Viva la familia!
Everyone likes to recall fond family memories. And, what's even better is when a family moment remains vivid because it has been captured on film.
But, sometimes all we can depend on is our memory because the photographs we took failed to come out. Or, we didn't have a camera on hand to make sure the memory could be placed in a frame.
My family shot daguerreotypes The current high quality of digital cameras in smart phones makes it, pardon the pun, a snap to shoot a great family photo at an event or gathering. And, of course, there's the biggest benefit of all - knowing immediately whether you should take another one.
I was recently discussing with my Mom how many one-time-only group family photos were never captured over the years because someone forgot to wind the film or buy flashbulbs. With a film camera, you only knew if the shot came out after the time it took for developing; how many once-in-a-lifetime family photos ended up as totally dark or washed-out prints?
MORE: Vintage photos around New Jersey
Someone will likely mention Polaroid here. Okay, yes, you could see the result of your shot in a minute with a Polaroid instant camera ... a camera that had a lens with limited capability to include more than a handful of people in the photo. Polaroid group shots usually boiled down to faces the size of dots.
But all family photos weren't missed or messed up. No matter where and when photos like these were taken, they all preserve the importance of family for posterity.
Here's a gallery of vintage family photos from New Jersey, and some links to other family galleries you might enjoy.
Vintage photos of families in N.J.
Vintage photos of fathers, sons and daughters in NJ
Vintage photos of mothers and their children in NJ
Greg Hatala may be reached at ghatala@starledger.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregHatala. Find Greg Hatala on Facebook.