Christmas trip down the memory lane

[p.giannakis]

Christmas are fast approaching so I thought we could go a trip down the memory lane and recall some of your most cherished photographic memories relating to Christmas.

In 1991 I walked in an indoor market in Athens and in a tiny shop (not much bigger than a wardrobe) which was selling Eastern European cameras I bought my first camera. I haggled for an MTL5 but eventually I settled for a cheaper Practika BMS. I remember walking out of the market and it was snowing (quite rare for Athens).

 

[Yokosuka Mike]

I married my sweetheart on Christmas day 1986. We're still happily married.

All the best,
Mike

 

[raydm6]

The warmth and aromas of being in a nice Italian family and a Mom who was an amazing cooking machine... ...and my Dad buying me a Polaroid 420 camera.

 

[Timmyjoe]

Was setting up the Christmas tree on Saturday, and watching the movie "Carol". It is supposed to take place in the mid-1950's but it so reminds me of my childhood Christmases in the early 1960's, the decorations, the train sets, the department stores, the lights. And one of the lead characters is a photographer, shooting at first with an Argus C3 (Brick) and later she receives a new Canon rangefinder from her girlfriend, the other lead character. Just the whole mood is my childhood Christmas.

Best,
-Tim

 

[Larry Cloetta]

Nice idea for a thread, Pan.

 

[nikon_sam]

When I was 18 years old we finally got our first real Christmas tree...before that is was this plastic tree you had to assemble and it was from Montgomery Wards...
A few years ago my wife bought a fake tree...even though it looks very nice it doesn't have that wonderful pine scent...

 

[Evergreen States]

Was setting up the Christmas tree on Saturday, and watching the movie "Carol". It is supposed to take place in the mid-1950's but it so reminds me of my childhood Christmases in the early 1960's, the decorations, the train sets, the department stores, the lights. And one of the lead characters is a photographer, shooting at first with an Argus C3 (Brick) and later she receives a new Canon rangefinder from her girlfriend, the other lead character. Just the whole mood is my childhood Christmas.

Best,
-Tim

Good movie, both Christmas and forum appropriate.

 

[Evergreen States]

It all started when I was 14 or 15 years old. I'd been hanging around our new neighbors all year framing things by making a rectangle with my fingers. On Christmas they gave me a Ricoh KR-30SP and Ricoh K mount 50mm ƒ/2.

 

[robert blu]

Good idea for a thread in this time of the year.
Give me time to look for the appropriate photo.

 

[Larry Cloetta]

Most of my Christmas photos seem to have dogs in them for some reason.

 

[Larry Cloetta]

 

[farlymac]

The first year I had a camera for Christmas time was back in 1971, and I was home on leave from the Navy. I don't have those images scanned yet, so I present one from more recent times forty years later. There is a tradition in the catholic church of holding a midnight mass on Christmas Eve, and I'd always wanted to photograph the decorations, but didn't want to haul an SLR along with me. So in 2011 I had what I considered the proper one for the effort, a Canon Sure Shot Classic 120 which would do long exposures, and was small enough to keep in my jacket pocket. It had most of the controls you'd find on the SLR T7, plus a couple other things up the sleeve, like being able to turn off the Auto Flash. I took it with me to the local cathedral (St Andrew's, Roanoke, VA) and had some success, though there is some shake in the longer exposures.


St Andrew's Midnight Mass 2011 #6 by P F McFarland, on Flickr


St Andrew's Midnight Mass 2011 #2 by P F McFarland, on Flickr


St Andrew's Midnight Mass 2011 #1 by P F McFarland, on Flickr

Someday I'll run these through better software to de-noise them a bit.

PF

 

[robert blu]

Photography has always been present in our family. And Christmas was a moment for it.

I remember the small Polatoid Swinger and how magical it was in that time, long time ago.

This is me, my Mom always liked to add at least the date to our photo. I now have to thank her, or I would not know when this was taken.



and here are my parents



of course this is the swinger, which I still have.