If you found a 'magic' camera.....

Teflon-Mike

Teflon-Mike

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Are you sitting comfortably? Then I shall begin.
Meredith was shopping. It was a grey and dreary day, and she needed to find 'something' for her aunt's Birthday Present. She had dismissed Thorntons because of the sugar. She had decided her aunt wasn't old enough, quite, for a Marks & Spencers Cardigan. Debenhams had offered a cacophony of scents, and the conclusion she didn't want to imply her aunt smells. You know how it goes... in short, she was getting desperate.. and it was raining, and she spotted an interesting vase in the second-hand shop... only when she went in, she saw it was chipped.
CAMERAS! yes.. you knew we'd have to get there eventually! 2nd Hand shop had a shelf of them, above the vase. Meredith glanced at them, became momentarily exited, then scoffed when she saw the prices! BUT, tucked at the very end of the row was an old film camera. Not a particularly interesting film camera. Not a beautiful beach-wood field camera, or a lovely 120 roll film 'folder' with immaculate bellows. Not even an exotic 35mm SLR. It wasn't even an interesting 'Bakelite' cartridge camera from the 1950's or 60's. It was... a very un-exiting, very cheap, Eastern-European 'Tin'-Lens Reflex, of the 'Lomo' variety, probably made in the 1980's or '90's. But, it had a tag on it that said £3.. so she picked it up... and something V-E-R-Y strange happened! Meredith pointed it through the window, and looked into the back-to-front view-finder, and as she tried to focus, it looked like a bunch of hippies walked past! So she looked up, and looked through the window... but the only people out-side were some very wet teenagers in hoodies and a couple of young mums fiddling with rain covers over their toddlers' buggies....... (OH KAY! I Know, I Know.... you can see where this is going, but HEY! I have to make a post out this some-how! Let me be a BIT creative, will ya!) SO! Meredith tries again. This time, as she twiddles the gears trying to focus, she see's some soldiers... who, again, aren't there when she looks up... there's just a pair of PCSO's on patrol..... Hmmm thinks Meredith.. a magic camera... it focus's back in TIME!

SO.. equipped with such a device.. you remain here and now, but you can 'see', (and only see, stills cameras don't capture sound remember) into the past.

Where and When, would YOU go back to 'photo'?

Add on Edd: There is just one film, and it has just twelve exposures left....
 
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I'd go back 1 minute as Id know to skip past the first two paragraphs, so I could realise this should really be in the "out of focus" forum without having to read the prose :)
 
What a very interesting and thought provoking post! I guess I would go back to the first world war for my first shot. It's not as talked about as much as the second but equally as important in our history.
 
Regardless of where this should have been posted.....

A great question and at the moment I am having trouble deciding what point in history I would go back to. Something to ponder should help the day go quicker!

Thank you for your thought provoking post
 
A fascinating idea, I'm looking forward to reading where people would like to take this device.

For me, it would be back to the days when my parents or my grandparents were children, how good it would be to see them when they were young.

Chris
 
I'd go to the Village Vanguard in 1961 to see John Coltrane playing live or, if it was a really good magic camera, the studio when Miles Davis was recording Kind of Blue. Failing that I'd go to the Kilburn State the night Coltrane played there.
 
Its as relevant in this section as "why do you take photo's" or "what would you do if you didn't have a camera"... but no matter.... so so-far.....dinosaurs and grandparents..... and
Merluza said:
I'd go to the Village Vanguard in 1961 to see John Coltrane playing live or, if it was a really good magic camera, the studio when Miles Davis was recording Kind of Blue. Failing that I'd go to the Kilburn State the night Coltrane played there.
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Err... should I speak up a bit? I did say you couldn't HEAR what the camera saw back in history.... ;-)
.... on the Parents Idea.. well.. it would be awfully tempting to do a Marty McFly going back to 1956, and finding out the 'Truth; behind all those stories your Mum & Dad told you, wouldn't it? But then again?

Anyway! You each have 12 pictures to take, from any time in history.. and they don't all have to be from the same period. But remember the rules... it can only 'see' back in time, and only what was there in history from your vantage point here in the present.

So, for example, if you wanted to try and get a photo of Julius Caesar's Assassination, in March 44BC, you would have to go to Rome, and NOT set up the camera to look at the steps of the Curia Julia, the senate building he commissioned... 'cos it wasn't built when he was bumped off! He was actually assassinated outside Pompey's theater, which Pompey had offered to the senate to use as a meeting place, after the 'old' senate building, the Curia Cornelia, was burned during riots in 53BC.... and since Pompey's theater has been built over.. could be a challenging shot to tackle! Lots of walking about, pointing the camera at old walls, and trying to see the building that was there a couple of millennium ago, I should think. So there you go... that's my first frame spent!

I think for my second frame, I would have to go to Hastings..... 1066, see if I could find the 'truth' about old 'arrold and the arrow in 'is eye! But again, since the actual site of the battle is much disputed, that could require a lot of wandering around focusing on different hills to find it, before trying to actually pick out one bloke in the melee! But at least standing in the present, I wouldn't be risking getting banged on the bonce with a morning-star!

So ten frames left....
 
Pookeyhead said:
I'd go back 1 minute as Id know to skip past the first two paragraphs, so I could realise this should really be in the "out of focus" forum without having to read the prose :)
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I see a new year has not improved your behavior. :LOL:
 
Teflon-Mike said:
Err... should I speak up a bit? I did say you couldn't HEAR what the camera saw back in history.... ;-)
Click to expand...

I didn't assume I could hear, you said I couldn't hear, I've got recordings for that. Have you never seen photos from the time, that's what I want? Kilburn State it is then.
 
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I'd go back to the days in my own lifetime when I didn't have a digital camera or maybe not even a film camera and I'd shoot... more. I have a lot of memories of people and places but no pictorial record. I have no digital images of my dad, my grandparents or of some of the most memorable places, people and events in my life.

When I go out now I often take a few record shots sometimes just on my phone if I don't have a camera with me. The pictures wont win any prizes but their value to me often increases with time.

So, that's what I'd do. I'd ignore momentous world events and I'd shoot stuff from my life.
 
I'd either go back to 1500s mauritiius to do some serious nature photography before westerners trashed the place, or back to pre history to photograph dinosaurs in the wild
 
Why back? I'd like to go forward I think. It would be completely new. If you go back, while I'm sure there'd be stuff the history books neglected to mention, it's all pretty much stuff you already know. I'd like to jump forward a couple of centuries. It must be fascinating.

If I DID have to go back.... I'd go WAY back... like Ice Age back... I'd love to see the mega-fauna that roamed the steppes, and have a chat with neanderthals, or early h.saps. Maybe further back still... late Jurassic. That would be something to see.

AHILL said:
I see a new year has not improved your behavior. :LOL:
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Not appreciably, no. :)
 
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Well with 12 shots I'd go for.......

1, A Prehistoric period, any would be good.
2, Apollo moon landing (hopefully the magic camera can sort the lack of oxygen)
3, Krakatoa exploding (maybe with a big Zoom attached :LOL: )
4, The big bang
5, Egypt to see a pyramid being built (and to see how the hell they did it :) )
6, The sistine chapel being painted
7, Last Saturday to see the lottery numbers
8, Wright Brothers first flight.
9, 10, 11 & 12 I would use in the future
 
The problem with wanting to go forward, is you can't list anything :)
 
andy0306 said:
Well with 12 shots I'd go for.......

1, A Prehistoric period, any would be good.
2, Apollo moon landing (hopefully the magic camera can sort the lack of oxygen)
3, Krakatoa exploding (maybe with a big Zoom attached :LOL: )
4, The big bang
5, Egypt to see a pyramid being built (and to see how the hell they did it :) )
6, The sistine chapel being painted
7, Last Saturday to see the lottery numbers
8, Wright Brothers first flight.
9, 10, 11 & 12 I would use in the future
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You already know last Saturdays lottery numbers?
You'd be better seeing next Saturdays :p
 
Teflon-Mike said:
Its as relevant in this section as "why do you take photo's" or "what would you do if you didn't have a camera"... but no matter.... so so-far.....dinosaurs and grandparents..... and
Err... should I speak up a bit? I did say you couldn't HEAR what the camera saw back in history.... ;-)
.... on the Parents Idea.. well.. it would be awfully tempting to do a Marty McFly going back to 1956, and finding out the 'Truth; behind all those stories your Mum & Dad told you, wouldn't it? But then again?

Anyway! You each have 12 pictures to take, from any time in history.. and they don't all have to be from the same period. But remember the rules... it can only 'see' back in time, and only what was there in history from your vantage point here in the present.

So, for example, if you wanted to try and get a photo of Julius Caesar's Assassination, in March 44BC, you would have to go to Rome, and NOT set up the camera to look at the steps of the Curia Julia, the senate building he commissioned... 'cos it wasn't built when he was bumped off! He was actually assassinated outside Pompey's theater, which Pompey had offered to the senate to use as a meeting place, after the 'old' senate building, the Curia Cornelia, was burned during riots in 53BC.... and since Pompey's theater has been built over.. could be a challenging shot to tackle! Lots of walking about, pointing the camera at old walls, and trying to see the building that was there a couple of millennium ago, I should think. So there you go... that's my first frame spent!

I think for my second frame, I would have to go to Hastings..... 1066, see if I could find the 'truth' about old 'arrold and the arrow in 'is eye! But again, since the actual site of the battle is much disputed, that could require a lot of wandering around focusing on different hills to find it, before trying to actually pick out one bloke in the melee! But at least standing in the present, I wouldn't be risking getting banged on the bonce with a morning-star!

So ten frames left....
Click to expand...
Why do we need to hit the shutter button? It seems the view finder works regardless so I'd just keep going backwards a forwards through time and observe anything interesting.

I'd use my new found knowledge to win arguments on Internet forums :)
 
The grassy knoll!
 
If I could go back in time the chances are I could teleport to a said location to do so, so I'd go back to July 20, 1969 and place myself on the moon when the Apollo 11 lander touched down on the moon, framing the Earth in the background. Might make a nice snap.
 
Dinosaurs...
 
Pookeyhead said:
The problem with wanting to go forward, is you can't list anything :)
Click to expand...

You could see your funeral, see how many people turn up? Or how you die?

Children/grand children's weddings before they happen or even further down the line with great great great great grandchildren

100 years into the future and look at your house to see what has happened to it

Year 3000 to buy busted's last album that went multi platinum

I'd go back for the dinosaurs, ww2 and American Indians
 
jonoooo125 said:
You could see your funeral, see how many people turn up? Or how you die?

Children/grand children's weddings before they happen or even further down the line with great great great great grandchildren
Click to expand...
You could also aim it at the TV and checkout next weeks lottery result :)

Ok I've been thinking more about this, on and off.

So far I've got:

  • Solving the Jack the Ripper murders
  • Seeing if Helen of Troy was all she's cracked up to be
  • Visit the ancient wonders of the world (where possible)
  • Watch one of the original performances of Shakespeare's plays. Not sure which one yet; maybe The Scottish Play..
  • Visit the Great Exhibition

but i've yet to get to my final 12. There are a fair few battles I would like to observe, and even visit The Colosseum. It would be good to have sound for some of these.

Can you go back and see if you can find a digital time travelling camera with a microphone port?

Thanks
 
1- My great grandad in the first world war when he and several other soldiers where swimming in large vats of wine.

2 - My great,great grandad at work in the smithy at Broomfield.

3 - The moment I caught a massive Perch (potentially record breaker) on the local canal but had no camera, no scales, no keep net, no carp sack,no phone and 3 hungry young children who needed to get home, I had two choices, kill it and then get it weighed or put it back... I put it back.

4 - A real medievel joust, preferably with the black prince competing.

5 - Christ in the garden of Gethsamane

6 - Christs crucifixion

7 - Christs resurection

8 - My great grandmother at work in the mansion where she was a maid

9 - My Father the moment a land mine blew him from the top of the stairs to the bottom in WW2

10 - My father holding the 6lb 4 oz chub he caught one evening when we where fishing together.

11 - My old teddy bear ( I miss it)

12 - A self portrait of me with my first guitar.
 
If I had the magic camera I would use it to photograph the places I would love to visit but never will. :(
1. Back to time when both my parents were still alive
2. Antelope Canyon.
3. Grand Canyon.
4. Yosemite National Park
5. Iceland. (Not the supermarket)
6. Ireland.
7.Goa India.
8. New Zealand.
9 Aires Rock Australia
10 Alaska
11 New England in the fall
12The Moon to record the first landing mind you that would have to be the second if I was there first:thinking::thinking:
 
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Maybe go back and meet up with Ansell Adams.... mind you I would probably end up carrying his plate camera and cooking....
 
Sorry wrong posted in here
 
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1. The Big bang

2. The Last Supper

3. The Moon landing, just before the craft lands, from the Moons surface.

4. Einstein having a poo.

5. The three wise men and the gang in the stable.

6. Photographing Marilyn Monroe in the street while her dress blows up, instead of that tog.....

7. Napoleon.

8. The Battle of Waterloo.

9. The Pyramids being built.

10. The Arc of the Covenant.

11. Adam and Eve.

12. The missing link.
 
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