Diana Lesire Brandmeyer

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a2z: The letter is ‘I’ for instamatic

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Diana Brandmeyer

 That’s it. 


The camera that brought so much joy. It came one Christmas after a lot of begging for a real camera. I didn’t even know what to ask for, only that I HAD to HAVE a camera of my own. 


There is a song song by Merle Haggard (related to my son Andy by the way) where he says he puts on an “instamatic grin.”


I took a lot of those type of photos. And some of my shoe and other odd things that kids take photos of. My grandmother used the flash cubes with glitter to make ornaments for the Christmas tree. 


I love the name of the camera. Instamatic. I couldn’t imagine a time where I there would be such a thing. A camera where I could see the photo before I printed it. I would have save a lot of money and had photos of things I really wanted. So many times I would take one of those shots knowing I had captured something amazing, then weeks later it would come back from the photo place and what I’d tried to catch on film was above or below where I aimed the veiwfinder.

Yes, digital is great, but there was something about the excitement of waiting for those priceless photos of my brother doing strange things that I miss.

for more a2z visit Patty Wysong’s blog.


posted by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer

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25 thoughts on “a2z: The letter is ‘I’ for instamatic”

  1. Shelley Ledfors says:
    July 29, 2011 at 12:54 pm

    Ah,yes. I had one of those, too. But I must say, I love my digitals. 🙂 Great post!

    Reply
  2. Diana Lesire Brandmeyer says:
    July 21, 2011 at 9:10 am

    Niki, I haven't seen that ap. I know I can do that with photoshope elements.
    Diana

    Reply
  3. Niki Turner says:
    July 20, 2011 at 6:50 pm

    I have a picture of my daughter as a toddler holding a 110 camera. She saw it recently and wondered what that little black box was. : )
    Have you seen the “hipstamatic” app for iPhone pictures? It makes your photos look like they were taken with an Instamatic camera!

    Reply
  4. Diana Lesire Brandmeyer says:
    July 20, 2011 at 12:30 pm

    Nancy, we have box of loose photos and it's fun to poke through it. There should be more printing of those digital photos.

    Reply
  5. Nancy K. Sullivan says:
    July 20, 2011 at 11:49 am

    Our family “album” was a box filled with loose photos. We always enjoyed taking each picture out, enjoying the memories that it held, then passing it around. I love the new cameras, but some things just never needed to change 🙂 Thanks for the reminder of earlier good times.

    Reply
  6. Diana Lesire Brandmeyer says:
    July 20, 2011 at 5:57 am

    Marji, I'm envious of that bag of treasured memories. You must get them developed!
    Diana

    Reply
  7. Marji Laine says:
    July 19, 2011 at 10:52 pm

    I found a bag of old film last month, most of it used. I'm tempted to get it developed just to see what it might hold!

    Reply
  8. Diana Lesire Brandmeyer says:
    July 19, 2011 at 4:33 pm

    Sparrow, I remember the Polaroid dance! Always thought if we waved it fast it would appear sooner.

    Reply
  9. Sparrow says:
    July 19, 2011 at 3:15 pm

    I remember the wonder of Poleroid where it would spit the picture out right away and then you'd have to wave it around for while while it dried. There was anticipation as the picture would slowly form. And of course I had a regular camera with film that would take days to be developed.

    Fun post!

    Reply
  10. Diana Lesire Brandmeyer says:
    July 19, 2011 at 12:09 pm

    Sara Ouch! LOL you must be a child. 🙂

    Reply
  11. Sara Harricharan says:
    July 19, 2011 at 12:02 pm

    Oooh, I now know what an instamatic is. Very neat post!

    Reply
  12. Diana Lesire Brandmeyer says:
    July 19, 2011 at 11:54 am

    Laury, those photos might come back with a nice red tint to them. I'd get them done soon.

    Rita, thanks for stopping by.

    Reply
  13. Laury says:
    July 19, 2011 at 11:08 am

    Oh- the good old days! Times have changed so much, but this one for the better:) It was fun, though:) I still have a drawer that has film waiting to be developed. I better do that before it's obsolete, huh?

    Reply
  14. Rita Garcia says:
    July 19, 2011 at 10:05 am

    Me too, loved my instamatic. Now I love my digital Great post, brought back memories!

    Reply
  15. Diana Lesire Brandmeyer says:
    July 19, 2011 at 9:34 am

    I saw one of those, and it was digital! Amazing.

    Reply
  16. Rhonda Schrock says:
    July 19, 2011 at 9:26 am

    …powered, I should have added, by a VSP (Very Small Person) in blue jeans who wants to 'photograph' mama.

    Reply
  17. Rhonda Schrock says:
    July 19, 2011 at 9:25 am

    Now, I find myself saying “cheese” for the Fisher Price version. 🙂

    Waving and grinning,

    Rhonda

    Reply
  18. Diana Lesire Brandmeyer says:
    July 19, 2011 at 9:08 am

    There really is no way to compare them. 🙂

    Reply
  19. Patty Wysong says:
    July 19, 2011 at 8:57 am

    My first camera was a 110. Loved that thing. =] And the anticipation of getting the film back was almost like a birthday. (LoL, until that 'perfect' turned out to be… not so perfect.) Second camera: digital. No comparison. 😉

    Reply
  20. Diana Lesire Brandmeyer says:
    July 19, 2011 at 6:42 am

    Joanne, wasn't it fun the way the bulb turned all by itself?

    Reply
  21. Diana Lesire Brandmeyer says:
    July 19, 2011 at 6:41 am

    Barbabra, I'm happier with my digital too, but once in awhile I want to be that hopeful photographer and smell that film when it comes out of the bag. (thanks Casey for reminding me about that.)

    Reply
  22. Joanne Sher says:
    July 19, 2011 at 6:22 am

    Ohhh – i LOVED my instamatic too! Too much fun – what a fun post!

    Reply
  23. Barbara Lynn Culler says:
    July 19, 2011 at 6:22 am

    I had one of those cameras!
    Much happier with digital.

    Reply
  24. Diana Lesire Brandmeyer says:
    July 19, 2011 at 5:19 am

    Wow, you were up late. 🙂 I know what you mean Casey, things are so different now. There's no learning to wait for anything, no anticipation.

    Reply
  25. Casey Freeland says:
    July 19, 2011 at 12:22 am

    Me too Diana. I loved the little twirly flash cube. I loved turning in my film. I loved the lightly chemicaled (not a word) scent in the air at the photo mat. And I loved going through the pics afterwards. It was special and I'm glad I lived in an era where I got to ask for an Instamatic for Christmas.

    Cheers,

    Casey

    Reply

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