I am SO excited about this post today! It is brought to you courtesy of Kayla of Kaylanaut fame, who is adorable beyond belief. I love "old school" photography (I've shared a bit about my holga adventures here, here, and here), so this is totally up my alley!
Hi abhaya readers, I'm Kayla and I blog over at Kaylanaut! I'm so thrilled at Sondra's having asked me to guest-post for her while she's away. My blogging topics are pretty varied, ranging from yoga to papercrafting to video games... but today, I'd like to talk about a hobby of mine that's very dear to my heart: instant photography.
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Naturally, "instant photography" brings to mind the name Polaroid. You know, the little point-and-shoot Polaroid One Step cameras with those funky 70's stripes:
And those classic Polaroid photo frames, with that convenient bottom label area:
While that's certainly the most famous and most classic design, what I use is a bit different. My camera is the Polaroid Automatic Land Camera model 250, which was first introduced in 1967:
(Teal nail polish does not come standard with the camera, of course.)
The film is different, too. If you've had any interest in instant photography, you probably know by now that Polaroid no longer makes the classic Polaroid film we all recognize and love. Lucky for us, however, other companies have stepped up to the plate to ensure that we can still enjoy instant photography with our beloved Polaroid cameras. One such company being The Impossible Project, who has bought many of the old Polaroid factories and makes newer versions of the classic Polaroid film. The other, Fujifilm, continues to make the film that my camera uses: pull-apart film, also known as "packfilm."
Pull-apart film is exactly what it sounds like: you take the photo in your camera, pull the tab (the paper coming out of the side of my camera in that photo), wait for it to develop (anywhere from 20 seconds to nearly 2 minutes, depending on the film and temperature where you are), then pull it apart from the developing chemicals to reveal the photo. Neat, right?
The photos look different, though: they're more rectangular, and they don't have the nifty labeling spot. What you'll get are equally-as-awesome photos that look like these:
I love instant photography, because it is unpredictable. You never know what you're going to reveal when you peel it apart! Oftentimes you'll end up with something terribly out of focus, awkwardly framed, over- or under-exposed... but every so often you'll come out with an absolute gem. And hey, even those blurry, weirdly-framed photos have their charm -- that's why we love Polaroids, isn't it?
I hope you enjoyed this peak into my hobby, and I hope that this inspires you to dust off your old Polaroid camera -- or your parents'Polaroid, or pick up that one off that thrift store shelf -- and surprise yourself with what you capture!
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Ahhhh, wasn't that fantastic?! I actually own a land camera, and it's been ages since I've taken it out to play! I am so inspired now to get it back out and experiment. Do you have an instant camera?
shanti >> sondra
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