I gave up on the idea of photography for a while. I don't have that first camera. I did find one like it at a swap meet and bought it. My first SLR was a Honeywell Pentax H-3 that my father gave me back in 1963. Still have the camera and occasionally run film through it.
Jim A. > From: Sid Barras <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2004 21:21:53 -0500 > To: Pentax discussion list Pentax discussion <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Only a "photographer" would appreciate this tale... > Resent-From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Resent-Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2004 22:21:58 -0400 > > Hi Gang, > While going through some old boxes of stuff from my parent's attic that > was recently discovered (they've both passed on for several years now) > I came across something that slammed me harder than anything in recent > memory. > > I found my first camera. > It is an old Bolsey B22 "set-o-matic" rangefinder. Probably a > mid-fifties vintage, it was an antique when my mom handed it to me for > a 4H project way back in fourth or fifth grade, which would have been > around 1966. > > I had totally forgotten about this old thing. In recent years, I found > all the negatives I took with that camera, but I couldn't quite > remember which camera I had back then, and from time to time, I'd look > at old cameras and try to see if it "rang" any memory bells. Nothing > did. > > But when I saw this camera, it was like a flood-gate opening-- the > memories came back in a flash, and suddenly, I remembered everything. > The months and months I spent with that camera-- the trips to the park, > the airport, the wetlands; the teacher that let me accompany her to > science fair for pictures for the school yearbook, Mom buying me a > "Tower" darkroom kit to make prints in our bathroom... Taking home 2nd > prize for photography exhibit at the 4H fair. It was quite an emotional > time for me. Thank God I was alone when I found it. > > I've been carrying it around lately, taking a few shots, but mostly, > just holding it in my lap. Seems comforting there. > > Sid B >
