Photography - then and now

During the lightning storm last night I made over 200 exposures with my Nikon D-90 digital camera.  As I was sorting through the images and deleting the ones that I couldn't use I got to thinking about how it was when I first started.
  My first camera was a Kodak Brownie box camera. It could produce 12 images on one roll of film.

As I recall a roll of black and white film was about seventy-nine cents and processing was about $1.29.  My mother would get very frustrated with me when I would, in her words, "burn through a roll of film in less than a week".  To put that in perspective; bread was fifteen cents a loaf and gas was twenty-five cents a gallon.

When I finished my 4 years in the U.S. Air Force I had graduated to a 35mm camera and of course film and processing costs had increased.  I was moving from hobby to professional status and shooting more film as I was learning my craft and the costs were taking a toll on my financial stability.  I remember seeing a quote in a photo magazine at that time "Photography is a cruel mistress who makes you write bad checks".

In 1980 I had finally made it to professional status and was under contract to buy a studio where I had worked for a number of years.  By the mid-eighties costs were going through the roof on everything from gas to film. And people didn't seem to understand how expensive it was just to do one portrait session. Film, processing and printing, overhead and support materials, enlargements and so much more.  People would as me why I charged $7 for a 5x7 when they could have one made at the drug store for seventy-nine cents.

That's about the same time that color copy machines were becoming very popular.  People could make a copy for about thirty cents (although very poor quality) of a professional photo and say "that's good enough for me". Also, stores like K-mart and Penney's were opening studios and charging rock bottom prices.

Today, there is the cost of the camera and a memory card - one time purchase and you can shoot to your heart's content without any additional cost unless you want to make prints or enlargements. Wow, what a difference.

I was curious about portrait pricing today and found that a portrait session can be $50 to $100 and a 5x7 costs about $20. And of course a loaf of bread costs $3 and gas is almost $4 a gallon.

Stormy weather ....

For the last few nights we have had plenty of lightning activity all around us. Here are just a few of the photos I was able to capture.

Music and nature

When I first retired in 2008 my dream was to travel around the United States for a while to visit people and places and just experience the land we call North America. I did not enjoy the big cities with all the congestion but I did enjoy the distances in between. I remember some peaceful moments in the woodlands of Ontario, Canada as well as some time at the very end of Key West, Florida. But I found the most peaceful and restful locations to be in the southwest from Texas through New Mexico, Arizona and southern Utah. Most people would call it desolate or lonely but I found it beautiful and refreshing.
The point of this musing is that I was reminded of it all when I listened to this song by Marty Robbins. Maybe you have heard it before, maybe not, but I encourage you to enjoy a few moments of peace here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsPKrw_TJ2U

Independence day in Mexico ... Sept 16

Last night we had our first rooftop party to celebrate Independence day here in Mexico. It was a small gathering and everyone had a good time. From the north we could see fireworks at the fairground and to the south we were treated to a nice lightning storm over the Pacific.

Progress ....

I love making progress on projects.  Here are some photos showing the progress on the garden and rooftop.

Sept 7 2011 - Downstairs will be a garden someday.

End of Oct 2011 - Stage one - weed control and trash removal.

Sept 14, 2012 - Finally taking shape and looking more like the garden we imagine.

Upstairs - Sept 2011 - huge problem with leaks in the roof.

Sept 2012 -   Satellite dish removed, cover is completed and the area is now livable. 

All the leaks are sealed and the hammock is a wonderful place for an afternoon siesta 

or an evening of chit-chat.

There is still a lot of work to be done but we are both happy with the progress.

Dodging the bullet...

We are very fortunate to have avoided any major problems with hurricane Kristy but the storm surge has left a lot of debris on the beach. On our evening walk we enjoyed the cool breeze and the smell of salt spray in the air as well as a beautiful sunset (and yes, I forgot my camera). 

Weather ....

We have been fortunate to have avoided the worst of the hurricanes (for now) but we have sure had our share of rain and wind and it looks like another one is on it's way up the coast.

These photos were taken from the second floor of our building.

Most of the time the water drains off in an hour or two but it leaves behind the mud and other debris that washes down from the hills that surround Zihuatanejo. Oh well, that's life in the tropics.