Fence on Bank Lane, Roehampton, London, SW15. 1963 (8666) December 2003 | Timeline

The Snapshot
Most of us can use a camera and take snapshots. We keep the photographs in albums, boxes, cases and draws. It's a personal and private pursuit. We show the photographs to our family and friends, now and again, and they bring back memories. We keep these photographs to remember something of our lives.
One of the first photographs that I remember taking was of this fence in the snow on Bank Lane where I lived. I liked the photograph and kept it. I had used my father's Ilford Sportsman camera to take the picture. A little piece of paper that came with the colour film gave me an idea of the shutter speed and aperture I should use. The film was a present from a family friend, it was a slide film, and I had to send it to Kodak to be processed. My father had a Hanimex slide projector and we all sat down and viewed the photographs the evening they came back. Very few of my pictures came out. My father said that I had probably wobbled the camera on the blurry pictures, and on the pictures that were too light or too dark he said I had got the exposure wrong. The fence, the snow, the trees and the sun composition came out ok, and everyone liked the photograph, and I was pleased with it. I wanted to take more photographs, but I would have to wait for my birthday or xmas before getting more film.