My Experiments With Truth .....about Photography .

Let me begin with a confession. I had never handled a camera till i was 45 years old .

Those days , photography was expensive hobby . The film roll was expensive . There would only be 24 or 36 exposures for one roll . So they would keep a count on the number of clicks .

Developing and printing were costly too. I remember , during the early days of my marriage , when we went on trips, my husband would click only one or two keepsake pictures. Then waited till the whole film roll got used up on other visits , family functions etc. That would take some five or six months . Only then, developing and printing . Then too , they will look through the negatives and print only what looked best . Why waste money printing ordinary captures !

The cameras ( Agfa , Minolta , Kodak etc) were exclusively handled by the men of my family : father , husband and son (only when he was in college ) .

Once or twice , my husband would give the camera to me too. But along with the camera came one thousand instructions .
“ Dont hold like that “ ,
“Keep your fingers close “
“Dont shake ,”
“Dont keep pressing , just click “
“ you are pointing too high “
“ be careful , dont press Flash now”

With so much direction , I would get nervous and dutifully ruin the exposure .
And earn bad reviews for my deed .
And become so de-motivated that i would not try clicking again for two whole years .
And i would hate the Camera !

The advent of Mobile Phone changed all that ! When my son bought me a Mobile and informed me it has a good camera , i had just shrugged . A phone is for talking . A camera in a phone is such a wasteful technology, i had argued . How wrong i was !

Getting into the Social Networking circuits opened my eyes ! I understood a person is not considered alive unless she posts pictures of everything she does every moment of her life !
So there I was in the various groups , proving myself to be alive by posting picture after picture after picture of everything I saw everywhere .

Now there was no one advising me not to waste expensive film ! I could click away without fear . If i clicked 10 , at least two would come out presentable and i could delete all others without guilt or stress !

For the first two or three years it was good fun .

Then, after getting into sites like Instagram and Pinterest , i started noticing how fabulous some pictures were , and how poor my shots were .
Again , disappointment and de-motivation !
And angry with the Mobile .

I would try and try clicking from all angles in all lighting conditions , but something always fell short . My pictures were recognisable ofcourse , but no one drooled over my food portraits . My flower pictures did not evoke any poertry from anyone .

“Some are skilled photographers . Some are not” I would think sadly . “ God has not given me that talent.”

Then one fine day it happened ! I understood The Truth !

We had gone as a group to a beach in Kerala . All of us clicked the sea, the sunset , the coconut palms everything . We peeped into each others saved pictures . Mostly all looked the same .

On return , some friends posted a few of those sunset pictures on Instagram and FaceBook . I nearly fainted ! They looked spectacular , like pictures we see in glossy magazines ! How ?

It was my son who consoled me saying that they had no greater skills , only better photo editing apps ! And showed me how I could turn my photos too from poor clicks to fabulous Photographs !

Now I am at peace with Truth and myself !
And continue experimenting in a happy frame if mind.

 

Dont be sorry ! Good to hear your experiences with cameras !
What you say about today’s children is absolutely right !

 

Thank you !
seeing such great progressfrom Box Camera to I-Phones in own lifetime is really incredible ! How fast the world changes !