Glen and I met years ago when Kodak first introduced the copy stand and forgot about doing very much  to enforce copyright issues. Glen and I, along with Andy Foster, then Director of PPA, were brought in to help our good friend, Terry Deglau, clean up the mess.  In later years Glen, while with Marathon Press, helped us publish Don Blair’s Guide to Posing and Lighting Body Parts, which I talked about in a post last week.

Yesterday, during a phone call (still my most favorite means of communication when you can’t talk to somebody face to face) he mentioned that history was about to be made, as the last roll of Kodachrome was about to be processed!  Well, it just makes for a great blog topic, especially for some of you who might actually ask, “What’s film?”

Okay gang, meet Glen Clark and a great idea for a guest post this morning:

The last day of the film that created legends and then became legendary is upon us.  After Dec. 30, 2010, the first mass-marketed, consumer color film, and the recorder of some of the most iconic color photographic images in history, as well as millions of vacation and family photos, Kodachrome, won’t be sold or processed anymore, anywhere in the world. 

It’s another “end of an era” in a long string of “ends” as digital technology displaces the traditional film-based photography that baby-boomers everywhere grew up loving, now replaced by pixels and chips.

What photographer, young or old, hasn’t had Paul Simon’s lyrics and tune running through their head at some point or another as they looked through their camera lens?

Kodachrome . . .
You give us those nice bright colors,
You give us the greens of summers,
Makes you think all the world’s a sunny day, Oh yeah!
I got a Nikon camera,
I love to take a photograph,
So mama don’t take my Kodachrome away!

For nearly 75 years, Kodachrome has reigned as royalty in the film world, and Paul Simon’s plea has held off Mama, until now.  Kodachrome is now about to go the way of so many other films, cameras, projectors, and even companies . . . off to the light-box in the sky.  And, it will all come to an end in, of all places, Dorothy’s home state of Kansas!

Because of its outstanding color accuracy and saturation characteristics, as well as its archival and dark-storage properties, professional and commercial photographers alike have long valued Kodachrome. But, Kodachrome has always required exacting and complicated processing that cannot easily be done by most photographers, whether professional, commercial, or amateur. So, the film necessitated specialized processing services.

Dwayne’s Photo of Parsons, Kansas is the only Kodak certified processor of Kodachrome film still operating.  And, according to the announcement on Dwayne’s website (www.dwaynesphoto.com), “Kodachrome Processing is Ending. The last day of processing for all types of Kodachrome film will be December 30th, 2010. Film that is not in our lab by noon on December 30th will not be processed.” 

On June 22, 2009, Eastman Kodak Co. announced the end of Kodachrome film production.  The last roll of  Kodachrome was  manufactured (a 35mm / 36 exposure roll) and its final journey was recorded  by National Geographic magazine, which followed the film and photographer Steve McCurry, who shot the final roll and then delivered it to Dwayne’s Photo in July for processing.

On Dec. 30, 2010, the Kodachrome story will come to an end, in Parsons, Kansas.  But the news from Dwayne’s Photo is not all bad.  Because, Dwayne’s has this special offer to “commemorate the best slide and movie film ever made.”   You will be able to “show off the Kodachrome colors” with a 100% cotton T-shirt that states, “The Best Slide and Movie film in history is now officially retired! Kodachrome 1935-2010.”  And, then we can all say, “Wow, seventy-five years and millions of iconic color images, and now all I have is this stupid t-shirt!”

Kodachrome . . . . Thanks for the memories!

 Glen A. Clark, Cr. Photog., F/S-PPC, PPA National Award recipient, is a long-time professional photography industry veteran and baby-boomer, now working with Bay Photo of Santa Cruz, California – www.bayphoto.com

If you know Steve or have heard him speak, nobody could be more down to earth.  His passion for photography is only topped by his humility.  The best part of the image is that we all know he wasn’t trying to create one of the most recognizable portraits in the history of photography.  It just happened – and, it happened on film, without any manipulation, major retouch work – nothing but a photographer who knew his craft.

So, as you photograph your next job, think about the traits that produced Afghan Girl.   Steve wasn’t trying to do anything except tell a story.  He understands photography cold, so his understanding of  lighting, exposure and composition were completely second nature.  He didn’t have hours in a studio to ponder how he would create one of the greatest portraits of all time.   And that’s the biggest point – when you look for something too hard, it will continue to elude you.   Relax your vision and learn everything you can about photography, hang on to every dream and just keep shooting - your own version of Afghan Girl will be in your portfolio sooner or later!

“The starting point of great success and achievement has always been the same. It is for you to dream big dreams. There is nothing more important, and nothing that works faster than for you to cast off your own limitations than for you to begin dreaming and fantasizing about the wonderful things that you can become, have, and do. ”

Brian Tracy, Motivational Coach and Author

So,  relax, dream BIG and don’t compromise!