Friday, January 05, 2007

Double Exposure

The old Tower Snappy was a very primitive camera compared to the inexpensive models of today. The aperture was preset and the shutter had only one speed. The film was wrapped in paper with a black lining to block light. The outside of the paper was of a different color with the frame numbers printed on it. The film was advanced manually buy turning a knob while watching for the next frame number through a small red window in the back of the camera body. There were no safeguards to protect from double exposure so if one forgot to advance the film between shots a surprise awaited them when the photos returned from processing.

The above photograph of my Dad with his first school bus is an example of the accidental double exposure. Although the image is jumbled it has remained in my collection of snapshots from my early years

3 comments:

photowannabe said...

Even "jumbled" its a perfect memory shot. Before we pack to move I'm going to have to go through all my folks old photos and repack them. I think it will take a really long time, especially the slides. It will be a fun trot down memory lane though.

Chad Oneil Myers said...

Really cool image of that vintage bus.

Unknown said...

I remember taking photos with an old black box camera when I was young as well. No idea what kind it was.

Old family photos are precious regardless of double exposures and wear and tear through the years.