Summer adventures.

Mythology and miscellany.

I met up with The Gentleman Amateur at Glastonbury Tor. You probably all know his beautiful pictures, but in case you don't do trot off and have a look, won't you. We took some pictures, naturally, and I had another whirl on the PX70 colour film from the kings of Europhotographyporn - The Impossible Project.
I was a Tor virgin, having only muddied my feet at the festival once... But it's staggering. Miles of flat fields with islands, Avalon itself included, jutting up into the sky. Little wonder it's gathered so many myths. It's also full of some of life's more 'colourful' characters like the nice folk who painted their house with these flowers.

On re-kindlement.

Getting back into Polaroids?

Most of my pictures are taken with something a bit like this.
It's a folding Polaroid SX-70 - this one looks a bit odd because of the Sonar arrangement on top. I prefer them without partly because it's not the most pleasant addition to the camera but also because when they fold down it's a hell of a lot smaller without it.

They're the most extraordinarily beautiful little SLR cameras. A genius of engineering and aesthetic.

Get one if you can.
They focus down to about 12 inches, and closer if you get the close-up kit, which means they're pretty much un-paralelled in the Polaroid world. The plasticy cameras you probably all had as kids rarely let you get in closer than about 3ft.
Sadly the film (SX-70 Time Zero) these pictures were taken on in is going the same way as Smilodon or Eohippus. But there is some good news. The Impossible Project has started making film to feed these beauties again, so there's no better time to re-kindle your love affair. The new colour film is heading in a similar direction to the original SX-70 film, so one day the prodigal son of Edwin Land may return to us all.

Testing testing.

Here are my personal favourites ^ from using The Impossible Project's PX70 so far. They don't all really contain colour, but - to me at least - all have something very beautiful about them. I'm camera-lickingly excited for the future of these materials if those industrious chaps holed up in Enschede keep on the way they have been. I hope you all show them support by buying their films and giving them feedback.

~~All these photos have been posted to Flickr and Polanoid so just click on them to find them.

However, i've also taken some shots with the PX70 that just don't do it for me . And 'cos i'm stupidly vain I won't be posting them on the web anywhere else, so keep on scrolling to see what I mean. They're a bit lifeless, lacking in contrast and colour, and most importantly weren't very good photos to begin with. I reckon good advice early on is take shots of colourful subjects in good natural light with a normal exposure (that may seem obvious, but it's the last thing I normally do). Keep an eye on how they change over time and do let me know how you get on with this stuff when you first use it, won't you.

Click on these photos to make them bigger.


And DON'T FORGET. Send in your best PX70 shot to TIP by August 16th and become an official tester of the next versions of the film.