Polaroid 100 Land Camera

Land Camera shot with a Toyo View 45E on Ilford HP5+

A few months ago I was chosen as a winner in the Polaroid Packtastic Giveaway over on the Film Photography Podcast. Michael sent me a beautiful, well-loved Polaroid 100 camera. It needs a bit of tending every now and then, but I don't mind showing it the extra love that it deserves. From the day I opened the package, I've kept this camera close by my side. It's one thing to get a new camera, but it's even better when someone hand picks a camera that they think you'll enjoy and they send it to you (at no cost). My excitement radiated as I tore open the box, read the enclosed note, and carefully opened the camera. And now, there's no turning back.

I've taken it everywhere, and tried nearly everything. Here's the first shot I took with it:

A Pineapple! on Fuji FP-100C

I had some help pressing the shutter. I slowly pushed my way through that pack of Fuji FP-100C, trying to conserve it until my new order arrived (you didn't think I would be able to live on just one pack of film, did you?). And the day that those packs of FP-3000B and FP-100C (from the Film Photography Store) arrived, I felt at ease and allowed myself to experiment with the film I had left in the camera. I did some sunset work, and a double exposure or two. My favorite shot from that day ended up being this one:

Grain on FP-100C

After the first box I was definitely feeling pretty confident with this trusty little guy. The obvious next step would be to toss some black and white film into the camera and see how that works out, which is exactly what I did. Since it was going to be a bright day outside, I opted for a box of hard to find FP-100B over the super speedy FP-3000B. I decided it might be a good time to start working with people in my photographs, so I grabbed a friend, sat him down, and snapped this:

On the Farm on FP-100B

I wasn't disappointed in the least. I love the tones it had (the scan doesn't really do it justice). And the black and white definitely worked well for this subject.

A few weeks later I did some traveling and found myself in Letchworth State Park in Castile, NY with the Polaroid 100 Land Camera at my side. I was a bit nervous as to how it would handle a really low light situation, but I placed it onto a tripod and took a few second exposure of the stove in my cabin. I have to say, it really impressed me. It gave nice deep blacks in the shadows and kept the highlights extremely clean.

Stove on FP-100B

The next day we went out hiking and again I brought along the Land Camera. It is light, portable, and never a bad companion. I was standing in the shade when I took this picture, and I was unsure whether or not the camera would have trouble metering for the land in the distance. But, it did alright.

Letchworth State Park on FP-100B

I am extremely surprised with the versatility of the Land Camera, especially since it is 45+ years old. It still gives me those excellent highlights and deep shadows that I am looking for. I was a bit wary at first when I considered jumping into Polaroid pack film cameras because I thought that the money spent on film could never be worth the image created. But, in hindsight, I would definitely say that I was in the wrong. I wouldn't trade this camera for anything (well, unless someone was willing to give me a ULF camera, and even then it would be a tough decision because this was given to me as a gift of sorts). I will keep shooting the Fuji instant film - I don't have much of a choice with 8 boxes sitting on the desk next to me pleading to be used. I hope you've enjoyed your Land Camera as much as I have, but if you don't have one yet, then what are you waiting for!? Get out there and find one!

Double Exposure on FP-100C

More and More

Half, a photo by ChristopherFecio on Flickr.

This is a shot from Memorial Day. The rollers on the holder were messed up so they didn't develop the whole frame. I like it anyway. The Colors.

The Colors.

Just shooting more film, as always.

I just recently won a Polaroid Land Camera from the Film Photography Podcast's (FPP) most recent episode. How exciting! I was looking at buying one at several antique stores and on eBay, but now I won't have to. How great!
So now I'm looking at film for that and will most likely be buying a bunch of it in the very near future to play with.

My work has been on view at SPoT Coffee on Elmwood, in Buffalo, since June 1, and I think it will be coming down soon. I didn't end up selling anything, but the good news is that I received a lot of positive feedback on it. And that's always a good thing.

The darkroom is 99.96% finished. It's going really slowly, but it will be done very, very soon because I bought the last things I need for it. It's time to start printing and making cyanotypes. And developing black and white 4x5 film - my true passion.

So why not stay tuned and see how that goes?

Polaroid Fun

Dad, a photo by ChristopherFecio on Flickr.

Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

This Polaroid film that had an expiration date of 1985 looks (nearly) brand new. It still has good color and I barely had to adjust the exposure.

Happy Father's Day to everyone out there. This is my dad - one of the greatest people I have ever had the pleasure to know. There are so many things I can say about him, but that would all take too long, so I'll just say this - I wouldn't be half the person I am today without him. Thanks for everything, dad.