Today is National Camera Day

There’s magic in a photo, whether it’s a historic black and white of President Abraham Lincoln at the end of the Civil War or one celebrating your child graduating from college. For hundreds of years, cameras have captured these moments in time, rolling up stories, feelings and even fashion in a single snapshot.  

Celebrated every June 29, National Camera Day marks the invention of the camera, and the fact that cameras and photographs are part of our everyday lives.  

Before cameras, people’s faces, historic events and landscapes were documented in paintings. It took time, skill and a talent to render what someone – or something – looked like in real life. With the invention of the camera, everyday people could now take a photo of whatever they were interested in at the time.  

Cameras have their beginning in 400 B.C, with the Chinese experimenting with pinhole imagery, sometimes referred to as camera obscura. Fast-forward to 1839 when Louis Jacques Daguerre invents the Daguerreotype, the first commercially successful photographic process for creating a permanent image on a metal plate.  

The beginning of modern photography may be traced to the 1880s, when George Eastman invented photographic film. He then patents a camera to use his film. Eastman invents color film, which is named Kodachrome, in 1935 and changes the game once again.  

Meanwhile, groups such as the military, fashion and celebrities started to use cameras and photography to spy on enemies, sell their products and encourage movie ticket sales. This happens between 1903 and the 1930s.  

The year 1900 also saw the introduction of the Brownie camera. This mass-produced handheld camera brought photography to the public.  

Zoom in on today and you’ll see a camera built into every cell phone along with digital cameras that come in all sizes. You can still buy cameras that use film, including professional grade, vintage and specialty cameras.  

So, how should you celebrate National Camera Day?  

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Take photos of what’s around you 

Cameras help to capture life as it happens. Take a photo of your friends as you meet for coffee or round up the grandchildren and snap some photos as they play. Use your camera to capture flowers, your favorite pet or even what a rainy day looks like from your perspective.  

Experiment with your camera 

Whether you’re shooting pictures with your cell phone camera or something more advanced, try different angles or lighting. Zoom in or move far away and see if that changes how your subject will look.  

Make sure to collect and keep photos that are special to you 

Today’s scrapbooks are more digital than on paper. Those old sticky scrapbooks tend to ruin photos over time and can become bulky if you have a lot stashed away. Why not digitize your photos and keep them on a computer or photo-sharing website? If you want to make a scrapbook, look into the services that create and print books that can hold favorite memories such as a trip or stories about a loved one.  

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