"Calvin STOP! I want to take a picture out the windshield." As a racing fan, one right of passage is driving through the tunnel that leads into Daytona International Speedway. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daytona_International_Speedway We were about to go in when I realized that I need take a photo of this momentous occasion. It was what you could call, A Kodak Moment.
On January 19th, Kodak filed for bankruptcy. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/19/us-kodak-idUSTRE80I08G20120119 Kodak invented the hand-held camera and roll film. With those two products Kodak, you could say, started the personal photography and motion film industries. You think Kodak is only about film? Wrong, one of Kodak's engineers, Steve Sasson invented the digital camera. When you read this timeline, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastman_Kodak#Timeline you will see that the company was the developer of many important products in film and digital photography.
Why is Kodak bankrupt? Kodak made most of it's profit from film. With the development of digital photos, less people were buying roll film. And not that long ago, the company was the number two seller of digital cameras in the United States. I think the thing that hurt the company the most was the cellphone camera. How many people do you know who always has their cellphone? And compare that to the people with a film or digital camera. Do you see my point? I do not have a digital camera, but I do have a cellphone and film camera. The bulk of my photos are taken with my phone, which allows me to edit them for accuracy and content. The only time I use my film camera is for taking action photos. Most inexpensive digital cameras struggle with motion, except digital SLR cameras. Did you know that Kodak also designed the first digital SLR camera. With digital you can see right away if the photo is any good. You only have to develop the photos you want, but not after you have edited them. Film does not have that luxury. The only way to know if it is any good is to get it processed, and when it is processed it might not be any good. Now you got to buy more film to take more pictures and the cycle continues. Did you know that the one of the first one hour photo stores was built in Bismark ND. Sadly, last year they went out of business. http://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/photo-express-to-close-after-years/article_ad96abec-2d9a-11e1-b77a-001871e3ce6c.html That news foreshadowed things to come for Kodak.
The top photo was taken with my Samsung 35mm camera with Fuji Film processed on Kodak paper. Now don't I sound just like a race car driver? I had only 10 seconds to take the photo of the Daytona tunnel, because other cars were waiting to get in. It didn't dawn on me until the last second that this would make a great picture, and I had to hurry to get it snapped. That roll of film wasn't used up, so I still had a few more photos to take. The next day I got the film developed. I knew that photo was on this roll, and I was anxious to see. Thumbing through freshly processed pictures is a roller coaster ride. The bad ones are down low, but those great ones are up high. I finally got to that tunnel picture and it wasn't down in the ground, but up high in the sky. Mama, don't take my Kodachrome away. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SExsuRIGAlg
That photo was taken five years ago, and the Daytona 500 is next month. Anybody up for a road trip?
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