In Which I Fall In Love With Polaroid. Again.

I'm sure you've noticed that I'm something of a shutterbug.  I almost always have a camera on me, sometimes two or even three.  I have a large Canon DSLR, a tiny Sony Cybershot, a 40-year-old Yashica SLR which belonged to my mom, a Diana and a Holga (both of which shoot lomographic film), and a Polaroid 600-series.  I love each camera for different reasons, but my favourite, hands-down, is the Polaroid.

I got into Polaroid photography knowing that the company had announced that it would no longer be making instamatic film and that the end was near, but I just couldn't help myself.  I love the instant aspect of it, I love watching the film as it develops in my hand, and I adore how fleeting it is.  Polaroid film isn't cheap (especially now), so if you take a crummy photo, that's a few dollars wasted.  However, if you get a good one, oh, but it feels wonderful.  It's like you've someone beat the odds, triumphed over the gods.  It is for me, anyway.  The only place currently making film for my type of camera is The Impossible Project, and I've been eager to try it out.  My mom was kind enough to send me a couple of packs for my birthday, so I got the opportunity much sooner than I thought!

I thought I'd finished with the last of my color film, but there was still some left in the camera, and as much as I was dying to check out the new film, I couldn't bring myself to waste the old.

This is my spider plant, Tooey.  Named after the plant in Little Shop of Horrors, Tooey has beat the odds and my black thumb and stayed quite alive, thank you.  He's a lovely little plant.

Vista, of course.  She actually obeyed the "stay" command and let me get far enough away to snap this.  She's learning, slowly.  Don't you love her star?

I spent Friday night in Lewisburg with Tamar.  It was so strange to be in a town with any sort of nightlife!  We'd gone to see a concert, but were unsure whether it was worth the $10 cover change, so we sat on a bench listening to it for awhile.  Across the street was the Greenbrier Valley Theatre, all lit up.  The shot came out dark, but I find it a bit enchanting.  The Greenbrier's playing The Seafarer right now, which I saw in London and adored.  If you're in the area, there are one or two dates left!

The next morning, we met Jerry and Long-Lost Cousin Lilly in town at the farmer's market, where I realized that my color film was gone and finally broke the new stuff out.  I gotta say, I'm pretty much in love with it!  It's got this gorgeous sepia tone that I can't get enough of!

This is Barley, Tamar's dog.  Vista came along with me and the two dogs had a fantastic time!  I think he looks wonderful on film.

Today, I decided to take Vista for a hike.  I drove along the Highland Scenic Highway, and then we hiked a little along the Williams River Trail.  It was pretty overgrown, so we got back in the car and drove to Tea Creek.  We didn't really find a trail there, I just sort of parked on the side of the road and we hopped in the creek.  Vista had the time of her life, hopping from boulder to boulder and splashing as much as she could in the water.  I've got photos on my Sony camera, too, but those will have to wait until Monday.

All in all, the weekend has been wonderful and so is this film!  Expect many more polaroids in the future!