The Vintage Lens
Heritage Village is a cool place to step back in time and see how our ancestors lived. It is a 21-acre open-air living history museum located in the heart of Pinellas County. The natural pine and palmetto landscape is home to some of Pinellas County’s most historic buildings.
More than 31 historic structures and features, some dating back to the 19th century, include a school, church, sponge warehouse, firehouse, railroad depot and store, as well as a variety of historic homes.
It is estimated that 1.2 trillion photos will be taken in 2017. Think of all the photos you have on your phone, hard drive, external drives, thumb drives, CD and in the cloud. It can add up to thousands of photos that we have accumulated over time. What are you going to do with them? I am guilty of procrastinating in organizing and cataloguing so I can find them later and then become frustrated when I look for a photo and can’t find it. So, I have determined this year to better organize my photos as I take them. Below is an interesting article from Mylio.
Books & Photos
I recently stopped by a local bookstore to look for vintage photography books. I could have easily stayed home and browsed a Kindle, Nook, or some other type of electronic reader but I like a real book. To me, there is something about the look and feel of holding a real book. I often underline and write notes in the margins, something I find difficult in an electronic book.
Photography can be like that, most of our photos are in electronic bits of information that we view on a computer or smart device. I find it rewarding to pull a photo album or book off the shelf and relive the memory.
This is a photo of my Great GrandFather, William Barkman. This photo was taken in 1935 when he was the Sheriff of Jackson County Indiana. The reason I have it today is because it was printed out and saved. The original is just as clear and sharp as the day it was made, that was 80 years ago.
The photographs I take today are stored as electronic bits of information on internal, and external hard drives, cd’s, thumb drives, SD cards and in various cloud accounts. Current technology is in a constant state of change which will be difficult or impossible to access in the future, remember 5 1/4 floppy disks? There is also no guarantee that those companies operating the cloud storage will be around in 10, 20, 50 years from now.
I am confident that photos which have been printed out and properly stored will be around for years to come, as proven by my Great Grandfathers 80-year-old photo.
I would encourage you to print your photos so that your children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be able to pull out the family album and look back and remember.
Tim Jeffers