Do you remember taking photographs and having to wait for them to be developed? On this day 25 years ago I dropped a film of holiday photographs off at a local shop. I didn’t write down how long I had to wait before picking them up, but I suspect it was 24 hours (I think this was before 1 hour developing). It is hard to remember a time when you couldn’t see your picture straight away and decide to take another one if it didn’t work, but I still remember the feeling of excitement and dread before opening the packet to discover what I’d taken.

Over the weekend, I slightly re-lived this time of photography history. We spent the weekend at the beach and I used my waterproof camera to take pictures in the sea. Unfortunately, it is an old camera and some moisture got inside a few weeks ago and although the camera still works the display doesn’t, meaning I could not see the pictures I’d taken, with the added complication of not even having a viewfinder. Downloading the pictures today was the equivalent of opening the photo packet, and I discovered while I managed to point the camera in the correct direction most of the time, some are missing the action.


Love the idea of going back and finding unknown photos, but it would certainly make me think about what I was taking more. No more perfect expectations!
Yes, removing the perfect expectations would be nice, although I do like increasing the chances of getting a good version of a picture.