Pleasant surprises from undeveloped film

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The other day, I suddenly realised that I've not touched either of my film SLRs for over a year. I picked up one, and saw that it was on frame 34 of a 36-frame roll. So, I took it into work, used up the film on shots of the office that's about to be redeveloped, and took it in.

Today, I got the prints back, and there are shots from events that I'd completely forgotten about. There's a nice one of my ex-boyfriend, and lots of pictures from the party his flatmate held when he finished his PhD. There's a cute cat pic, blurry shots of friends in the pub, and pictures of at least three or four ILX0rs. Those ones must be around 2 years old, as far as I can tell.

Now we've got digital cameras, you can see your photographs straight away. You can delete the crap and hide the rest away on your computer where you're never going to look at it. But you miss the chance to suddenly look at photos from a couple of years ago that you've not yet seen, and remember all those events you'd forgotten.

This is the thread for you to share your own similar stories.

― Tech Support Droid, Wednesday, 22 June 2005 19:52 (twenty years ago)

Post stories of suprise nude self-portraits, pls.

― Jimmy Mod Is Great At Getting Us Into Trouble (ModJ), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 19:53 (twenty years ago)

Digital cameras will create a huge gap in our collective recorded history. You can't put a jpeg in a shoe box under the bed.

― andy --, Wednesday, 22 June 2005 21:03 (twenty years ago)

WATCH ME TRY, GRASSHOPPER

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 21:05 (twenty years ago)

I have a film from seven years ago that I fear to have developed because of very porno pictures. Now I only remember the porno ones and I wish I could find out what else was on there. It was a good time, then. So there should be good things. I won't ever know.

― Eyeball Kicks (Eyeball Kicks), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 21:09 (twenty years ago)

Digital cameras will create a huge gap in our collective recorded history. You can't put a jpeg in a shoe box under the bed.

You can put a CDR in a shoebox under the bed, however.

I took a picture of my sister's newly-landscaped house once and didn't finish the roll. Then about a year later I was at her house again and took a shot from the same POV at the now-lush plantings. I wondered if it freaked out the guy that developed it. (And by "freaked out" I mean he may have shrugged and muttered, "well, what do you know.")

― nickn (nickn), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 22:09 (twenty years ago)

I had a roll of film once half taken by mum that I finished off... something like 3 or 4 years later. On the same roll was me as a preteen and then again at like 15 or 16. Very weird.

Also found a b&w roll in an old SLR once that was many years old... developed it and found some really lovely shots of my old house, b/f and housemates. Very bittersweet stuff (that bf had treated me horribly but we'd had some fun too). One really hilarious shot of my housemate Leon weilding a chainsaw with a comically manic grin.

I keep all my digipics, and I'm starting to print the better ones out on good photo paper too.

― Trayce (trayce), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 22:21 (twenty years ago)

Once found an unexposed roll of film in the back of a taxi hailed in Flinders Street early one Sat am. Processed and printed it was pics of a wonderfully grand camp ball full of trannies posing and having a right old laugh. Marvellous!

― dragtaxi, Wednesday, 22 June 2005 22:30 (twenty years ago)

Thats awesome!

― Making off like a lucky bandit / Kate (papa november), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 22:31 (twenty years ago)

I once thought I lost an whole bunch of pictures I took in Paris and of the Tour De France from a few years back. Then, one day, I found a random roll of 1600 Fuji and had it delivered. Ta-Da! My proof of being at another major sporting event was in my possession.

― Alan Conceicao (Alan Conceicao), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 22:34 (twenty years ago)

I used to work in a one hour photo lab.

The things I've seen, you wouldnt believe.

― Trayce (trayce), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 22:38 (twenty years ago)

I saw dead people.

...when I worked in a professional photo lab. For some reason a handful of families like to have a photographer at their family members funeral. It was pretty gross. Dead babies, old people....barely repaired car accident victims....ewww and always right before lunch.

― Making off like a lucky bandit / Kate (papa november), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 22:43 (twenty years ago)

OK, I never saw anythign like that! =)

I did see some weird bachelor party shots with what looked like some kind of circle jerk going on in them. I mean literally. These guys all had one hand forward between their legs, grabbing the dick of the guy in front of them, all pants down in what looked like some kind of wedding style reception centre. I mean, wtf?

― Trayce (trayce), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 23:04 (twenty years ago)

Well, I ain't seen none of that either. However, my father in law gave me an old camera he had with him in France during WWII. Yep, it was loaded and exposed. My wife and I had the film processed and gave him the pics. Mostly GIs and one of the Eiffel Tower.

― jim wentworth (wench), Thursday, 23 June 2005 01:27 (twenty years ago)

We complained about it till the lab had to refuse to do anymore processing like that. It was pretty disturbing having to hand spot dust marks off photos dead people.

― Making off like a lucky bandit / Kate (papa november), Thursday, 23 June 2005 01:31 (twenty years ago)

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