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August 28, 2012

The Polaroid Effect

It's hot — too hot to be outside anywhere other than the beach. So, I've had to come up with some fun indoor projects. For instance, I really like Polaroids and have been working on simulating that iconic look. I'm not quite there, but I'm getting close . . .











Images not intended for commercial purposes or use.

16 comments:

  1. I like square pictures, polaroids, and also the old vinyl lp covers! I like your first one best I think, because of the saturated looking colors...reminds me of early color film.

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  2. Hello Dearest..:)

    Yes , a good job.. reminds me my parent's photos...with colors..:)
    And I think in black and white you can have good results too...
    Here ,we had one month of very very hot days.... But we had some drops of rain ,and we can breathe better....i hope the same for you..:)
    Send you my best thoughts..:)

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  3. Can one even still find a Polaroid camera and film for it ??? Never thought of looking lately, but remember having one as a teenager, but very few of the shots survived. And how would you get those close-ups out in the water with a Polaroid, did they have a version with a zoom or telephoto lens ??? I thought not, but could well be wrong...

    Anyhow, pretty cool what you are doing here, and clearly working with photos of people in the ocean helps beat the heat even if only virtually... is it Photoshop that has a Polaroid imitation function, or some more specialized soft ? Hoping you'll get some relief soon from the heat...

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  4. I think you are there, these are really cool!

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  5. I still have my polaroid camera and some film cartridges. I'm not sure one should actually try to reproduce them to a T. I have some of my past polaroid photos and what I notice is a lack details. Really kind of flat. Our digital cameras today are high on detail. Which isn't to say these aren't lovely; they are. But more of an invented past.

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  6. I didn't think I much liked Polaroid shots, even back then. But I like these, and I don't know why. I suppose it's no surprise that visual art produces that response in me more than writing does. Of these, #2 of all water and #4 are my favorites. With #4, it might be the combination of your composition and the simple fact of more elements of interest--rocks, moss/algae, human, sand, little calm water, big crashing water, all arranged just right.

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  7. Hello again. I've been absent from the blog world and am back hopefully on a regular basis.

    I like all of these photos. There is a relief from the sharp detail of the digital. The softness gives a painterly feel. I particularly like the body surfer and the beach walker, beautiful framing. I think using elements of the polaroid "look" give an interesting texture more fine art than vacation shots on polaroid.

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  8. My hat's off to you. I LOVE Polaroid one-of-a-kind photos and am sitting here with one of them on my desk. I have them stuff into the plastic holders for my passports, loaded into photo albums, and scotchtaped into personal journals. Only the Great Accountant in Heaven knows just how much money I flushed down my multiple Polaroid models and when I'm dead someone else can moan over the tally. But I have a shitload of fantastic photos to show for my squandering in the name of the instamatic image. I had the Polaroid Impulse and gave one to my 80+ year-old French MIL along with packs of film not long before her death. I bought the Spectra Onyx for my wedding day. The list goes on... The cameras have been lost, stolen, or strayed but I still treasure the images captured with them. The only comer I have seen is the Fujifilm Instax MINI 7s Instant Film Camera--I can't pass by one without my fingers itching. I even did some up using Picnik's program.

    So, bonne continuation with your project. The images are sensational and I think that the time spent out of the heat is more than compensated for by the fantastic fotos you've created!

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  9. To be absolutely truthful, the only thing I liked about my old Polaroid was that I could take "intimate photos" without using a darkroom. With that said, your artistry with a camera, no matter what format, is exceptional.

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  10. i like Polaroids too, and probably for the same reason that Roland Barthes likes certain photographs (something to do with absence).

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  11. Very nice! I wonder what happened to my old Polaroid...
    Are a couple of those photos taken at "The Wedge" in Newport Beach?

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  12. Cool shots! The spray and curl of the wave in the second shot is so beautiful! I used to love Polaroid cameras back in the 70's when I was a boy. They seemed amazing. :)

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  13. Very nice images with Polaroid. I am impressed.
    From the Death Valley to the ocean.
    Not so sharp and yet soft and beautiful!!

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  14. i find these wonderful and your aim to recreate their lost world as well. do you know Tarkovski's polaroids? if you haven't seen them, they are to be found here, just click on the pic:

    http://www.diphotos.net/JJ/Tarkovskij/Web/li.htm

    we didn't have access to them in communist romania, i only saw one camera and i remember how shocked i was - i must have been about 10 and it was at the birthday party of a friend whose adoptive father was german citizen, that is why they had it. and soon afterwards they were allowed to emigrate to germany but i kept thinking about those "miraculous photos" a long time after that (actually the only time when i saw a real polaroid camera in my life).

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