Webbers Photography

 

THE DARK SLIDE

For the years that Marie and I ran our studio, we used Hasselblad cameras and accessories. In my opinion, it was the finest film camera ever made. It was solid aluminum and made in a modular fashion. You had the camera body, then you attached a film magazine to the back, a lens to the front, and a viewfinder to the top. Hasselblad made countless variations to the modular parts to satisfy any photographic need.

Well, here’s the dark slide story. You see, you loaded the film magazine once it was removed from the camera. The dark slide protected the film from exposure during this process. Once loaded, you would then attach the magazine to the camera back and remove the dark slide. This would allow the film to be exposed by whatever image you chose to shoot.

It was at a wedding reception that I was feeling confident and creative. Feeling so, I went about shooting a roll of film creating some neat images. With everyone eating (you never photograph them then) I was free to do as I pleased. Got some cool shots of the property and other interesting images I knew the couple would want. All of a sudden Marie asked me why I didn’t remove the dark slide. ON NO! I immediately detached the magazine, threw away the film since you can’t rewind it, reloaded a new roll of film, removed the dark slide and gave it to Marie. I then went about to shoot the “shots” I already shot. Our customer bought a number of them for their wedding album. DARK SLIDE DEFEATED!

Quite often we forget the obvious when we do the obvious over and over again. Ever happen to you? Love to hear your story. Leave your comment below. Thanks – Hank