GOING BEYOND CTRL+P: WHY YOU SHOULD PRINT MORE PHOTOS AT HOME

Gather ‘round now, children, because Grandpa has a story to tell.

- Ryan Sitzman

OK, I’m not actually a grandfather, and (my hairline notwithstanding) I’m not even that old. Still, it seems like many of these articles that I write involve me reminiscing about growing up in the 1980s and 1990s and reflecting on how much photography has changed in that time. Of course, there have been huge advances in technology in the last 20 or 30 years, and the way we take, enjoy, and share our photos has evolved a lot in that time as well.

Hence, my “Good-Ol’-Days” Anecdote for this article. I recall that when my friends and I would get together as teenagers in the 90s, we would often bring prints of our latest rolls of photos. Obviously, we all used film cameras since that was the only kind of camera there was back then, and you’d only get 12, 24, or 36 pictures per roll.

After taking the roll to get developed, the photo shop would give you an envelope with your prints, and you could pretty much count on 90% of them being garbage. We’d still pass the prints around so our friends could see them, though, and if there was one that you liked, you’d write your initials on the back of the print. Your friend would then figure out which negative matched the print you wanted, and then take it in to the print shop and get another copy of the print made.

By writing this all out and reflecting on the process, it’s clear that we were all absolutely insane and that we had an incredible amount of free time. In our defense, the Beanie Babies craze was in full swing, and everyone was dancing the Macarena, so it’s not like there was that much else going on.