pack film

Spring Radish Harvest

7175009002_b0fbe631e2_o
Polaroid Automatic Land Camera 100, Fuji FP-100c

Our three-year-old planted some radish seeds in paper cups at his day care nearly two months ago.  A couple weeks later he brought the seedlings home and we planted them in our nearly empty garden box.

He has excitedly watered them every day since, in the morning or in the afternoon.  Now here we are with the fruits… er, make that vegetables of his labor harvested!

The weather has been warming up here and the sun is seeming brighter.  This makes me think that it is pack film season again, as for some reason I am more inclined to use my Polaroid Automatic Land Cameras when it is nice and hot out.

The instant pack film really likes direct sunlight, and develops better (or at least faster) when it isn't cold.  It is probably just a psychological barrier, but I tend not to use it in the winter months.

I took this shot using the close-up adapter which lets you get right up to your subject.  I could have actually gotten closer, but wanted to frame the radishes along with their greens.

The depth of field gets very shallow the closer you get, so while the front of the leaves are in focus the rest is blurred to one extent or another.  I like the effect in this case as it focuses attention on the details in the greens.

My Dad gave me the camera, its official Polaroid case, and a handful of accessories some time back.  I have gradually collected the rest of its vintage accessories and now my collection is complete!

I am overdue for a vintage equipment post so will have to show it all off some time soon.

Mother’s Day Donuts

Scan-120513-0001
Polaroid Automatic Land Camera 100, Fuji FP100-c

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mothers out there!

We started our celebration today with some Stan's Donuts.  Later we will have a picnic and visit a few shops my Dear Sweet Wife has been hoping to check out.

I gave my DSW a copy of Instant Love, a brand new book about Polaroid and instant photography.  I pre-ordered it months ago when Amanda Gilligan (one of the authors) posted about it in her blog Mocking Bird, and by luck it came just in time for Mother's Day.

My DSW has always been a fan of her SX-70 and lately her Fuji Instax Mini.  We just glanced through the new book and it seems to cover a lot of ground, we can't wait to start reading it in earnest.

Fuji's color pack film rendered the above donuts so nicely!  Its color is tough to beat in nice sunlight, and really knocks out the expired Spectra film I used last time around.

I think I should have compensated a bit for the parallax error since I was shooting so close.  I tried centering the plate in the composition, but since the viewfinder is on top of the camera the parallax error shifted the image downwards.

Oh well, the only solution is to practice more shooting with rangefinder/viewfinder cameras… Does that mean more donuts?

Willow Glen Classic Car Show

PackCars
Polaroid 320, Fuji Film FP-100c

My Dear Sweet Wife already wrote about the wonderful time we had celebrating the birthdays of our two boys.  They turned 6 and 3 recently and we all really enjoyed the celebration.

We had cupcakes, cookies, family, ice skating, more cupcakes, more fun, rainbow cake, gifts, more fun, chocolate cake, more gifts… or something along those lines!

We took a short break from the festivities on Sunday to visit the Cruise for A Cause classic car show in Willow Glen.  This was a great opportunity to shoot some more Fuji pack film in my Polaroid 320.

I love the saturation of the Fuji color film, as well as the soft look of the 320 with its plastic lens and somewhat shallow depth of field.  However, a number of my prints were spotty from pulling them out too fast, coverd with paper fibers from storing them in the cardboard film box, and had blemishes from sticking to each other.

I am still learning how to work with its film and have a couple more takeaways:

  • Do not rush shooting, pulling out, or storing the packfilm!
  • When pulling it out of the camera, say “Pol-a-roid” slowly and keep it moving at a moderate and even pace.
  • After developing is finished and the print has been peeled free, hold it exposed to the air for a bit to allow it to dry.
  • Store the print in a clean case made out of plastic face-to-back (not face-to-face) so that the prints don’t stick to each other

Buckets Of Fun

Big Splash

Polaroid 320, Fuji FP-100C

We wrapped up a long stay in Southern California this past weekend.  Visiting my in-laws is always a blast, but this time we spent nearly a week there and had the opportunity to visit a water park (twice!), Legoland, as well as meet our brand new niece.

I fired off a few rolls of film and won’t see them back from Photoworks SF for a week or so.  But I was able to start scanning my Polaroid 320 shots.  I made it through 5 instant prints from my pack of Fujifilm FP-100c ISO 100 color pack film.

This was my first Fuji pack, and so far I have to say I was impressed.  All my shots were taken in bright sunlight, and working with full light the exposures were spot on (way to go 320!) and the colors vividly saturdated (nice work Fuji!).

Hopefully I can scan the rest tomorrow night…