I purchased my first digital DSLR in 2002, if I recall correctly. It was the venerable Canon EOS 1D and it took decent photos. Prior to that I shot film and I would typically shoot 6 or 7 rolls of film at each game. That’s roughly two rolls per quarter or 64 shots per Charger Girl line. Processing that film was expensive, roughly $7.00 per roll, so that was the limiting factor in terms of the number of images I took.
When I switched to digital, those costs were no longer an issue and I shot many more images per game…perhaps four times as many. The only limiting factor was memory cards and storage. So for me, the digital revolution was a watershed moment in my photography. I no longer dropped off film to be processed at Costco and I no longer viewed images via prints or via a loupe if I shot slide film. Everything was done on my computer and I learned a new term…workflow. Digital photography eliminated the film processing color lab, but that process was replaced by computer based post processing and I had to become the digital imaging equivalent of the old photo lab technician. In the digital era, you had to be proficient in two disparate skill sets in order to produce a great image…photographic skills and computer imaging skills.
So this image is from my early days with digital photography and it is an image of a very special Charger Girl named Lauren. She was very popular with Charger fans and I could see why. Beautiful, great dancer and very photogenic.
Well I hope you enjoyed this look back to 2006.
