Artistic TZ & The Impossible Project

You know what I like? Soft, milky tones and Polaroid film. You know that if you mix all that neat stuff together, then you get Artistic TZ Integral film, right? Well you do, and it can now be purchased from The Impossible Project.

People still come up to me all the time, amazed that I have a Polaroid camera, and amazed that you can still get film for it. It’s been a hard year for Polaroid lovers. Up until the summer, we were all on ebay, viciously bidding against each other in the seemingly never ending battle for instant film – & now WE DON’T HAVE TO. (some of us still choose to, though. Nothing like getting my grubby little paws on some expired 669, 690 & Spectra!)

I’d like to celebrate my very first Impossible Project photoblog post by showing you some select photos from the first packs of Artistic TZ Edge Cut I ever bought from Impossible! I’ll skip the really blurry ones. It took me a few shots to master the terrible Model 3! Click through any of them to view full size

I’m really looking forward to shooting some of the new color film for SX-70, which is now being sold as a 3-pack at the website. You can purchase film directly by clicking HERE.

Sparklers & Long Exposure

In the past month, I got together with people twice to play with some sparklers and do some long exposures with my Canon 35mm film camera. There’s not much to explain.. but I will give you one tip: if you’re going to try and do a serious & creative photoshoot – don’t get drunk while you’re doing it, especially if you’re the one pushing the buttons. I’m not going to say that we ruined these because I was drunk, but I will say that something weird happened with the second roll, in which I thought I was shooting with a completely new roll, but I ended up double exposing the whole thing. Kind of interesting, but I think we had a hard time coordinating. Here’s what happened:

All photos were shot with a Canon EOS Rebel on 35mm color 400 ISO film. Special thanks to Matt Smith, Gabe Garcia, Deli Neblett & Chris Allen. Good times!

Polaroid Spectra Macros

Out of all the Polaroid cameras I have, my favorite one by far is the Spectra System. A while back, my husband purchased me a Close-up attachment kit for it. Policemen used to use them for photographing evidence. I’m not sure if they still do, but I do!

I haven’t written an entry in a great long time, so I’d like to show you the macros I’ve been shooting as of late.

“But all I have for light is one book of matches and the duration of each ma-” (for whatever the reason the tape cuts off here)

This is a House of Leaves diptych, and it’s accompanied by an excerpt from the book, which you can read by clicking through the image.

bubble

a soft sort – a very delicate diptych of balloon flowers & a garden spider

wasps, grazing – this is my favorite. It’s a close-up of two red wasps.. I was worried I was going to get stung, bit it seemed like they didn’t have a problem with being shoved inside of a tiny box.

untitled – a cactus

blkbrry – delicious blackberries in my mother-in-law’s backyard. These weren’t fully ripe yet, but four days later, they were delicious!

I’m going to try and keep this short. You can click through the last four beneath this to see full detail of the photos.

Polaroid Spectra film can be purchased at The Impossible Project HERE.

Moleskine, Moleskine!

I got another Moleskine notebook about a month ago. I’ve been filling it up with everything I can think of, and after I’m done with this one, I’ll do another – and another – and another. I want a bigger one, next time.. anyway, here’s a preview of what I’ve been up to in the art department:

View the rest of the Moleskine set on flickr HERE

Other things I’ve been up to: check out my May entry for THEARTOFWAITING – click here!

Camera Collection!

Today I took a few hours to shoot my camera collection, and I’m actually not finished yet, as I have some cameras displayed in my room as well & had to cook myself breakfast. There are many of these that I have managed to get instant film for, but the film turned out to be too expired, dried up, or dead battery. However, most of the film cameras I try to use as often as I can; even if I have to experiment a little.

This camera takes type 42 rollfilm, which is like finding a needle in a haystack. Last year, my husband found some on ebay for me and I had successfully loaded the camera, however unsuccessfully pulled the film out. (every time.) The film was wet! It would have been amazing.. but I failed & have yet to find any more Polaroid Roll Film.

Yashica Lynx 5000E 35mm – I have shot with this camera a few times, and was very pleased with the results, as they have a dreamlike quality about them:

Kodak Brownie Hawkeye – this vintage camera takes type 620 film, but can also be loaded with 120 film. It’s a really fun camera to use. I’ve yet to load it with color film, but am planning on it soon. You can see a roll that I’ve shot with this camera here: Brownie Hawkeye set on flickr

I love this camera! There’s not much more I can say about it. It’s fun. Lightweight, and I can put as much 35mm in it as I want. Still trying to figure it out, but learning more & more. I have even converted it into a pinhole that can take macro images, but haven’t scanned the negatives. Here are some of my favorite Holga shots:

Hopefully, I’ll be using my Holga a lot more for the ART OF WAITING projects soon. I’m going to go urbexin’ now. It’s a beautiful day, and I don’t have to work. Huzzah!

Timed self-portraits on film

Last week I decided to try some self-portraits with my Canon EOS Rebel film camera. I wasn’t exactly pleased with the results, but some of them weren’t half bad. As you all know, I was expecting to go to Bonnaroo this summer, but my husband actually suggested that we use the money we would on tickets and gas, and put it to better use by getting me a nice digital SLR.

It will be a sad day, indeed, as I will be stopping my obsessive use of film to get some practice in. I simply canNOT keep fucking up on film. It’s not so much expensive anymore (I process my own film, and scan the negatives.) as it is time-consuming & really gets on my nerves when I’m not pleased with the outcome. It’s just something I feel I need to move on to.

I will still be using my film cameras for The Art of Waiting projects.. I will just be trying to get less/better results AS A RESULT, of getting more photography practice in on a digital. I really, really like to experiment with film. I would just prefer better outcomes when I get an idea and decide to take it on.

long exposure, bubble blowing. Kodak Tri-X film, Kodak D-76 developer. (all of my photos are developed with D-76)