Thursday, May 23, 2013

Retro analogue FUN with the Polaroid Spectra II

As an aspiring hipster, I decided to take up crap photography. And no Lomo endeavor is complete without a journey into instant photography. I found this fantastic Polaroid Spectra camera at an antique shop, mint in the box, for only $2.50. This is a much better price than the refurbished models available online, but I was taking a chance with an untested camera that had been sleeping in someone's attic for decades.

Of course, I had to drop $34 on a twin pack of expired film to test it out, but that is the price you pay for coolness.

It fits nicely in its assigned shelf in my fridge...

This, of course, is a symptom of an illness.

Last weekend, we went on a photography adventure, and the Polaroid came along for some fun instant gratification. We got some really interesting shots as we experimented with light settings and angles. Because we were using film that expired in 2009 that had been living in the fridge for a year, we discovered some obvious imperfections, but those just added to the excitement. I primarily focused on my favorite humans and canine for this experience, as my fondest childhood Polaroid memories center on capturing special moments with the family.

But I threw in a shot of an inanimate object to see what would happen, too.

The Spectra has three light settings - Lighter, Normal, and Darker. We found that the Lighter setting resulted in washed-out images when used outside or in brighter inside light. The Normal setting worked best inside, and the Darker setting yielded the best results for outside shots, like these of my crazy dog, Cooper O'Connell-Myers-Ferrell:

My next project will be testing the two Polaroid 600 cameras I recently picked up at yard sales, for $3.00 each. I grabbed a pack of Impossible Project film at Urban Outfitters over the weekend, and I have high hopes for some analogue heaven! Stay tuned, my friends!

No comments:

Post a Comment