Through the Tulips

On a chilly morning in 2024, my daughter and I drove down to Woodburn in the pitch dark to capture the sunrise over the tulip fields. As we stood in the cold, passing an electric handwarmer back and forth, the day revealed itself while two cameras got to take their first photos in decades.

Aside from my normal Canon, I had two Kodaks, a Kodak Junior Six-20 using 120 film plus a Jiffy Kodak Six-20 Series II using 35mm. Normally, I take side-by-side shots but in the cold and wind, each camera developed a mind of its own.

The Kodak Junior took two shots before calling it quits. I could tell what one was, more or less.

Only later would I discover the problem wasn't with the camera, but with the adapter itself.  Whispers of shaved blue plastic fluttered to the ground when I opened the back to retrieve the film. The metal had sheared the plastic, making it impossible to advance the film further.

And so the day continued with two cameras. I learned the Jiffy Kodak Six-20 Series II did not do well at short distances.

However, that line was important information for later. Never having used this camera before I was guessing at how many turns it took to properly advance the film past the photo I had taken. I thought 4 would be enough. You can see the accidentally double-exposure made from not enough distance from the original. Next time, 6 will a better estimate.

Towards the end of the day, the cameras weren't even taking the same photos, but instead each deciding for themselves what composition they each wanted. There is no duplicate to either of these photos on the other camera, which is exceedingly rare when I am testing cameras.

The Jiffy Kodak Six-20 Series II will get to take pictures another day. Until I find a suitable adapter, the Kodak Junior Six-20 is temporarily suspended from use. More importantly, I got to spend the day with my daughter, seeing the world in a new way.