Spot

When I was about 13 or 14, my dad gave me his camera. He just said I could have it. This is the camera he used on his LDS mission, and he took lots of our treasured family photos with this baby. I've always loved this camera. Especially because of its history. It's a 1969 Honeywell Pentax Spotmatic that my dad purchased at a duty-free zone in Colon Panama. The Honeywell Pentax Spotmatic was introduced to the public at the 1960 World's Fair, and it was made available for purchase in 1964. This little piece has only been in our family, and I'll keep it forever.

When I went away to college (over ten years ago) this baby stayed in my parents' basement. It seemed too precious to cart around, and digital cameras were becoming the norm. I had all but forgotten about it, until I got a little camera hungry this summer. I was browsing Amazon for instax cameras and holgas, when I remembered my little Spotmatic. I asked the folks to send it all the way from Utah to Alaska, and they did!

When it arrived, I noticed it had a roll of film that still needed to be used up. I snapped a couple of pictures of Oscar and the kitty, and wound up the film. Of course, I couldn't remember how to open the camera to get to the film, but google took care of that. I was happy to find out that Costco develops film, and even makes a CD of all the images. HELLO 2011!

Of course the pictures didn't really turn out, as the film was probably 15-years-old, but here are the ones that did turn out. Well, sort of turned out:

 These five pictures were taken in Wyoming, while visiting our friends the Kunz's. We were all obviously at different stages in development face. Wowza! 

 Marianne, me, Katie, Gravy, and JB

 JB, taking a little breather on the soccer field.

 Katie relaxing in the sun.

 My mom. My mom's hair. And a soccer field.  

 Marianne, probably wondering if the game is over yet. 

This next picture is weird, because it's a picture of a picture frame. I recognize the top left photo as Meredith and I on all fours in a parking lot pretending to want to eat lemons. It's still one of my favorites. The bottom left photo is my high school boyfriend, Chris Jensen. The other three look like dance pictures and probably another picture of me and Meredith.  

 I like that I got a picture of this picture frame, but what I love most about this photo is that it captures a little bit of my teenage room. I lived in this room for 17 years. It had all white wicker furniture, peach-colored walls, and curtains that matched the bed spread. I regret not keeping that wicker furniture when I went away to college. This photo also shows how messy I was-hence the hanger on the floor.

This next photo is one I took when the camera arrived here in Alaska a few weeks ago.

 It's just kitty. Lookin' real slim.

As you can see from the three pictures at the top of this post, the Spotmatic (I guess I'll call it "Spot") needs to be cleaned and refurbished. I'm excited to load it up and take some old-fashioned film photos.

xo

Alli