When I looked across the room and watched my granddaughter pointing out favorite photos of family and events to her daughter

When I looked across the room and watched my granddaughter pointing out favorite photos of family and events to her daughter, I was moved. It reminded me that all we have of our past family members are the photos.

I have always loved photography, and I have had cameras of various kinds all through the years. So back in the 60’s when it was popular to make 8mm home movies, we very quickly joined the 8mm rage and enjoyed setting up the portable screen to watch the antics of family and friends. Today those many rolls of film are in the back of a drawer somewhere, never to be seen again.

Through the years we transferred the old film to more modern technology, but sadly the quality got poorer with each transfer.

I am sad that during the days of the 8mm home movie craze, I didn’t take more photos. Photos placed in an album makes it easy access for the family to reminisce about days gone by.

At Christmas last year we viewed the old films on DVD. Poor quality, but they are funny, and a great reminder of life in the 60’s - 70’s. I was usually the one behind the camera. So as we watched the many events, I became aware that I was rarely seen in the film. It made me a little sad.

Now with the iPhone, everyone takes mountains of photos. The photos are saved in “the cloud.” So I ask— how many of those images do you actually print for the family album? Will those photos be there when you want them? And, what is “the cloud”…a big ‘ole’ computer somewhere in never, never land? Maybe we should at least save all our favorite images separate from the computer. I certainly plan to do that. And I plan to continue printing images for the family album.

Reminder: Take the photos. Make the prints. Place them in the family album with names and dates. And if you are the family photographer, by all means, hand the camera to someone… You need to be in the photo once in a while!!