New Toy

Recently, our local discount store moved to a new location. I was sad at first, because the original location is in walking distance and I used to find great deals there, particularly on gardening supplies. However, it turns out that the old location is now their clearance center - meaning potentially even better deals! I went in hoping to find a new glazed planter, but there were none to be had. (You really have to dig around for useful bargains in a discount store clearance center, I suppose.) I was ready to give up when I found something even better.... Polaroid cameras for $5! Of course, I couldn't resist getting one. I bought some film (more expensive than the camera) and played around with my new toy while in Rochester, NY for a wedding. It was really a challenge to slow myself down out of digital mode and try to carefully compose each shot to conserve film - especially since each frame costs over $1. It was also somewhat amusing to remember that there's no zoom. Well, aside from walking closer to or farther away from the subject. I did make several mistakes, like forgetting how to keep the flash from going off, leaving the camera on the wrong distance setting, or just getting too close to a subject. A few came out decently, though. I was pleasantly surprised by the colors - washed out, not particularly true - they gave a kind of retro feel to the shots. I'm looking forward to playing around more, maybe even finding some really old or damaged film and seeing what kind of funky results I can get out of it.

Here's one from today. I took the Polaroid print and scanned it, then messed around a little with the crop and orientation. The model is my lovely best friend, Amber. I hope you like it.