6. My first photos with a 100-year-old camera!

Now that I've worked out developing and had a few practice runs, I'm keen to try it out with the film from my No.1a Autographic Kodak.

The first problem I encounter is threading the film onto the developing reel. Due to its extra width compared to 35mm film, it flexes more when I try to thread it on the reel. With the backing paper of the film flapping around as well as trying to do the whole thing in the dark, it nearly ends in tears! But a quick search online brings up a little tip which proves to be a game changer. A piece of card about the size of a business card acts as a splint for the film, making the whole process much easier. Phew!

After completing the developing process I'm ready to look at my first negatives. When I hang the film up to dry and can see that I have some recognisable negatives to work from, it's an exciting moment!

I notice that many of the negative images are at a slant, more noticeable in those such as buildings because of the straight lines. I'll need to investigate why this is.

But in the meantime I need to work out how to convert the negative into a positive image.

There seems to be 3 main ways to do this:

1. Continue down the analogue route and invest in an enlarger, photo paper and further chemicals.

2. Digitally scan the negatives and use software to convert them into a positive image.

3. Take them to a lab to do the work for me.

The first turns out to be pretty expensive for what I need, and although it would be fantastic to do everything the original way right from the start, this one is going to have to wait until I have some more cash to splash.

The third is my least preferred. You know me now, I want to do it myself!

So it's the second option, despite the reliance on digital technology, unfortunately the very thing I'm trying to avoid. But scanning the negatives leads to disappointing results and another internet search suggests taking a photo of the negative with a DSLR camera. I have one of those!

I just need to buy a lightbox which is inexpensive and I make some card frames to hold the negatives in position. Then, with my tripod, Nikon DSLR, laptop, lightbox and several cables trailing all over our dining table, I take a digital photo of the negative image. A few clicks later and I can finally see the first photo from my No.1A Autographic Kodak camera. WOW!!

Once the image is in the imaging software, I'm able to lighten/darken and, crucially, straighten those slanting buildings.

I can't actually quite believe that this early camera is still able to produce reasonable photos. We may have improved the technology to make the image clearer, sharper and include colour. But the real progress came more than a century ago when the process to capture a permanent image was invented.

Here are some of those first negatives and finished photos, compared with the same photo taken with my Nikon DSLR, separated by 100 years of technology.

My journey into vintage photography has inspired me to learn more about how it all started. I'm very lucky to live within driving distance of Lacock Abbey, once the home of William Henry Fox Talbot, where there is now the Fox Talbot photography museum.

I think it's time for my No.1A Autographic Kodak to go on a road trip to meet its ancestors!