SX-70 Experience

My great friend Cliff and I went to Vassar College today to see the SX-70 Exhibit.  The SX-70 was Polaroid's fantastic SLR introduced in 1972, that used "Instant Film".  This film, the malleable kind that could take up to 2 hrs to harden in warm temperatures was great to manipulate with a stylus.  Sadly, although SX-70 film is now made again by The Impossible Project, it is not the soft kind.  These are some of my shots taken with this film. I was GREAT fun!  Enjoy, Jeff

Newport 2003

Marine Shack AC

Lady Dawn AC Marina

EvianWaterNYC

cushmanmarine

BayouCafe 

SaratogaBurgers

Toasted Sunflower

Schaghticoke WaterGames

 Schahticoke Fair The Guesser

Marine Shack AC BW 

Grandpawoodstock

Lucy the Elephant

Thomas and Friends

We have iPhoneography and now we have Instant Filmography! 

One of the things I love about photography   is that you have so many options to choose for imaging fun.  I use digital, medium format film, iPhone and now "back to the past", using instant film.  Polaroid no longer makes instant film and a Polaroid like film is Made by The Impossible Project.  However, it is really expensive.  The alternative is Fuji's FP100c, a color film for Land  packfilm cameras.  This peel apart film, is in a 6x9 format and under bright light can produce some stunning prints.  Furthermore, it creates a true negative that can be "reclaimed" using Clorox bleach. 

 My new buddy, Michael Raso, over at The Film photography project (http://filmphotographyproject.com) gave me some great advice about shooting this film in the cold, that was really invaluable.  If you enjoy film as I still do, I strongly suggest you head over to his site for many useful tips as well as fun and educational podcasts.  This shot taken in waning light near days end was made with a Polaroid EE Special camera and the Fuji FP 100 film. This camera has a plastic lens and focusing distance guess scale on the lens.

 This is the positive image without the edges pulled away, giving it a kinda' grungy look.  Later. I'll reclaim the negative and play around with that after it is scanned.

Enjoy, Jeff

Saratoga Hats

Like the tin-type, Polaroid SX-70 imagery is essentially gone. The film as originally made, malleable in warmth for up to 2 hours is no longer made. I still have one cherished pack left!

This technique reminded me of kindergarten finger-painting. What fun to compose and take a photo and then sit in a sunny place with a stylus and "smush" the photo to create the adult version of finger-painting! More to come!