Building Blocks

Another mix of old and new - digital photos and scans of prints.

I used to have an aversion to sending out my negatives and slides to be processed or printed. After a roll that I took on my first and only trip to Myrtle Beach and Charleston was lost, I was nervous about it happening again. Luckily, I found a lab near me after that where I could take my stuff. They knew me by name and I could work with them on what I wanted. Alas, with the digital age, they got less and less work and they closed up shop a couple of years ago.

You’d think that once I started shooting digital I would print more, since I can just upload the file. In some ways I have, because I print photos of the M&Ms a lot and have made photo books with their photos for all the family. But I don’t often print my other photos.

I think it’s because I have all my favorites loaded on my laptop and setup as backgrounds and screensavers. I see them all the time. Pre-digital, I was out of luck on viewing my negatives unless they were printed. The slides I could view with my projector and screen (yes, I’m telling you I have A LOT of equipment for a one bedroom apartment, not to mention a bike and a set of wheels in my bedroom!). I would turn out the lights, pop the popcorn and go thru my slides. I didn’t do that very often though (but cool and fun to do). But still, I didn’t see them every day like now.

I sometimes wonder if the digital frame will do away with the print. That someday there will be big poster size frames you can have on your wall and that will allow you to switch your artwork with the touch of the button. I know that my mom loves the one we bought her.

I hope not though. They thought the same thing with books but there is something about the feel of reading a book that you don't really get from a digital reader - the magic of turning the page. There's magic in the print too. :)

www.lmg-images.com