in her own little world...

Experimented a little more today with the closeup lens on the polaroid 100 land camera.  If you have ever had your picture taken with an old polaroid flash on one of the packfilm cameras, you will understand why I took this closeup picture of Pyper with her looking away.  I was around 10 inches from her face. If she would have been looking directly at the flash, it would have been like looking at the sun. Maybe not the most flattering picture of Pyper. She was getting sleepy and about to go take her afternoon nap. Maybe she won't be too mad at me later in life for posting this...

fading...

even though it is expired, this film has been solid with it vibrant colors.  this one was shot directly at the setting sun with my modified 250 land camera that has the rodenstock 127mm lens attached.  the sun flare gave it an extreme red cast and it looks somewhat faded. hope it wasn't light leaking through...

L A NDROVER closeup...

got a new closeup and portrait lens today for my polaroid 100 land camera.  this photo of the front of my land rover was taken using the closeup lens.  wow, the depth of field is shallow when you use this lens during the evening.

what better way to celebrate Pola Day than using a Polaroid camera, expired Polaroid film and one of the many well-designed Polaroid accessories...

reflecting again...

Part of getting older is all of the reflecting that you do. Add to that an addiction to coffee (and taking pictures) and this is the result.  This is sooooo representative of me today...  

The photo started as an expired Polaroid 664 print taken with my Polaroid 250.  It was getting late in the day so the lighting/contrast is not as good as I would like it, but it seems to work with the mood of the photo.  Since it wasn't dry yet (and I am very impatient today), I couldn't scan it so I took an iPhone photo and modified it using Snapseed.  I love how you can create things so easily...

from another world...

Took the bottom image for the "Impossible Moment In Time" graffiti theme today. I took the top image using my Leica M8 and adjusted the contrast, using NIK Color Efex Pro, to bring out the details. Let it be known that I messed up the exposure terribly on the bottom one. This affected the colors and the amount of detail in the highlights. I should have set the exposure to full darken to compensate for the PX680 Cool film. For some reason, I continually forget this when I go to take pictures with the Spectra camera.  I think it has something to do with the fact that I don't take pictures with the Spectra very often. 

However, sometimes the mistakes end up being phenomenal photos. Despite the fact that you cannot see all of the detail, the Impossible image is somewhat surreal. Almost from another world far beneath the sea...  

and she smiles...

Took this one while on vacation in California.  We were in the elevator headed back to our room.  The Mint flash works like a charm every time...

schlitterbahn 2012...

Waterparks are not the place to be hauling around a Polaroid camera.  Most of the day it stayed locked up in a storage locker at the park.  That is the neat thing about instant photos.  You don't feel like you need to document any and every activity.  Once you get a keeper, it becomes "the" memory.  I am very happy with the two that I took...

my friend tripp...

Sadi, Sherri and I watched after our friend's dogs a few weeks ago.  Each night I took my SX-70 over and tried to get some pictures.  This pic of Tripp is one of my favorites...

more of me...

What can I say, another shot of me.  Trying to empty out my cameras and get them ready to travel to California this week.

Also gives me a good reason to change my avatar on twitter...

beautiful images...

Caught a couple of beautiful images that I just had to post.

This one was Pyper after she got out of the bath last night.  Wanted to test some more of the PX70 with the mint flash.  As you can see, it works great!  Just have to watch being too far away from what you are photographing...

After church today, I talked Sherri into letting me take an indoor picture of her with just window light from the side.  Amazing how I take hundreds of pictures and very few of her.  Just so you know, this is her choice not mine.  If it was my choice, I would get at least one picture of her every day...

smokestacks...

Got up on my roof and took this image the other day.  The sky was so blue and the clouds looked like puffs of smoke in the distance.

roid week 2012 - my images...

Well roid week 2012 has come and gone. This is the first year that I have participated in the flickr event.  What a great time taking new pictures to post and viewing pictures from around the world.  There are so many talented photographers that use instant film as a method of documenting the things around them.  This alone is inspiring for me.  I absolutely enjoy taking photos and especially instant photos.  Come to think of it, instant photography is has become a hobby within a hobby.

Look forward to many more years of roid week and most of all knowing that some day I can share the original photos with my children, grandchildren and maybe even great-grandchildren...

coffee thoughts...

Earlier today, I spent a short time on the patio in the back yard enjoying the cool morning and having a cup of coffee. This is absolutely one of my favorite coffee cups. Sadi got it for me for Christmas many years ago (from a school store where they could spend their reading points). Funny how the corniest thing can become so valuable and sentimental. Seems that years ago, my girls truly thought that "my dad can fix anything". There was never a doubt in their minds!  As the years have passed and both of my girls have "grown up", this has become more of a joke than a truth. They now realize that there are certain things in life that even Dad can't fix.  Just know that I still hold out hope that I can somehow work to remove these doubts, hold up the cup, and announce that I have again fixed something that was broken...

What a humbling cup of coffee...

a flash from the past...

I have been looking for this instant photo for quite a while.  Took some time tonight to look through some old family albums to see if I could find it.  Amazing the moments that we remember from our childhood.  For some reason, this day and this photo have been stuck in my memory.  Maybe it was the hair or even the abs of steel that I was trying to show off and get captured on film (so that I could show it off more than 30 yrs later)...

wilco in black and white...

Sometimes you just know that you got the shot as soon as you take it. You may have to wait a little bit for it to develop, but you are more anxious than ever to see if it turned out.  This was one of those shots and it was like an eternity waiting four minutes while the image developed under a dark slide.  When I lifted up the dark slide and saw this image, I just smiled...

on their way out...

Sadi, Jace and Brad tonight in our neighborhood before Sadi and Jace left to go eat Chinese food. Always a good night when I get to take a picture...

in mint condition...

This is my first photo using my new Impossible Mint flash with PX680 film in the SX-70 camera.  As with all Impossible products, it delivers a very unique image.  I am always amazed at how the image looks like it was taken many years ago.  If you think the scanned image looks neat, you should see the original!  I can't seem to stop picking it up to look at it.  I don't know why I like it, but I do...

after swimming munchies...

Had a chance to shoot some pictures of Pyper after swimming at our house today. She was eating cheetos, peanut butter/jelly, cheese sticks and sausage sticks (basically everything under the sun).  It was the only time that she was still enough to get a picture...

tyler...

Took this closeup of Tyler on Old Gen PX70 to use in a studio shot that didn't work out.  The sharpness and colors make this one a keeper...

not in the mood...

Believe it or not, Sadi is not always in the mood for me to take her picture.  See picture below for proof.

Regardless, it was taken with Old Gen PX70 and it seems timeless...

Sunday Favorites...

Spent some time after church today taking some instant photos of Sadi, Maci and Tyler.  Experimented with all types of instant film and lighting.  Here are two of my favorites from the day...

saturated sunflowers...

This image is the result of some experimentation with the lighten/darken wheel and a neutral density filter on the SX-70.  The image was taken at full darken along with a neutral density filter taped over the lens element on a bright sunny Texas day.  You get saturated colors but the image seems a bit more blurred because of all of the "stopping down"...

industrial clutter...

Took this image in downtown Greenville using some of the Old Gen PX70 film.  A very warm film when the sun gets low in the sky...

sadi and maci..

Not perfect pictures, but great memories of my beautiful girls. Two of my most favorite people to photograph!

sadi...

maci...

embracing the aliens in roswell...

A short visit to Roswell, NM this week.  Was able to take an early morning photo walk through the downtown area and a few stops on my way there.  All that I can say is that the ENTIRE city embraces the alien.  Makes for some good cheesy tourist photos...

my ride home (not a spaceship)...

the yellow rose of texas...

My first PZ680 cool image that I got colors as rich and true as the PX70 Cool film.  All that I can say is WOW!  It was a cooler day in Texas today (upper 80s/lower 90s) and I took advantage of it and headed out to try this film again. The day was also overcast so that helped too. The image was exposed almost all the way dark. A little off on the composition, but the top of Texas was at the top of the building and I didn't want the sky showing.

This set the wheels in motion for another Impossible order for the film...

the leaning sunflower...

the spectra field...

the field...

a different perspective...

Last picture of this pack of PX100.  On one hand, I am glad because I am hoping that the next pack of PX100 doesn't have the same chemical swirls that this entire pack has had.  Is makes the hands/face appear somewhat scary. On the other hand, I wanted to make the picture count, so I tried climbing up and taking a picture from a different perspective.  It was a very warm/humid afternoon.  The sepia tone set in immediately.  Like having PX100 Chocolate...

the reflection...

reflecting on how much I like instant photos! Not perfect by any means, but very unique in nature.  Kinda like me...