My father handed down his decade-old SLR to me. A Nikon FA, one with the supposed “AI” that’s supposed to automatically decide the settings that would fit the shot (e.g., exposure, aperture, shutter speed). For photography enthusiasts, this model may be considered the father (or the uncle) of the digital SLRs coming out of every corner nowadays.
I was excited when I got the camera. It even came with the photocopied manual which took me 5 minutes to browse through and look at the pretty, monochromatic pictures. I held it between my hands, like my dad used to do whenever I walk up the stage and get my merit card during recognition day way back. At that time, I was still oblivious to what the camera can actually do. I just like to look at the great photos that come out of it.
I toyed with the lens, a Tamron 28-200mm Aspherical, and noticed that it doesn’t lock onto the lens mount perfectly, not at all, actually. I twisted and turned the knobs and switches, switching between the user manual and the camera, checking what a particular part does. The ASA/ISO setting was still set to 400. I then remembered that he always preferred a faster film. My lola’s camera, a point-and-shoot, was no match to what my dad’s camera can do. I’ve always came out looking good from pictures taken with the SLR.
Time space warp to a few years ago. While looking for an old high school document, I discovered my dad’s repository of old college stuff. I found design plates, papers with swatches of watercolor on them, unfinished sketches, old colored markers, and a few dried-out tubes of paint. But what caught my attention the most was the heap of photos that he probably used for his photography class. Contact prints, colored, black and white, self-portraits, nudes and bulb shots. My dad got my respect for that. Since then, I’ve always nagged my dad into lending me the camera. But he’d always refused. I was stuck with my lola’s instamatic whenever I go on field trips.
I felt stupid clicking and winding the camera without any film. I imagined it to be digital. After being mocked a few times by my sisters and my lolo, I got one with 24 exposures. My dad tutored me a few techinques and styles in using the SLR. I was told to write down the settings of every shot I took with it. Armed with the knowledge of winding and clicking the camera, plus a few on exposure and light techniques, I went on my shutterbug odyssey.
I got the film developed earlier this afternoon. I got 6 out of 24. The other ones were either overexposed or underexposed. I looked at the negatives and noticed that most of the shots darkened the subject. And to think that those were the ones on the “Programmed” setting, the one with the supposed “AI”. I guess the poor thing lost its “deciding” powers. Shots taken on the manual setting came out blurred… I blamed my spastic hand for it… even if the shutter was set on 1/250 already.
The lady from the developing center gave me a hung up look while I was claiming the pictures. I had a feeling something bad happened. She was kind enough to give me back 20 bucks and a free film.
There’s still room for improvement here. And no, I won’t be posting the pictures ’til I get them right.
Thoughts