I cannot believe it's been so long since I wrote anything here! Chalk it up to a crazy, busy summer! My university's spring semester ended in early May, but I only had two days off before I started a crazy three-week "Maymester"--which meant that I taught an entire semester in three weeks! WACKY! In the middle of that, moreoever, I took a 4-day trip to Atlanta where I stayed with my friends Amy and Dan and met their new daughter, Abby! Here's an SX-70 polaroid I shot of them near their lovely home (using Blend film):
The Pasternacks
Isn't she the sweetest little girl? Here's another pic I shot, using my Olympus Evolt DSLR and a little postprocessing in Photoshop!
AbbyBaby
That same weekend in Atlanta, I also attended my dear friend Laura's wedding to her new awesome husband, Ganoby! Here's an SX-70 polaroid diptych I shot of Laura's beautifully-henned hand and foot, using Blend film:
From the Henna Party
After the Maymester ended, I literally had only one day off, and then it was off to Fort Collins, Colorado, where I spent nine days as an Advanced Placement grader for the AP World History exam! EEEKKKKKK!!!!! I met some awesome people, though, got to hang out with Santa Barbara folks (a wonderful surprise!), and really admired these poppies...
And then the crazy part...after being home for only about 36 hours from Colorado, I hopped in my car and drove from Texas to Minnesota! I gave a paper at the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians in Minneapolis, and then traveled up to Duluth (such a cool town!) to see the mighty Lake Superior! The real purpose of this post is to put up a few pinhole Polaroids that I shot while at the Lake, using my Daylab Pinhole camera and expired Polaroid 669 film. I hope you will enjoy!
By the shining Big-Sea-Water
Transparency
By the Shores of Gitche Gumme
Prints available at my Etsy shop! More photos will be coming!
Last December, I went to San Francisco for the day, just to spend a few hours enjoying the city and seeing the Pacific, the ocean I used to live near, but now rarely see. I went down to Ocean Beach and shot a lot of film while the rain poured down. This may be my favorite photo of the day; it's a Holgaroid shot, taken with some of my last stash of Type 85 film. This is the positive, and it's a double exposure.
I love the way the seagulls in this photo appear just into the frame, leaving so much empty sky in the shot. This is what the sky above the Pacific is like: endless, vast, birds dodging in and out, and then, nothing but freedom and promise.
Celluloid Pictures of Living (2007) Title taken from the song by Roxy Music
I'm so excited to see that two of my photos are on the cover of trunkt today! They are the bottom left and second-to-left photos :) What a great feeling!
I really fell in love with Polaroid's Type 85 film. Of course, they cancelled production after I shot my first pack. I scored three additional packs after that, and I still have one left, sitting, longingly, in the fridge. I hope to be brave enough to shoot it soon. Last July, I went out into the countryside near my home here in North Texas and shot two of my favorite Type 85 photos. These are scans from the positives. I adore the way that the expired emulsion created a bit more mystery in these photographs, as well as the framing created by the Holga's stark vignetting.
I love my Holgaroid camera, a frankenstein creation fitting a Holga FN with a type 80 Polaroid back. What's more, I've hoarded a good amount of the square Polaroid films, so I can keep shooting with it for awhile, although it will never be long enough. Over the next few days, I'll post some of my favorite photos that I've taken with this delicious picture-making device. I'll start with these, some of my lesser known Holgaroid photographs.
Memories of Summer (2006) Film: Polaroid Type 88 Location: Leu Gardens, Orlando, Florida
Strive (2006) Film: Polaroid Type 85 (this is the positive) Location: Greenwood Cemetery, Orlando, Florida
There's a Big World Out There (2006) Film: Polaroid Type 88 Model: My terrier, Orson
An Alien's Confection (2008) Film: Polaroid Type Chocolate 80 Location: Denton, Texas
Awhile back, I wrote an entry about my mother and her childhood doll. Finally, I've developed some of the Holga photos that I shot on the same day that I shot the Polaroids in that entry. I love the qualities of these photos. I hope you will, too.
Versions of My Mother and Her Doll (Christmas 2007) Camera: Holga CFN Film: Classic Pan 400
