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Please forgive the silence of late. Summer means racing and that means I'm in full slam with the 2010 American Le Mans Series tour of North America. But in between things, as in my previous post, I've been working on a project involving instant film cameras… specifically old Polaroids and PackFilm.

Red obsession... what's not to like?My first venture into shooting with instant film involved using a Polaroid 250 Automatic. Certainly one of the better vintage Polaroids. But, if you follow the timeline of Polaroid cameras, by the mid 60's the company had become very motivated to get the camera and instant photography into the hands of the general public. Whereas the older models, or RollFilm cameras had required fairly advanced photographic skills. In other words, you'd better know your f/stops and shutter speeds, and you'd better own a meter. The 'sunny sixteen' rule was a start, but you'd be burning up a lot of film while getting up to speed.

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Click for sample galleryYep… Polaroids. A fun mindless endeavor that might just provide enough challenge to shake up your creative thinking. Think of it like doodling on a napkin… no pressure… nobody cares…

But creatively speaking, shooting Polaroids is a real challenge. If you're a digital snapper, you're in for a rude awaking. And, if you like to "spray and pray" taking full advantage of your kjillion megapixel X9000, 30 frame per second, face recognizing, image stabilizing, espresso making super DSLR, you're going to need to remortgage your house or think twice about sinking another $50K in chrome fittings for your Honda Civic's undercarriage. (does anyone really do that?) Clicking the shutter on a vintage Polaroid camera is going to cost you anywhere from a $1.00 - $2.00.. maybe more. But, hey… it's fun and maybe the $1.00 penalty will make you stop and think.

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