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Monday, April 30, 2012

Lost Memories Found

Yesterday I was cleaning out some of my fishing tackle. I was basically just trying to get a handle on what I had. Most of my tackle was ruined in a flood and I did not know what I needed to restock. Under a pile of old, beat up tackle boxes I found a particularly sad box. It was my first one. The box I had as a kid.

Momentarily forgetting my task, I took my old box inside to see if there were any surprises. I probably hadn't opened it in a decade. Most of it's content was junk. It had been spared from the worst of the flood, but it only contained old, disintegrating lures and rusty tools. There was one gem though; an old disposable camera with only one exposure left. What could be on this camera? I didn't even remember using or owning it.

It was a film camera. A asked myself "Can this stuff still be developed? If it can, would it still be good after all this time?" A quick search online found a drug store near my house that still did one hour development. I ran it down, explaining to the person behind the desk that the film was old and to just do their best.

A very good picture of my dad. Apparently I took this picture over ten years ago.
Sadly, my suspicions were correct. After they processed the negatives, they could not make prints. I took the ruined negatives home, disappointed. Then I had an idea. I'm good with computers, actually, it is my profession. Maybe I can do a CSI maneuver and grab some images off the negatives!

Sure enough, I could!

If I remember correctly, this was taken at Beverdam Lake in Virginia.
It took some work, and the pictures will never win any awards, but I can tell what was on the roll and it did bring back memories long forgotten.


The pictures look like they have gone through one of those trendy photo filters, but they haven't. This is the best I could make them look.

My sister with a very decent Bass.
The pictures show a younger and thinner me. They were taken before I met my wife and had a family. I cannot put in words the nostalgia I experience seeing these.


We don't catch many fish. I'm sure every big fish of that season was recorded on this camera. As the roll progressed the picture quality got poorer and poorer.


Eventually, there was nothing worth fixing. CSI might be able to take a blurry picture and make it sharp, but that is fiction. The truth is that you cannot show something that isn't there. 

No matter how damaged they are, this roll of film is worth more to me than a brand new camera. Memories are priceless. Take pictures. Your family will thank you. You will thank you.


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