Photographic nostalgia

For my professional work, I use digital camera bodies exclusively. But I've got a few film cameras in my collection, three of which I actually use.

The first camera pictured belonged to my mother's parents. It was the camera they had with them when my grandfather was called to report for military duty in California. They used the camera to document their trip from Chincoteague Island, Va. By the time it came into my possession, the island's salty clime and years of neglect had rendered it unusable (not to mention the piece that had fallen off). I have the original box and two unused, unopened rolls of antique 35 mm film.

The second camera pictured is my dad's Kodak Retina IIIS rangefinder that he gave me a few years ago while cleaning out a closet. He used it in the late 1950s as a teen-ager, snapping pics of friends and family. By the time I came along in the early 1970s, he'd switched to the instant gratification of Polaroid. This one still works and is one I've just recently rediscovered as a fun camera to use. The rangefinder has a mechanism for focusing that takes some practice and time to master. I'm not there yet.

The third camera pictured belonged to my dad's mother. The Olympus OM-1 was the first camera I used professionally as a newspaper reporter/photojournalist. She gave it to me during one visit because she had heard I needed a camera. Her eyesight failing, she no longer found taking photos enjoyable. She originally bought the camera and learned to use it while living in Puerto Rico in the late 1970s. My grandfather worked for Bell Telephone and was instrumental in installing the island nation's first comprehensive telephone network.

The fourth and final camera pictued is my Canon Elan II, which I bought about a year into my first post-college newspaper job. It was a big jump from the OM-1, with its electronic exposure modes, electronic film advance, autofocus and bigger bulk. I loved it instantly, and bought two new lenses to go along with it. But for about a month or so, I didn't trust it. The OM-1 is so simple and sturdy and virtually unfallible in comparison, that I was afraid I'd be on an assignment and the newfangled Canon would let me down. It never did, and that's why I have Canon digital SLRs in my professional bag. I can't bring myself to let this one go, because there were times when film, at least in the early days of digital, was superior. Now it's a wash, but I guess I'm sentimental sometimes!

For the shots above, I shot them on the floor of my bedroom using east-facing window light behind and a reflector to just barely bring up the highlights on the fronts of the cameras.