Back to 2008
Using a digital camera instead of my iPhone camera for a month!
Since the beginning of summer, I have been doing something I call “The Analog Experiment.” I created this undertaking out of the desire to rely less on my smart phone and live intentionally and on purpose. To do this challenge, I have been taking away a different core function from my smart phone each month to see if I can go without them, and if life is better in analog.
To read more about how the experiment works or the reasoning behind it, check out the post I wrote here.
Most recently, I went a full 30 days without the camera or album function on my smart phone. Out of all the monthly challenges, I was looking forward to this one the least. What if I miss out on a cute moment of my one-year-old? I’m not good enough at taking pictures on my “real” camera yet!
Well let me tell you, I certainly did miss out on capturing a few cute moments of my lil’ guy - and I’ll tell you how it went in my full report on MONTH THREE of “The Analog Experiment.”
(Also - I’m publishing this VERY late! I did the camera portion of my experiment in August! It’s now mid October! 🤦♀️)
Back to 2008 📸
I was 11 years old in 2008. That spring I got my first digital camera. I didn’t care that this chunky piece of plastic took awful photos and looked super awkward bulging out of the back pocket of my cut-off bermuda shorts. This camera was everything. And it even made some of my friends jealous! 😉
This camera finally gave me the ability to capture and remember what I wanted to remember. Whether it was a goofy memory at a sleepover or a “discreet” snap of the boy I had a crush on…(oops, the flash was on!) 😅 Something about having access to my own camera made me feel like I was living my own, independent life.
Do you remember how it felt to receive your first camera? Depending on your generation, your first camera could have been an iPad (like my husband.) Or maybe a Polaroid.
(Side note, I still laugh about my younger sister receiving her first Polaroid camera in middle school. It was Christmas day and she brought the camera to my dad (who lived the Polaroid generation) and said, “Dad, do you even know how to use one of these?” LOL. Everyone had a big laugh and a good-natured eye roll that morning!)
Back to the point - I forget how actually wild it is that we have access to a camera with photo and video AT. ALL. TIMES. Especially when I take time to remember how it felt to receive my digital camera for the first time in 2008. Humanity hasn’t always had cameras, but somehow, we have made them a necessity we can’t live without.
On top of that, the amount of photos we are taking is vastly greater than the amount our grandparents took. I wish I had more photos of my ancestors. Photos from every life stage. My ancestors will have a plethora of photos to sift through. At the expense of needing to purchase more Cloud/Google storage…
…which is what I conveniently had to do during my camera month.
I have never had to purchase more digital space due to the emergency of running out of online storage. (I guess having a kid will fill your camera roll quick!) I spent this month wondering if it would be better to switch to a more old fashioned way of taking and storing photos.
An “old fashioned” style of doing photos to me is either:
Using a digital camera and manually transferring and storing photos on a physical hard drive
Taking film and print photos
A hybrid of both.
During my smart phone camera fast, I used my digital camera (from 2010) and my “fancier” digital camera (more like a DSLR.)
I’m not going to lie, it was a clunky transition for me. I used to take all my photos on a digital camera and transfer them manually to a computer where I would edit and store them. Since then I have upgraded to a new computer and photo editing system. My husband had to teach me how to do everything again.
I really hoped to nail the new process down, but I haven’t gotten the hang of it yet. I kept running into issues with transferring, editing and storing my photos. It’s like instead of turning 28 this year I turned 65. Despite my husband’s many attempts, it didn’t become second nature in 30 days like I hoped.
At the end of the month, I chose to purchase more storage anyway. And I didn’t feel too bad about it. Paying $24 a year to store all my photos from the past 15 years? Not a bad deal.
Right?
For an average person like me, paying for online storage makes a lot of sense practically. It’s inexpensive and my photos can’t be stolen or burned up in a house fire.
The downside is, my photos feel less special. I take many photos with very little thought. I don’t take the photo with as much creativity. I have less awareness that the photos exist and the worst thing is, I never do anything with the photos.
This is what I am seeking to change. I take so many photos with such a boring process. With intentionality, can I bring life to my photography process? In a world where its so easy to take meaningless photos, can I go against the grain and work to create something special?
I try to protect my photos by keeping them in digital spaces. But when I do this, they are never enjoyed. The solution? Print photos. And do something creative with them!
I am still trying to figure out my ideal project. A scrapbook? A photo album? A hybrid? If I have an end project in mind, I wonder if I would take photos more purposefully.
And while I’m working on taking photos more purposefully. I’ve chosen to keep my camera app on my phone. I can have a camera app and work on having a more creative process in my photography. It will just take some intentionality.
If anything, I appreciate my camera even more than before. It brought me back to the feelings I had about my first camera from 2008. There’s something about having the ability to capture any moment you choose and keep it forever. It really is a privilege that we have access to a groundbreaking invention like a camera in our pockets all the time.
Does it require responsibility? Intentionality? Boundaries? Yes! But I believe navigating this is worth it and possible!
At the end of the day, if I chose to get a dumb phone with no camera, I could survive. I CAN transition - but it would take work!
As I am publishing this post, I am currently finishing up the next 30 day challenge in my experiment: going without maps! Stay tuned for my reflection! (Whenever I get around to it I suppose!)
Feel free to subscribe if you would like to keep up with my experiment! Thanks for reading!