Laurie Snider
Notes from the Nest
“Say ‘Cheese!’ Wait a minute. Randy, you’re not looking! Everyone, look at me. At the same time! Oh, come on you guys!! Just look at me!! Oh, for Pete’s sake! It’ll only take a minute if everybody just looks right now! Great! Okay. Perfect! … Now, just one more, to make sure everyone was looking!”
And so, it goes, as I’ve spent my days as an amateur photographer, documenting in pictures our families’ happenings, escapades and special moments for posterity. I’m the one in the crowd, who usually has my camera close by, ready to snap a photo or two at a moment’s notice should an interesting subject present itself. It’s nothing fancy, just a little point-and-shoot, but it’s easy to use for a technophobe like me.
Our photographs are among my dearest possessions. Looking around our home and catching a glimpse of a particular moment in time, captured on film in a frame makes me smile, laugh or even swallow a lump in my throat as I’m transported there, if only briefly.
It’s a hobby, that kind of snuck up on me. My photos aren’t award winning but fall into the “decent shot” category. Mostly, it’s fun! I love taking natural photos, before everyone’s gussied up, donning good clothes, combing windblown hair or putting lip gloss on! Just hanging-out pictures, often times outside, playing, laughing, celebrating life and making memories are my favourites!
In the early 1820s, the first fixed image captured with a camera was taken by French scientist Nicephore Niepce. It took over eight hours of exposure to produce. In 1839, the year considered the birth year of practical photography, Louis Daguerre produced the first viable photographic process, that only required minutes of exposure to create a photo.
According to factslegend.org, because of the long-time periods it took to capture film — sometimes hours — it was difficult to catch subjects with endearing grins. Adults were at least usually co-operative, children not so much. Often, mothers would sit covered in fabric, disguised as chairs, holding their children in place. Geez! And my children complained it was taking too long!
In the early days, somewhat gruesomely, corpses would often be photographed. The Clantons and McLaurys, who died in the shoot-out at the O.K. Corral, were apparently photographed after their deaths. It wasn’t uncommon for families to do this either, lining up siblings for the family photos, dead or alive.
The pioneering days for photographers were downright hazardous to their health. The chemicals used to develop the photos including lye, mercury and silver nitrate frequently led to illness, madness and even death. As if that wasn’t enough, the potassium chloride and aluminum used to make flash powders, were also prone to exploding violently, if mixed improperly.
We’ve certainly come along way, since then. Digital cameras revolutionized photography in the 1990s, replacing rolls of film. Eastman Kodak, which was founded in 1888, filed for bankruptcy protection in 2012, after failing to transition quickly enough to digital.
Now cameras come as standard features on cellphones and instantly publishing our photos online, is a pervasive practice.
According to infotrends.com, 1.2 trillion digital photos will be taken this year. Every two minutes humans take more photos, then ever existed, in total, 150 years ago. Each day, there are over 300 million uploads of photos to Facebook, alone. Okay, I’ve contributed to a few of those.
Taking pictures is also a great reason to spend time outdoors and have an adventure. If you asked my family what one of my best-loved pastimes is, there’s a good chance they’d respond, photographing wildlife. “Mom, just can’t pass up, another deer in a field!” Birds, bears, fox and moose are all sure to peak my interest, have me pull out my camera and snap off a few dozen shots.
This is precisely why I found myself wadding in muck up to my eyeballs, in the middle of a corn field in recent days. There’s a certain beaver, I’ll call Bucky, I’ve become quite familiar with of late. He frequently inhabits a particular field, near his creekside property and I was hoping to capture a shot of this industrious, national symbol.
Things began well as I hopped from withered stalk to withered stalk, until of course I missed! Then missed again! The latest wintery weather, left the fields rather soggy and sloppy. The thick, mud now enveloping me, nearly sucked my shoes off, with each attempt to lift them up and take a step. Like any photographer worth their weight, I persevered.
Bucky oblivious to my plight, carried on with his efforts enthusiastically. I took the shot. I highly doubt my photo will win first prize in National Geographic, but surely, I should earn an A for effort!