Olympus OM-1 SLR

Grannit, My Dad's Mum, died quite a few years ago now.
She died suddenly and it was a really horrific process for myself. 

Time has a nice way of lessening pain though. 

After Granit passed away, I was given one of her film cameras, an Olympus OM-1.
I took a few rolls of films and as is, pretty typical with me, got really into cameras and then the passion faded away. I remember making up a project where I would go up to elderly peeps and ask them to pose lovingly together. Truth be told after my second couple my illusion that all older couples were ridiculously in love, died and killed off the project completely

Check out those mad collage skills I had back in the day...seamless :P

Me: Excuse me *goes up to an elderly couple* can I take your picture?

Couple: Sure *stands hips width apart*

Me: Would you mind hugging?

Dude: Ahhh we haven't hugged for 20 years

Still to this day I'm not sure if he was joking or not

Fast forward to what I was saying, just recently, about being inspired by photographer Matthew O'Brien to use film again and to take my camera with me to Japan.

That poor camera had laid quietly in a box for quite some time. When I pulled it out it had a half used roll still in it. It was also missing a cap on the bottom, possibly allowing light in. It didn't look hopeful and when I took my film to get it developed, my fears were answered...

blank roll.

So I fixed the possible light leaking on the bottom, put in a brand new roll of film and was on my way. I wanted to test a roll before I went to Japan, just to be 100% sure. I thought it would be nice to get photos of everyone in my family.

Fast forward and I'm back putting in my roll for development. When I went to pick it up, the girl at the counter told me it had came out blank, I was shocked. I quickly ran back to my car put on my sunnies and cried all the way home. So the photos I took were gone and now I wouldn't have a camera to take to Japan, I'm an emotional soul!

Fast forward again to the Elvis Weekend that Andrew was up, we were talking about the camera and I was telling him how it was pretty much doomed. He offered to look at the camera for me, just in case he could see an obvious error that I missed. Nothing. He then pointed out that perhaps the developers had stuffed up my rolls. Andrew suggested I tried one last time, he said to take photos that didn't matter if they were lost and get it developed at a different place, to finalise all doubt! I promised myself I wouldn't get my hopes up and I wouldn't spend more than 5 minutes on taking the pictures.

I went down to BIG W and put my roll in. When I walked back up to the counter to collect I was ready for the "that roll was blank sorry" but instead the lady pulled out my packet of developed photos, showed them to make sure they were mine, said something like
"ahh I remember now, you're the one taking the pictures of the..errr..dinosaur"

lol

I tried to explain it was just an experimental roll but my words got lost somewhere in the depths of Nambour.

So excited to play around this camera, well at least until the passion fades again and it goes back in it's box :P  So much to learn about cameras too, you get quite dumb with point and shoots!