Week 40 - Polaroid One Step Close Up, a Polaroid 600 instant film camera given to me by a friend who found it in his closet. The camera has a built in flip up flash powered by the internal battery of each Polaroid 600 type film pack. This closeup model features two focusing distances, with a slider between close up of 2-4 feet and distance of 4 feet to infinity. There is also a lighten/darken switch to adjust the exposure of your photos.

I had on hand an expired box of Impossible Project 600 black and white film, leftover from an expired film bag special from Impossible Project. My frugality will not allow me to purchase full price film, I usually only purchase the factory seconds or expired film bag specials. I also like the unpredictable results achieved with these films. If I want to get consistent, predictable results, I shoot with Fuji Instax Wide and Mini.

With no ideas or destinations in mind this week for subject matter, I turned to shooting photos of my friends, and a self portrait. I found I liked the outdoor shots better. One of my photographer friends commented that his portrait had Holga-like qualities with the softly focused edges and another friend liked the unique black and white instant photo, something that you don't usually see. They were all pleased when I gave them their photos after scanning them.

Time to get ready for Fall Polaroid Week coming up week after next, I hope the new Fuji Instax Mini Monochrome will be available by then.

Week 7 - Polaroid Spirit 600 Camera with expired Impossible Project Color Block Film. Another Polaroid camera that I've had in my collection but never used, I believe my wife's sister found it in her closet and gave it to me when she saw how much I liked collecting cameras. I wasn't sure that it worked, but I tested it with an empty Impossible Project film cartridge and the camera whirred into action. I had bought the expired Color Block film from ebay sometime in the past year, so I wasn't sure that was going to work at all either.

The Polaroid Spirit 600 camera has a built in flash, which was one of the reasons I chose it for this week, as I was planning to shoot indoors. It has a plastic fixed focus lens with a minimum focusing distance of about 4 feet. There is also an exposure compensation slider on the front. There were many variations on this same basic camera made in the 1980's and 1990's like the Polaroid Sun, Polaroid SuperColor, Polaroid Camel, etc.

It was really cold outside over the weekend and I wasn't about to go out around town and try to get photos with an instant film camera. I shot a few photos around the house of ordinary things, though the unicycle is a bit unique. My son has built and rebuilt that unicycle over the years, he doesn't ride it as much as he used to but it still commands a space in our dining room for when he feels like trying a few tricks in the alley beside our house. We went grocery shopping in the beginning of the week when it warmed up a little and I stashed the camera in my bag with the intention of grabbing a few shots around the grocery store. The cashier asked why I was taking a photo of the flower display near the register and I explained that I was working on a photography project. She asked what class I was taking and I explained further that I collected cameras and I was posting my photos to my website on a weekly basis. I guess it's not everyday a customer comes in the store with a Polaroid camera shooting photos of the canned food display.