My new polaroid life

I have always been a fan of polaroids. There is something so aesthetically pleasing about them that just draws me in. A couple of years ago I nearly bought an SX-70 but found that the film was no longer in production so I just kept to the sidelines as a fan of others. But recently, I have been invigorated to once again explore. Thanks to the quirky and funny Shannon (whos blog i love reading) and this other site, and this awesome book from my collection, I ventured to ebay and picked up a Sun 600 Polaroid Camera. It arrived surprisingly wrapped as if it were a prized antique that was worth millions. It took me nearly 10 minutes to unwrap it. Layer after layer of bubble wrap and padding and tape. And more tape after more tape. It just made me that much more excited to finally see it and hold it! After loading some expired film into to it (included as part of the sale) I found my way around the features. Just a couple buttons really. I flipped up the flash and fired. Ohhh, it was so cool how the first polaroid shot out!! :) Then nothing. It was the expired film so I wasn’t worried. After shooting through two packs of expired film I loaded a pack of the new fresh stuff I just picked up at Costco. I pointed and clicked. Out came the polaroid and just like in my college darkroom class, I waited in spastic-jumping-up-and-down anticipation for the image to emerge. It was soooo cool!! I’m hooked.
Anyway, to make this short, I have been playing like crazy. I was a little disappointed actually at how sharp and clean the pictures were though, so, being me, I decided to experiment. After all, I want the ‘different’ look and figured I could help it along. For the shot above, I placed an amber filter over the lens and used the sun for some added lovin' (model and friend, allen). It’s just a beginning but I think it works and I’m anxious to further explore. Last night, Sarah (cool~chickie) and I, over a few drinks and with itunes in the background, shot a bunch of polaroids and then peeled the image from the emulsion base and scratched it up. Still working on it but it’s kind of crazy~cool lookin’ and you’ll see more of that experimentation soon. Cheers!! note to self: hook up scanner so I don't have to take pictures of my polaroids to show on web :)