They give us the greens of summers...

So after 74 years Kodak has announced they will discontinue Kodachrome. I understand the need to move on, that it's not viable for them to produce anymore (you have to send it to a third party to develop because they stopped that a while back). I understand that it's expensive and tedious to use, it's 1930's technology after all. But nothing can compare to looking at a vintage, large format kodachrome. The color is so rich and the detail so sharp it's like you're there. The experience is similar to looking at a daguerreotype, in that you really feel the presence of the person (or object) in the picture. They transport you to a different place and time.

I shot a couple of rolls last year (I was buying film and saw some rolls in the fridge and thought "that won't last long" and decided to give it a whirl. I hadn't shot kodachrome since college) and it's strange but it even makes contemporary images look vintage. It's that distinct in its color rendition.

In the end though I'm not sure how much I'll actually miss it. As I said, I haven't shot it since college and it is kind of tedious to use (exposure has to be spot on and it's pretty slow, not to mention sending it out to develop and the 4 or so week turnaround) so what's to miss? I think it has something to do with being at the tail end of the generation of photographers who learned the craft with film. When I was in school autofocus was still a novelty and pros didn't trust zoom lenses. When I started working for wedding photographers we lugged around Hasselblads and Lumadyne flashes. A lot has changed in 11 years and though I love the convenience, speed, ease, cleanliness etc. of digital photography, It's still kind of a bummer when the things I learned with are put to rest. It makes me feel like such a dinosaur.