Day 58/183: Polaroids

[nanila]

At the weekend, Keiki expressed an interest in using a film camera. I think this might be because of one of the Miyazaki films we’ve watched recently. I showed him an array of the film cameras I have tucked away, and he picked out the Polaroid Impulse. As I haven’t used it in six or seven years, it didn’t have any film in it,. The packs only last about twelve months, so I would have had to get some new ones anyway. I didn’t want to order off Amazon as sellers there don’t seem to have any scruples about flogging expired film. I wasn’t entirely prepared for the sticker shock. I got some from Jessops, who didn’t have any colour film in stock, but did have black-and-white at £18 for a pack of eight. It focuses the mind wonderfully when you know that every time you press the shutter release, it costs £2.25.

Once I got over that, the film arrived in two days and I checked the manufacture date: October 2019. Phew. I loaded up the Impulse and instructed the children to work out two photos that they wanted to take outside in the garden.


Keiki wanted his creeper lego toy, which is about four inches tall, to look as if he’d just climbed a mountain.


Humuhumu wanted a nice portrait of the two of them holding their favourite teddies (hers: Happy Face the llama, his: Creepery the Minecraft creeper) whilst sitting on the wooden bench in our garden. Just as I pressed the shutter release, a butterfly flitted past and Keiki couldn’t help leaping up and pointing at it.


Humuhumu’s second idea was for them to peek out of the windows in her little tent. This turned out as planned.


Keiki’s second idea was for the two of them to look out of the playhouse door with their teddies.

I cropped the images just to the photos themselves, because I find them rather haunting to look at in isolation.


Creepery.


“Butterfly!”


Peeking.


Playhouse.



We’re saving the other four shots for a walk up the canal. I’ve also promised to rustle up some colour film, but possibly they’ll have to earn it through chores, as this could become a very expensive hobby otherwise.

Comments

[cmcmck]

I never got into polaroid although I do have quite a collection of roll film cameras as you might expect. The oldest is a German one from the nineteen thirties- a Voigtlander.

[nanila]

Oh, very nice! I've been meaning to get out all my film cameras and catalogue them so I actually have a list somewhere. I think I can get Keiki interested in doing that.

[shirebound]

This brings back such nice memories of my "Polaroid Swinger" camera in the late 1960s. The commercial song still lives in my memory... "It's more than a camera, it's almost alive! It's only nineteen dollars and ninety-five!"

[nanila]

Ha, wonderful! You can get them for a song on ebay, even less than the original sticker price, probably because film is no longer made for them.

[corvidology]

The pictures really do have a very haunting quality about them. I think it's because the photographs suggest the images are very old and yet the subjects clothing and toys tell otherwise.

[nanila]

It would be fun to hear the speculation of the archaeologists 500 years from now regarding the Minecraft teddies. "See the talismans of the children, who worshipped a group of deities about which we know very little, except that all of them were square."

[redsixwing]

How fun! Ghibli movies do have a way of making everything nostalgic, even if you never experienced the thing in question. I'm glad you had a Polaroid around to play with.

I had one as a kid, when the cost of film was somewhat less but still enough to make young me think twice about that button.

[nanila]

I am too! I'm going to try and get them interested in helping me to write down things about my camera collection tomorrow, so I have a comprehensive list of my kit, and also know for which cameras I can still procure film. 35mm is still relatively cheap and they might enjoy playing with that. I've still got some Lomo cameras kicking around the drawer.

[pbristow]

You've somehow sent your kids back in time! =:oO

[nanila]

Yes, and they seem to be enjoying it! :D

[slemslempike]

How did the kids like the photos they took - were they surprised at how they turned out, or like they had imagined? I especially like the butterfly photo.

[nanila]

They were surprised and captivated. I was glad that Humuhumu was pleased about the dynamism of the butterfly photo, rather than disappointed that it hadn't come out as she'd planned.

[tree_and_leaf]

Aw, those are lovely!

*I've* always been put off by the cost of polaroid, but they are rather charming.

[nanila]

Thanks! We're putting them into notebooks so we can have a record of this strange time.

[askygoneonfire]

Wonderful! I have a polaroid (well, Instax Square) which is similarly pricey for film but do enjoy the pressure it puts on you to make shots thoughtful. I've gone through 4 packs of film (80 shots) in 2 years and still terrible at making decisions about light though. Ho hum

[nanila]

Oooh, that sounds like great fun! I've googled the instax and it looks like they make a mini version and now I am holding my wallet firmly closed. :P

[emelbe]

Aww! Those are fantastic. I especially like the oohlookbutterfly one.

I look forward to seeing what they choose for the next four.

[nanila]

Thank you!

I tried to convince them to save the other four shots but as they rightly pointed out, it was sunny again today and they had IDEAS, so the pack is gone and they may have talked Mummy into ordering some more, oh dear.

[silveradept]

Those are some excellent shots. I see that the smalls have the eye for composition of a shot. And, of course, there's always the one shot that's in the middle of an unexpected action happening. It looks charming.

[nanila]

I'm pleased that Humuhumu recognised the charm of that shot rather than being upset that it didn't turn out the way she'd planned. She had a lovely static composition in mind and instead it turned into something rather more dynamic!

[silveradept]

Dynamic shots are often the best ones and the most memorable, and to have one that's spontaneous is often the thing a photographer wants to achieve but rarely gets the shot on.