February 22nd, 2010
Try Something New: Dig out your Polaroid
It was a few months ago that Susannah was visiting San Francisco and while she was there, a small group got together for tea at the SFMOMA and she showed us some Polaroids she’d been taking. I had known about her website for awhile, even signed up for her e-course, and thought that her pictures on her website were beautiful. And yet it was when she pulled out the stack of photos she’d taken on that trip that I connected with the Polaroids and went, “Ooooh, that’s fun. I want to do that.”
I put the call out on Facebook–did anyone have an SX-70 or some other old Polaroid camera that they were open to letting me have or play with? Within an hour, someone said they were happy to give me their old Polaroid 600 camera. And it was my search for film that lead me to The Impossible Project.
The Impossible Project took over the last existing Polaroid plant in an effort to find some way to continue manufacturing the film. This year, they plan to be in completion of that “impossible” goal of producing their own version of the film. This is exciting for Polaroid lovers, and while I don’t profess to be nearly as well-acquainted with this form of photography as so many others are, I am definitely having a lot of fun with my camera.
Now, the Polaroid 600 camera (which you could probably find for $2 at your local Goodwill) is a lot of fun. But I was hungry for the dreamy vintage tones of the SX-70. So I began the arduous task of hunting down a working SX-70 on eBay (I advise that if you decide to bid on anything, make sure that the person offers a return policy, because my first camera was billed as working on eBay, but did not in fact work). My second try was better: I found an SX-70 and it worked.
The Impossible Project’s store, the PolaPremium site, sells SX-70 film but I had already purchased 600 film locally to go with my Polaroid 600 camera, and I wanted to just use that in the SX-70. 600 film can be used with the SX-70 but it’s a faster film speed, so it needs to be adjusted with an ND (neutral density) filter. I ordered one from PolaPremium but it didn’t show. I contacted them and Anna was all, “No worries! Must’ve been lost in the mail. I’ll send another out.” Lovely service, yes?
I received an ND filter in the mail a few days later–fantastic! But suddenly, yet another one arrived! It was then that I realized that the first ND filter had been only been delayed by the mail service, not lost, and now this second one had arrived and I had two.
So why not do a giveaway? I suggested to her. And then she added the idea of throwing in a pack of film to the giveaway winner!
So, then–if you are a Polaroid lover, an SX-70 fan, someone who’s loved Polaroid photography sites such as Darlene’s, someone who would love to have a pack o’ the good stuff and an ND filter to boot to save for a rainy day when you find your own working SX-70…
Giveaway: One ND filter and one pack of 600-speed film to the lucky winner (to be determined by the random.org number generator). To enter the giveaway, leave a comment here describing either a.) the best shot you’ve ever taken with your Polaroid camera or b.) the type of dreamy shot you’d love to take!
Giveaway ends: Wednesday, Feb 24th at 6:00am Pacific Time.
Important: You’ll need to check back here on Wednesday morning to see the winner announced, and contact me no later than Thursday afternoon if you are the winner. If I don’t hear from someone, I’ll need to choose an alternate.
A thank-you to PolaPremium for the giveaway!
February 24th, 2010 at 9:28 am
According to the draw I just did at random.org, Caiti, you are the winner of the giveaway!
February 24th, 2010 at 10:03 am
Fantastic! Thank you, Kate! xoxo.