Last week was Haiga, this week is all about Polaroids.
Well, on Flickr it is anyway. For the third year in a row there is a ‘Roid Week group and anyone is invited to submit up to 3 shots a day of any instant-film image (does not have to be strictly Polaroid brands). Only rules are that the shots must be film and must be newly posted to Flickr (so old family Polaroids are fine if you haven’t shared them before).
Me? I’m going all new and will take my daily photos with the Polaroid Automatic 250 Land Camera that I scored for $20 a couple weeks ago in Cold Spring, NY.
This beauty was a better bargain than I had realized! Very clean inside and, it turns out, in great working order. My husband, being the genius that he is, re-wired the battery compartment for me with cell batteries adding up to 4.5 volts rather than ordering the odd 4.5v battery that used to go there (and that can only be bought online and with shipping is cost-prohibitive). I did some research online to figure out how to know if the camera was working before loading the film, and found out what filmpacks I can use that are still readily available. I am currently using FujiFilm FP-100c Professional.
Yesterday was my test-run. I took my first photo from the porch to the rainy street and white-flowered dogwood tree next door. It came out a bit dark, but I was absolutely giddy peeling apart the negative and seeing the result! 
Because the film is so expensive (I got a 10-pack for $15.99), I gave only one more go a bit later, adjusting my film speed setting a bit. The film I’m using is 100, but the camera only gives the options for 75, 150, 300, or 3000. I had it on 150 for that first photo, so I tried 75 next, shooting out own dogwood in the backyard. The shutter was open for a very short time so I thought it was going to be a massive fail, but was amazed when the photo was a perfect exposure, matching the light in reality spot-on:
I’m not babysitting this week either, so I’m hoping to go on another adventure with my friend Gwyn and take a Polaroid shot somewhere interesting, as well as see if I can manage a 52 weeks self-portrait with this bulky thing! I’m already incredibly impressed with the images flowing into the group pool this morning, and the variety of styles and types of cameras out there. This is going to be a really fun week.
