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Day 219

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 'roid rage!

 'roid rage!

I tried developing a Polaroid negative or two recently. It's a simple process really but involves cleaning it with bleach. Actually, you clean only one side of the negative film with bleach. If bleach gets anywhere near the side with the actual image on, you get to watch it fizzle into oblivion as you cry and hurl curses and abuse at the harsh world of analogue photography. I like the gnarly look of this picture now and still have the original photo. The solarised green at the bottom of the bottle is actually how the Polaroid came out and not due to my clumsy dark room skills.

close up detail

close up detail

In case you thought Polaroids were just for kids and hipsters, here is a bit of closer detail of the above image. The negative is a lot bigger than a 35mm photo or digital sensor at roughly 9 x 12cm. It's possible to see the beads of condensation on the glass and the feathers that are part of the DHC logo clearly. I read about some photographers using Polaroid negatives for magazine and poster prints and can believe it!

Day 210

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Not many photographers these days know the joy of waiting over 3 weeks for negatives to be developed only then to realise it will take another 3 weeks to actually see what the pictures look like (I would love to print them properly but will wait unt…

Not many photographers these days know the joy of waiting over 3 weeks for negatives to be developed only then to realise it will take another 3 weeks to actually see what the pictures look like (I would love to print them properly but will wait until I get home to scan them first). Whatever comes out, Mamiya 67 negatives are beautiful! (I flipped this image in my tablet to see how it might come out)

Day 202

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not your average train

not your average train

The Seven Stars Kyushu train pulled into the station as we were heading the other way. From the outside it looked only a little special with burgundy paying, gold lettering and stained glass windows, but it must be one of the most expensive ways to travel in the world! http://www.cruisetrain-sevenstars.com At almost 2 million yen (about 16 thousand euros) for a couple traveling only 4 days it's not surprising they don't need more than 30 people on a tour. However, given the reception the staff put on at the station and the type of travelers that have the train fully booked for ages in advance for one of the suite rooms, I was more than a little jealous when our regular local train showed up with standard bench seating.

Day 200

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End of an era

End of an era

I struggled to find the right photo for my 200th blog post and lost a day or two in feeling most of the photos I had taken were not epic enough. However, this is a photo of something which will soon be resigned to the past. For many people, Polaroids are a complete mystery, to some hipsters and photo enthusiasts they are still something that doesn't have a digital equivalent. It's the photographic equivalent of an LP. The thing is, the slip of paper in the packs that I bought say that Fuji won't be making any more. They might make some small versions still for instant cameras but this was the last model in production that was used by professionals and Polaroid lovers still. I'm going to try not to waste the last few packs I have.