Another quiet do-nothing sort of day, another cat to enjoy it with.

Made with Polaroid Spirit 600, Impossible PX 680 Color Protection instant film

A Nikon F camera and Gossen light meter, shot on Impossible Film with a Polaroid camera.

It’s a vintage camera photographed with a vintage camera.

Camera-cepetion.

Shot with Polaroid Spirit 600, Impossible PX 680 Color Protection instant film

As summer comes to a close, and we get our random warm and sunny days, we have to enjoy the beaches while we still can.

Just think of snow in a couple months and calling off work will be twice as easy.

Shot with Polaroid Spirit 600, Impossible PX 680 Color Protection instant film

My first foray into Impossible Project instant film. It can be finicky stuff but as all Polaroid things are it’s great fun.

Shot with Polaroid Spirit 600, Impossible PX 680 Color Protection Instant Film

Shot with Polaroid 250 Land Camera, Fujifilm FP100C color instant film

Huntington Beach.

A lovely day with a lovely lady.

Shot with Polaroid 250 Land Camera, Fujifilm FP100C color instant film

Polaroid: The Original Instant Gratification

Does it seem complicated? Sure. The film comes in expensive boxy packs. There’s a specific order to things. Pieces get pulled completely out of the camera. There’s timing involved after removing the photo. There’s chemicals and papers to watch out for and throw away properly. You can’t touch the photo right after you get it.

But honestly, it’s as simple as anything. Yes it is a little more dedicated. But the development times are not exact. The process is all told dirt simple. And the results?

A photo in the hand is worth two in the bush

Well, you simply cannot argue with those good old fashioned physical results.

Polaroid had everything going for them. Folks didn’t take pictures, they took Polaroids. Everyone recognized the iconic white frame, to the point of copying it in every digital camera app you can find. Their cameras were dirt simple, cheap, and frankly straight-up fun.

Remember that? When picture taking was fun? What a revolutionary concept!

And picking up an old Polaroid camera is just that: fun. It has a large viewfinder with a simple push-pull focusing system. It folds up into a (relatively) small package that makes for easy transport. It’s always funner to show off your photo in print form than on a small screen, but here you can show that print in a matter of minutes!

And that’s just the picture-taking part. People notice it. You see funny looks at the giant bellows or the classic boxy style camera you’re hauling around. You get surprised exclamations when you tell folks that “Why yes, you can still get film for this thing!”

The whole experience is enjoyable. Well, unless you’re an internet hermit or something, and then you wouldn’t be taking photos with a Polaroid cuz they mostly need sunshiny bright outdoorsy scenes, and you’d generally not like that much I imagine. But fear not! There’s a button for that in Instagram for you and your cats.

White borders!

There’s a lot to be said about the technical side of shooting with Land’s cameras, dealing with different light situations or adding flash and whatnots. But really, that’s not the point. Go get one of these things. Check grandma’s basement or that worldwide garage sale; eBay generally has them for under $60. Make sure you check which one you get, the oldest ones do not take the still-available Fuji instant film that works for the later ones like the 250 Land Camera. You might balk at the Fujifilm price, but take it from me, it’s completely worth it. Especially when you consider the other side of it: sinking a couple of bucks into a box camera (like the Spirit 600) and hitting up a high price for the Impossible Project’s film packs.

Pick one. Get it. Load it. Enjoy.

Shot with Polaroid 250 Land Camera, Fujifilm FP100C color instant film

Shot with Polaroid 250 Land Camera, Fujifilm FP100C color instant film