Dream Concentrate

This Fade to Black film has been my intro into the world of polaroid. (I’m not counting the joycam that I bought 10 years ago, then could never find film for) I’ve heard it’s tricky and defective, etc. But I kind of like it that way.

It begins its journey to darkness as soon as it pops out of the camera and within a minute you’ve got the most accurate image you’re going to get. (You can see the progression here. This one was taken just a few seconds after the first.)

(in ‘Roid Week 2010)

But when I wait just a bit longer than I should, I get something that’s not just subdued or murky, but like what you see when you come inside after being out in bright daylight. There’s a dark, almost negative image of whatever you saw outside superimposed over everything.

Very dream-like.

It’s like all the light and color of the time you were out is now concentrated and decomposing in the image in front of you, if that even makes sense.

You know, how you feel almost dizzy until your eyes adjust. This is especially true of some of the great photos I’ve seen on Flickr.

(in ‘Roid Week 2010)

Anyway, that’s what this film makes me think of.

I don’t like these two. They were taken in the shade at midday. Taking creative photos at the “magic hour” in the evening is not always practical for me. Unless it’s going to be in the parking lot of a dance or taekwondo studio. (I actually got a nice one that way.)

(365 Day 121 Photo)

Here, I waited til 6-ish, but it still lacks the depth of color I wanted.

I saturated more with iphoto on this one to see where I was wanting this to go.

It has been a neat little experimtent for me, with the top photos being my favorite from that pack. It is, however, a bit expensive for an every day experiment. We’ll see. I may have to sell some soap to keep this habit going.