Slides

I really enjoy the experience of watching the projection of slide film.  From my early childhood years to today, seeing my memories enlarged on a big screen is so much fun. 

You may be thinking that with technology, one can view photos on a large screen TV in high definition and achieve the same results.  But in my opinion, it is not the same.  Hearing the whirring of the projector, anticipating the clicking of the next slide, and debating who is going to control the remote is part of the experience.  Plus, you have to watch slides in the dark whereas you can watch a TV screen any time of day, which adds to the ambiance.

When I was growing up, my father documented snippets of our lives with both print and slide film.  We used to love those special evenings when we were going to ‘watch the sides’.  Seeing ourselves larger than life on a screen in our living room was extraordinary.  It was our night out; better in some ways than a drive-in movie theatre.  Here, we were the stars and everyone in the room loved us.

When we began having children of our own, my husband and I were shooting both print and side film.  Being the organizational nut that I am, combined with both of us being avid photographers, we came to a decision that for the most part, we would shoot print film for home life and slide film for vacations. This way we would know where to find the pictures we wanted to see.  Sharing everyday photos of our life and our kids with grandparents and other family members was obviously easier if we just had to make prints from negatives.  However, when we wanted to relive a vacation, we would experience it on the ‘big screen’.  We also found that watching the slides with our own boys kept their early vacation memories alive in their minds. 

Flash forward to our present empty nest.  There are those nights when watching slides is the perfect activity for my husband and me.  We are the only ones, other than our parents of course, who could enjoy watching hours of our own memories.  We can linger as long as we want on a certain photo and reminisce, or try to recall details about a trip or an event.  This keeps the vacations and moments alive in our minds as well.

Watching slides last night inspired this blog.  Here I am in Monument Valley in 1995 with one of our sons.  We transferred the image from slide to computer.

Whether your memories are on print, slide, or video, the significant part is documenting important events for future memories.  Passing those memories down to your children or relatives is also important in keeping your past alive.  If you are inspired to go shoot some slide film now, Fuji 400 was always our favorite.

 Here is one of our sons, meditating on a Redwood tree in Redwoods National Park in California in 2000.