Some things you just can't part with. Like my first real camera. As a kid and young teen our family always had some type of camera. Maybe it was cutting edge at the time. As much as cutting edge was in the 70's and early 80's. I was the photo taker for the most part. Trips to Disney and family fun days. I had the family camera and would gladdy snap away. But then is happened. Back story for context. My parents were divorced when i was two. They both re-married and all was well. We wold go to Dad's house a few days after Christmas to spend the holidays. Each year he would out do the previous years gifts. We did not see him that much being that we lived in New Hampshire with mom and he lived in Connecticut. The year previous my sister had gotten a TV for Christmas. So I new for sure I was getting one this year. Boy was I wrong. As a sat on the floor with this small box I was thinking. Shit it was over 35 years ago I have no idea what I was thinking. I knew it was no TV. Once I opened and saw the box. I was flipping out with excitement. It was a "REAL CAMERA"
That was it for me I was all in. I took camera classes in high school. Got a part time job at a camera store in the summer I was taking photos of everything. Film was cheap and. The worst part was waiting for the images. It took about 7 days from drop-off to pick up. Once YORKS photo labs opened and we could mail them it. That was another level of extitment. Waiting for them to shop up in the mail.
How times have changed. But one thing has not. I still have my first real camera and have it loaded with film in my camera kit that goes to every wedding I photograph.
