Apr. 2000
President's
Message
Portrait of ...
Article: Using the Fundamentals
Portrait Of ...
JoAnn Seyfert
My first experience with a camera was when I was very, very small. My mother had a Brownie and then a Vest Pocket Brownie. Of course I was interested and eventually she let me “take pictures”, supervised, without film. The supervision slacked off as I grew older and later I was allowed to handle the cameras loaded. Back then the film was protected from the light with paper which was rolled across the inside and then fastened on a second spool. The film was advanced after back was closed. You never saw the film itself.
One day my curiosity got the better of me and I pulled the tongue of paper out all the way to see the real thing. My mother was NOT happy. Luckily the roll was not exposed. I don’t remember any repercussions aside from some strong words. I guess she accepted my curiosity as inevitable. On the plus side, I then had a roll of film I could play with, not just an empty camera. One day my father came home from his Rotary meeting with a door prize, a baby Brownie camera! I immediately claimed it and my career in photography had begun.
When Fred and I were married he had a 35mm Argus which was too complicated for me and he took most of the pictures. Since my father worked at Kodak my parents eventually gave us a better camera.
Time passed; we had two kids and a family camera. Then when Bob was in high school, he took a photography course. He taught himself to develop slides and for a couple of years, to cut costs, I got him to develop my slides. Then the ax fell. He had had enough. If I wanted slides developed I could do it myself. So he taught me and with MUCH fear and trembling I began. I developed all my film for many years. At one time or another I made every mistake that was possible and some that weren’t, but Kodak’s kits were very forgiving. I can’t recall ruining more than one or two rolls. The labs have been known to do worse.
About this time Fred and I joined DCC and began to learn how to really take pictures. We had muddled through putting some slide shows together before we joined and I got into club essay competition. Later, I accepted the challenge of the WIEP show. With help from other members I produced it three years straight, using poetry and scripts which broke with the previous pattern of reading the titles and makers of each and every slide. Over the following years, I produced it twice more, as well as the several PJ shows which were shown separately.
Since joining in 1974, I have been involved in many different aspects of the club and have held several offices. Probably the most notable were three years as the Reflector editor and the past three as Program VP. I’ve also done quite a bit of judging both in the club and elsewhere. We’ve made many great friends and had a lot of fun, and isn’t that what photography is supposed to be about?