Capturing Colorful Memories: Black & White Photo Challenge

Tag! You're it! 
No, not the childhood playground game that I'm sure some of us slower runners dreaded on a daily basis. This time around it was a Facebook photo challenge. No speed required, just a daily black and white photo, no people, no explanation, and a request to "tag" a friend to get them to join the challenge. 
​Since I have a collection of photos stashed on my computer, I figured, "Why not? Sounds like fun!"

Day 1 of 7 (scroll to the end of the post to see all seven photos)

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Of course, digital technology makes this process relatively easy. Photos can be edited and unedited with the click of a mouse or tap of a finger. 

It wasn't quite so easy back when I first started dabbling with photography as a teenager. Cameras required a roll of film and a trip to the local photo shop for processing. Then, a week or more later, another trip to pay and receive that sealed envelope with the photos and negatives...just in case a few were actually good enough to reprint and share! 

But that wasn't what I wanted for my first camera. Being a teenager, of course I wanted that instant gratification, so in the summer of 1969, I purchased my very own Polaroid camera to record all the upcoming events of my senior year of high school. Take a look back in time...

In the summer of 1979, my thoughtful husband presented me with my first film camera, partly for my birthday, but mostly because our daughter was due that fall. That Canon AE-1 served me well for quite a few years. It still required film, still required a wait for processing, but the photo quality was a considerable improvement over the Polaroid. 

I used that camera for over fifteen years, until the cost of repairs for a damaged film winder became higher than the value of the camera. I replaced it with a series of digital point-and-shoot cameras from Casio, Canon, Nikon, until I finally decided to purchase my Nikon D3300 and an iPhone6. No need to purchase film or pay for processing, no need to wait to see if a shoot was successful. Now I have a new dilemma...how will I ever find the time to organize all those photos!

Until then, I'll continue to take photographs...and posting in black and white from time to time on Instagram, just for the fun of it!

If you're up for the challenge, join me on Instagram and tag your black and white photos #creativity_crusader. I'd love to see them!