four generations

I just took a look at the date on my last post. It was well over a month ago. sigh..... If you hop on over to there personal blog you'll see what I've been doing with my time these last few weeks. Just in the last couple of days have I felt like things were getting back to normal (whatever that is.)

Anyway, today I found myself going through a few banker boxes of old cameras that I've been collecting since college. A few are pretty special and I thought I would share.

This camera was my grandfather's. He was an amateur photographer, and I'd like to say he is the reason I was bitten by the shutter bug. I believe he was received this camera as a teenager and although I'm not sure if it was his first camera, I know it was one of his most treasured cameras. When he past away many years ago, my grandmother gave it to me, and it will always be one of my treasures.

In clearing out my grandfather's photography things, we found this little guy tucked way in the back of the cupboard. He was hidden inside a brown leather case. My grandmother had no clue what it was, but I did. Although I can't confirm this, my grandmother said that she thought it had belonged to my great-grandfather. Judging by the patent date on the front of the lens, it is quite possible. Perhaps this is the camera that sparked my grandfather's interest in photography.

My mom's first brownie camera. Note this is not a Kodak Brownie. No this is the camera she received when she was in the brownie scouts. I'm pretty sure this was her very first camera. It came with flash and a little, red plastic case. So sweet.

That only leaves this guy. My very first real camera. My parents bought it for me when I was 15 or 16. I had started taking photography classes in high school and up until then I'd been using my mom's camera. (She had the exact same model.) Nothing very fancy about this Minolta, but it has been with me half my life now. Judging by the scuffs and scratches it has seen better days however it still works great. This was the camera I used all through college. I shot my first wedding with it. I took it (along with a few others) with me to Italy. It was my constant companion.

Through out this year, I've been working on a personal project, starting a digital archive of my family's photos. Today I realized how special it is that I not only have the photos but also some of the cameras that captured those images.

Thank you for letting me share my special four generations.