Complex Numbers

And so it ends.

When I think back
On all the crap I learned in high school
It's a wonder
I can think at all
And though my lack of education
Hasn't hurt me none
I can read the writing on the wall

Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, Oh yeah
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So mama don't take my Kodachrome away...

Back in 1983, my mother bought me a Nikon SLR for a graduation present. I took that camera and ran with it, dabbling into amateur and professional photography.

I was never much good, and I wasn't about to get a job with National Geographic or Playboy (I'd have jumped at either one, though I read them both for the articles), but I did a stint with a newspaper and a bunch of gigs as a wedding / party photographer. Kept me in beer money in college, you know.

My attempts at "art" photography were hit or miss, but they focused (heh) on two styles: black and white, and Kodachrome.

The thing about Kodachrome was that it was slow. But the tradeoff for its slowness was rich, deep colors and no grain. I mean, NO grain. You could blow a Kodachrome slide up thousands of times, and it might show some blur, but no grain. No other film behaved like that, and even the most dense digital cameras of today can't claim the same thing.

Now, those days are over.

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20090622/BUSINESS/90622004/Kodak+to+...

The color film line that helped build Rochester-based Eastman Kodak Co. into an industrial powerhouse will be retired this year, Kodak announced today.

I like digital cameras. I'm probably going to get one soon - a Nikon digital SLR. It may even be able to take my old lenses; I don't know yet.

But I can't help but feel that something big is gone.

If you took all the girls I knew
When I was single
And brought them all together for one night
I know they'd never match
my sweet imagination
everything looks WORSE in black and white

Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, Oh yeah
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So mama don't take my Kodachrome away

Mama don't take my Kodachrome away
Mama don't take my Kodachrome away
Mama don't take my Kodachrome away...