CC Weekly Creativity Challenge: Old Friend

This week's entry for the Creative Construction weekly creativity challenge...Though I’ve weaved in and out of various art mediums for as long as I can remember, the one thing that has remained a constant for me is photography, my old friend.

I took my first “real” photography course my freshman year in college. This one didn’t include darkroom techniques, just shooting techniques, so I just learned the real basics. My instructor still teaches adjunct at the College that has been my place of employment for the past 16 years! It was for this class that I got my first “Big Girl Camera”, a Pentax A3000, on the right in the picture above. When I transferred to Florida State I was able to take more photography classes, including two that taught me dark room techniques. I can still remember sitting in that little black booth, learning the feel of taking my film out of my camera and prepping it for development in that pitch blackness.

I worked as a professional photographer in college for a company that photographed all the sorority and fraternity functions on campus as well as 90% of the high school and college graduations in the state of Florida. The sorority and fraternity socials were actually the most fun….nothing like being the center of attention at a large party simply because you had the camera! I have to admit, I knew a LOT of people at Florida State (or at least a LOT of people at Florida State knew me) simply because of my camera. I was one of only two female photographers on the staff for quite some time, so you can imagine Evie and I were often requested by the fraternities. Summer always meant grad season and, since Jacksonville was home, I was usually scheduled for all the Jacksonville schools….long days in the old Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum photographing grad after grad as they walked across the stage to shake their principals' hands.

Shortly after DH and I got married, I upgraded to a Pentax Z7 with built-in flash so I could finally get away from that cumbersome top-mounted flash. When the girls were born, I bought my first digital camera, my trusty Fuji Finepix A-210. To this day, I use my little Fuji to photograph my jewelry for my website. Three years ago, I finally coughed up the cash for my digital SLR, a Nikon D40, near the top of the line at that point! Now Nikon has shot on up the line with the D700 and D3000, waaaay out of my price range. My D40 suits me just fine.

Somewhere along the way at a random antique shop, I picked up the Zeiss Ikon Ikoflex you see pictured on the left here. It’s in pristine condition short of one little part I’m searching for. The Ikoflex was made in Germany between 1939 and 1951, and best I can tell from the body and case, mine was manufactured in the earlier part of that span. I keep it on a shelf in my bedroom to remind of my quest for that missing part.

I have a large camera bag in my closet that contains all my cameras, including all the little point-and-shoots I’ve had along the way, some functional, some not. Just can’t bear to part with them. When I picked up the bag to prepare to take this picture, the weight of the it struck me as quite heavy yet very familiar. All my old friends happily tucked away together, just waiting for me to find the right time to break them out again. Kodochrome may no longer be in production, but the images he left behind will be timeless. Paul Simon said it best; take a listen.

Stories and pictures from my weekend trip coming tomorrow!