'Roid Week November 09 - Day 4

Sad to miss day 3 due to being in hospital, but I had day 4 ready to go when I got back on Thursday evening...

Back to the forest, and what felt like the end of a season. It was the day the clocks had changed, so it got dark early, but thankfully there was some lovely light still. This was some 779 film from a Polapremium promotion, and it had managed to get a bit of frost on it in the fridge. No adverse effects though...

This is lens flare. Or wood-spirits:

'Roid Week November 09 - Day 2

It's day 2! (Well I'm actually writing this on day 3, but if I lived in Hawaii, there would still be an hour and a half to go...)

The theme seemed to be back in the forest, this time using some 2003 expired Time Zero film. It was the first time using Time Zero, and it was lovely: amazing colours and feel - there's some urban ones for later in the week. This was another film sent by the inestimable Anne Bowerman (flickr & etsy)

Anyway, here they are. And yes, I wish I'd had a tripod for the third one...

'Roid Week November 09 - Day 1

I've been looking forward to this second 'Roid Week since it was announced a couple of months back. I knew I would be at work, so may not have many opportunities to take pictures, so I kept some in reserve, just in case.

Lucky I did.

On Saturday night (Halloween) while preparing a pumpkin, my knife slipped, and my left hand is now bound up, awaiting surgery! Ouch! So no new photos at all...

However, as I say, there was a reserve. Here is day one, Monochrome Monday:



This was my first attempt at using the close-up attachment with my Land 250. It's great because it allows a closer shot, but frustrating because with the lens a good few inches away and down from the viewfinder, the composition is a combination of guesswork and testing. I also racked the exposure to its lightest position, because it was producing dark results.





These two were taken on expired B+W 600 film in my SX-70 (with ND sheet from mypolastore). The film was sent to me by the ever-amazing Anne Bowerman. Thank you Annie!

Do check out the 'Roid Week Pool. I'm loving so much of what is up already, and it's only day one!

World Toy Camera Day - 17 October 2009

The weather forecast was for beautiful, crisp autumnal sun. The weather forecast was wrong, at least for the east of England (friends further west were luckier, I believe).

So, knowing the Holga needs quite a lot of light, I fitted it out with the Polaroid back and some Sepia film from PolaPremium (ISO 1500).

I only took three images as it was mostly too gloomy, and one of the shots was too dark. But the Bracken above came out perfect, like a spooky Victorian memory. The tree is nice too.



So two thoughts: Firstly, that sepia film has a really lovely quality, very smooth with a glow to it. Secondly, I hope there was better weather for others!

To see what people have produced, check out the Flickr Group.

More Polaroid News

Well. One week the last Polaroid film expires, the next the owners of the Polaroid brand announce that due to the interest in The Impossible Project, they are going to start remaking classic Polaroid cameras!

Huge congratulations to Florian Kaps of IP, and to the determined and wonderful Anne Bowerman, Dave Bias, Jan Hilmar and all the other tireless PolaPremium bods who've made it all possible.

I can't wait.

Here's a link to the official notice from Dr Florian Kaps at PolaPremium.

Polaroid in the news

Friday 9th of October marked the day the last Polaroid film expired. The expired film will be good for a while to come though, gradually revealing randomness and unexpected art through the decaying chemicals.

I was recently on holiday in France, and one pack of SX-70 Time Zero film I had had expired in 2006, and had apparently been stored in the back of a drawer (not ideal conditions!). The results were lovely:



(the rest the pack can be found here)

But there will be new film again. The Impossible Project is constantly in the news it seems. (Check out the link on the right hand side of their site). Here is a news item from More4 in the UK from Friday night:



And of course, old, beautifully stored (and often beautifully presented)film can still be bought from the wonderful Polapremium!

Oh, and there's another 'Roid week coming up in November...

Three of a kind

On any outing, always go prepared for every eventuality.






Nikon D90 with 50mm 1.8 lens





Polaroid SX-70 with TZ Artistic film





Holga 120 GN with Fuji Superia X-Tra 400