Impossible Project PX-70 COOL

D/FW SCAVENGER HUNT WINNERS

A few weeks ago, a whole heap load of images were turned in for our very first D/FW Scavenger Hunt.  The images were judged by Troy Bradford and Phil Huber.   Phil is a seasoned photographer who worked for over a decade at Sports Illustrated and Newsweek.  He’s had images published all over the world and a wide span of events during his career.  Troy is a passionate, talented instant photographer that has been involved with us since we started organizing these events.  The two of them did a fantastic job.  Thank you for your help and a HUGE THANK YOU to The Impossible Project, FujiFilm and Don’s Photo Equipment in Dallas for your generous contributions to this event. We couldn’t have done it without you. 

As Phil stated last night ”This is a difficult contest because they each have categories in which they excel.”  That statement couldn’t have been more true. It was definitely a challenge choosing these winners …

1st – Callum & Justin Vinson

2nd – Stacy Winsett & Elizabeth Hill

3rd – Jennifer Tidmore

Enjoy a handful of our favorites from the winners.  You can find the scavenger hunt list here.

Photo: Stacy Winsett

1 – Pandemonium

Photo: Jennifer Tidmore

3 – Downtown Dallas skyline

Photo: Justin Vinson

Photo: Jennifer Tidmore

Photo: Stacy Winsett

4 - A picture of Don from Don’s Photo Equipment

Photo: Justin Vinson

8 – Someone eating an ice cream cone

Photo: Jennifer Tidmore

Photo: Justin Vinson

9 – Something pirate

Photo: Justin Vinson

Photo: Stacy Winsett

24 – Shadows

Photo: Jennifer Tidmore

6 – One Lonely Item

Photo: Stacy Winsett

17 - A uniformed police officer or security guard eating a donut

Photo: Stacy Winsett

31 – Hadoken Meme

Photo: Stacy Winsett

20 – Hug a Mannequin

Photo: Justin Vinson

13 – RV Park Sign

10 – A diptych that rhymes – “Tie – Fry”

28 – A photo of Steve & Erin from Makeshift Photography at Main Street Arts Festival

Thanks for playing! We hope to have another scavenger hunt sometime soon.

-The Instant Film Society

© The Instant Film Society

FUJIFILM/POLAROID PEEL-APART DRYING BOX

The only real problem with shooting any peel-apart instant film is where you put the images and/or the negatives after you take them.   They’re wet and always seem to attract whatever dust & dirt that’s floating around them until they are dry.

A couple of years ago, I started building these boxes to help with this problem. It’s the perfect solution. You slide the images inside the box, they’re held in place by some springs and voila, you have an ideal place to dry your images while you’re out and about.

We’re making and selling these boxes to raise a little bit money to help with various needs The Instant Film Society has.  If you’d like one, the cost is $20 + shipping. We will ship to any of the lower 48 states. Arrangements can be made if you live outside of this area.

- Works with FP-100c, FP-3000B and any other 3.25″x4.25″ instant film –

Watch this video on YouTube.

Donate Your Polaroid Camera

We love promoting the use of instant photography to others. Getting cameras into the hands of aspiring analog photographers is something we’d like to be able to do a lot more of. If you have an old Polaroid laying around in your closet that you haven’t used in years, an old instant camera that hasn’t been shown some love, we could pass it along to someone who would. By giving your camera to us, it enables us to promote instant photography to a broader audience.

If you believe in what we’re doing and would like to help us spread the love of instant to others, send us a message at info@instantfilmsociety.com.

-The Instant Film Society

Impossible Project PX-70 COOL

The Spectra is a cool looking analog camera. Since the 1980′s I’ve seen these but never really paid any attention to them. They have a unique optical system utilizing a 125mm f/10 quintic lens. The focal length equivalency is about about 43mm in the 35mm format.  Like most Polaroids, you don’t have a ton of control over the exposure. The most important options at your disposal are: an exposure lighten/darken switch, a switch to toggle the flash on/off, an AF override switch to set focus to infinity, a self timer and a tripod mount.

The autofocusing feature on Spectras, and many other Polaroids, is done by sonar. When you press the shutter halfway, it emits an inaudible sound wave to measure the distance between the camera and what you’re shooting. It sends the sound waves out, the sound waves bounce back, and the distance is displayed at the bottom of the viewfinder (there is a little switch to toggle between showing ft/m on the camera). There is an autofocus lock feature, in the sense that after you press the shutter halfway, you can hold the shutter and move your viewpoint to keep that particular distance focused.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Film used: Impossible Project PZ-680 (color) or PZ-600 (b&w)

Sonar Autofocus: 2 ft. – infinity

Lens: 125mm f/10 three element quintic lens

Shutter Speeds: 2.8 secs ~ 1/200 sec.

Flash: Most models have it (some can toggle on/off)

Exposure Compensation: Lighten/Darken Slider

- For a more in depth look at Spectras go to CameraPedia -

Check out the Impossible Frog Tongue. If you don’t have one of these things, do yourself a favor, pick one up. These work exactly as designed. They fully protect the image from direct sunlight as the image ejects from the camera. 

Watch this video on YouTube.

CAMERA OPERATION:

Opening the camera

Flipping open the film door

Loading film

Darkslide ejects

Overexpose/Underexpose

Flash On/Off

Autofocus lock at infinity switch

Self-Timer

Toggle beep on/off

Flip switch to close camera

TIPS/TRICKS:

Parallax Error - When shooting close at 2-4 feet, keep in mind that image you’re seeing in the viewfinder isn’t exactly what you’re going to be recording onto your film. Because it’s next to the lens, parallax error occurs as a result.

Multiple Exposures – You can trick the camera into taking multiple exposures if you want to get a little funky.  It’s simple. After you’ve pressed the shutter release button, keep holding it down and flip the front flap open on the camera. It switches the camera off and you can now safely release the shutter button without fear of it ejecting. Now, flip the flap back up and take another exposure.  Repeat as many times as you’d like.

Protecting your film from ambient light – Some Spectra instant film is sensitive to ambient light when it first ejects from the camera. One way to protect your image can be done by utilizing a feature of the self-timer. After you’ve taken your shot, while holding down the shutter release button, flip the timer switch on. By switching the timer on, the camera holds the image inside until you’re ready to eject the image (flip the timer off), one of the features of the self timer. If you’re in bright sun, you can go over to a shady spot, eject it out into your camera bag or directly into a box. The more you protect your image from light with some films, the better.

CONCLUSION:

How can we NOT promote this camera? The Spectra is durable, easy to operate and can take quality instant images.

Photo: Laidric Stevenson – Impossible Project PZ-680 CP

Multiple Exposure – Photo: Amanda Potter – Impossible Project PZ-680 CP

Photo: Justin Goode – Impossible Project PZ-680 Expired Film

Photo: Justin Vinson – Impossible Project PZ-680 Expired

Photo: Justin Goode – Impossible Project PZ-680 CP

Photo: Justin Goode – Impossible Project PZ-680 CP

Photo: Justin Goode – Impossible Project PZ-680 Color Shade

 © The Instant Film Society

Bishop Arts District – Oak Cliff – Dallas, TX – Impossible Project PX-70 COOL

- BISHOP ARTS DISTRICT POLAWALK -

It was 72 degrees and completely overcast throughout the walk. You really couldn’t have asked for a better day to shoot instant.  When I woke up on the morning of, I knew it was going to be a great day. Throughout the events, I’ve befriended many of the people I’ve met and always look forward to seeing them when we get together.  The camaraderie that has come along with these events is unique. The PolaWalks pull together people from all walks of life that normally probably wouldn’t hang out with one other. I like the diversity it attracts. Everyone loves instant film.

We all hooked up at Oddfellows in the Bishop Arts District at 2 o’clock, chatting for a little bit and waited for others to join up with us.  Chris, a gent from Austin that drove up to the Deep Ellum Polaroid / 8×10 Portrait day back in January, came back up for this event. So cool.

Some of the ones that joined us for the Bishop Arts PolaWalk

There were some really cool kids with us at this walk too.  I have to mention these guys.  Callum, Chris & Andie, ages 12, 8 and 4 respectively, all rocked their Polaroids at this PolaWalk.  A few of their images …

Photo: Chris F, age 8 – Impossible Project American Woods Edition PX-680 CP

Photo: Chris F, age 8 – Impossible Project American Woods Edition PX-680 CP

Photo: Callum, age 11 – Impossible Project PX-680 CP

Photo: Callum, Age 11, Impossible Project PX-680 CP

Andie, the four year old little girl was adorable and captured some great moments I love these pics ..

Photo: Andie M., age 4 – Impossible Project PX-680 CP

Photo: Andie M., age 4 – Impossible Project PX-680 CP

Photo: Andie M., age 4 – Impossible Project PX-680 CP

Photo: Andie M., age 4 – Impossible Project PX-680 CP

Photo: Andie M., age 4 – Impossible Project PX-680 CP

Photo: Andie M., age 4 – Impossible Project PX-680 CP

Photo: Andie M., age 4 – Impossible Project PX-680 CP

We each parted ways, solo-walkers and regiments of explorers; mini instant families soaking in what the day had to offer. Priceless.

Photo: Chris Carley – Polaroid Chocolate Film

Photo: Chris Carley – Polaroid Chocolate Film

Photo: Erin Curry – Polaroid Sepia Packfilm

Photo: Erin Curry – Polaroid Sepia Packfilm

Photo: Erin Curry – Impossible Project PZ-600 COOL

Photo: Molly Bolles – Impossible Project PZ-600 COOL

Photo: Devyn Gaudet – Impossible Project PX-70 CP

Photo: Stacy Winsett – Polaroid 669 Packfilm

Veronica Macaulay – Fuji FP-100C

Photo: Christopher Burt – Fuji FP-100C

Craig Macaulay – Fuji FP-100C

Photo: Chad Cooper – Polaroid 340 Land Camera – Fuji FP-100C

Photo: Stacy Winsett – Polaroid 669 Packfilm

Photo: Daniel Rodrigue – Impossible Project PZ-680 EXPIRED

Photo: Troy Bradford – Impossible Project PZ680

Photo: Laidric Stevenson – Impossible Project PZ-680 CP

Photo: Synthia Goode – Impossible Project PZ-680 CP

Photo: Synthia Goode – Impossible Project PZ-680 CP

Photo: Justin Goode – Impossible Project PX-70 COOL

Photo: Laidric Stevenson – Impossible Project PX-70 CP

Photo: Laidric Stevenson – Impossible Project PX-70 CP

Photo: Steve Reeves – Impossible Project Expired PX-600 UV+

Photo: Justin Vinson – Impossible Project PX-70 CP

Photo: Daniel Rodrigue – Fujifilm Instax MINI 7s – Rainbow Film.

Photo: Garrett Harlan – Impossible Project Color Block PX-680 CP

Photo: Mandy Fierro – Impossible Project PX-70 CP

Photo: CJ – Fuji Instax Wide

Photo: Jama Plotts – Impossible Project PZ-600 COOL

Photo: CJ – Fuji Instax Wide

Photo: Daniel Rodrigue – Impossible Project Gold Frame PX-680 CP

Photo: Steve Reeves – Impossible Project PX-680 Color Shade

Photo: Daniel Rodrigue – Fujifilm Instax MINI 7s – Instax Film

Photo: Justin Vinson – Impossible Project PX-70 CP

Photo: Justin Vinson – Impossible Project PX-70 CP

Photo: Synthia Goode – Impossible Project PZ-680 CP

Photo: Devyn Gaudet – Impossible Project PX-70 CP

Photo: Devyn Gaudet – Impossible Project PX-70 CP

Photo: Stacy Winsett – Polaroid 669 Packfilm

Photo: Justin Goode – Impossible Project PX-70 COOL

Garrett Harlan – Impossible Project Color Block PX-680 CP

Photo: Stacy Winsett – Polaroid 669 Packfilm

Photo: Molly Bolles – Impossible Project PZ-600 COOL

Photo: Synthia Goode – Impossible Project PZ-680 CP

Photo: Synthia Goode – Impossible Project PZ-680 CP

Photo: Laidric Stevenson – Impossible Project PX-70 CP

Photo: Troy Bradford – Impossible Project PZ-680 & Fuji FP-3000B

Photo: Justin Goode – Impossible Project PX-70 COOL

Photo: Troy Bradford – Fuji FP-3000B

Photo: Troy Bradford – Fuji FP-3000B

Photo: Troy Bradford – Fuji FP-3000B

Photo: Troy Bradford – Fuji FP-3000B

After the PolaWalk, we all grabbed a drink and a bite to eat at Eno’s.  The food and beverages were delicious.

Photo: Veronica Macaulay – Fuji FP-100C

Photo: Claudya Cardenas – Impossible Project PZ-600 COOL

Photo: Dora Knudsen – Impossible Project EARLY PX-100 UV+

Jennifer & Julie took photos of their Instax images they took throughout the day.  Look at all these cool instant photos!

Photo: Jennifer Tidmore – Fuji Instax Mini

Photo: Julie Reed – Fuji Instax Mini

Photo: Devyn Gaudet – Impossible Project PX-680 CP

A big thanks to everyone that joined up with us this past weekend. If you like Scavenger Hunts, we’re hosting one right now. Jump over to this page to find out the details.

Also, our next PolaWalk will be May 18th at the Scarborough Fair Renaissance Festival in Waxahachie, TX.  We’re looking forward to capturing some ‘rennies’ in their natural habitat

-Justin

© The Instant Film Society

Impossible Project PX-70 COOL

DALLAS / FT. WORTH INSTANT SCAVENGER HUNT

****UPDATE: 4.27.13 – DROP OFF YOUR IMAGES AT BUZZ BREWS IN DEEP ELLUM OFF OF COMMERCE ANYTIME FROM 2 – 4PM****

Are you ready for this?!

You’ve got three weeks to get as creative as possible with this list using analog instant film. We’ve got some killer prizes that have been graciously donated by The Impossible Project, FujiFilm and Don’s Photo Equipment. We cannot wait to give these away!

PRIZES

1st, 2nd and 3rd place (winner’s choice in descending order)

 Polaroid One Step Close-Up Camera Kit which includes

Two packs of film: Impossible Project PX-680 CP

An Impossible Frog Tongue

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Fuji Instax Mini 7s

A leather carrying case

One double pack of Fuji Instax Mini Film

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Polaroid 230 Land Camera

Polaroid Portrait Adapter #581

One Pack of Fuji FP-100C pack film

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

- SHOOT THE IMAGES BY YOURSELF OR A TEAM UP TO THREE PEOPLE -

The images you create are going to be judged solely on their artistic merit by a panel of photography experts.  The point of this hunt is to not only push you creatively but also to nudge you to capture images that you normally wouldn’t look for.  Get as creative as possible with as many of these on the list.  You need to capture 15 or more of these items in order to be entered into the contest. The first ten items are mandatory and the rest are up to you. 

We’ll be meeting on April 28th and will ask you drop the images off to us as a pre-determined location in Deep Ellum. The judging will take place that evening and then we’ll be announcing the winners the following week.  We’ll also be scanning and posting a handful of our favorite images from the hunt on our website.

If you have any questions, post a message here, tweet us @UseInstantFilm or send us an email: info@instantfilmsociety.com

Drummm rollllllllllllll …..

THE SCAVENGER LIST

* – Mandatory Images

1 – Pandemonium* (a pic of your interpretation OR there may or may not be a store with this name in the Dallas area )

2 - A tacky piece of garden art*

3 – Downtown Dallas skyline*

4 - A picture of Don from Don’s Photo Equipment (not Todd)*

5 – Evidence of Age*

6 – One lonely item*

7 – Something in the wrong place*

8 – Someone eating an ice cream cone*

9 – Something pirate*

10 - Diptych that rhymes*

11 – A transfer

        Pick a definition in the dictionary and illustrate it

12 – Something familiar from a new perspective

13 – RV park sign

14 - Spell a three letter word with three pictures (or IFS   .. we’ll try not to biased haha)

15 – Someone holding an insect

16 - Tell a story in 3 images

17 - A uniformed police officer or security guard eating a donut

18 – Visit and prove with an image that you went to one of these places:

          Eight Track Museum – Deep Ellum

          Pecan Art: The Folk Art of B.W. Crawford – Denton

          Ripley’s Believe It or Not – Grand Prairie

19 – Up a tree

20 – Hug a mannequin

21 – A couch outdoors

22 – A cowboy

23 – Get someone to take a picture of you cross-dressed

24 – Shadows

25 – A record store on record store day

26 – Chupacabra

27 -  Milking a cow

28 – Take a photo of Steve & Erin at the Makeshift Photography booth at Main Street Arts Festival in Ft. Worth

29 – Petting a hairless cat

30 – Ouji board / Tarot card / Crystal ball in Cemetery

31 – Hadoken Meme

32 – A picture of someone swimming in a pool in a suit & tie

33 – Someone using a payphone

34 – Longhorn

A good handful of us in the D/FW area were able to pick up some upon its release and when it arrived, just a couple days later, I was buzzing with excitement. I had many ideas of what I wanted to shoot, but the reality was, I had to be slow and patient with the images to be shot. I spoke with the ones that picked up a box and were going to shoot their 8×10′s and we all agreed to collaborate on a review of this film. Thankfully, now that the IFS has grown over the past few months in the area, I’m now able to enlist the help and expertise of others within our instant community to join in on a comprehensive review. I asked everybody to shoot a handful of frames, write down their experience and document detailed information regarding each image shot.

The following is what we’ve experienced with Impossible’s new 8×10 color film.

____________________________________________________

 - Justin Goode -

The first image I shot was at Minter’s Thunderbirds in north Dallas. Amos Minter specializes in restoring 1955-57 Ford Thunderbirds.  I’ve been going to Amos’ place for a handful of years now and I’ve been documenting my time there on instant film for the past year. I’m working on a long-term project and I figured it would be the perfect spot to capture the first test image for a review. I set up the Burke & James 8×10 near a cherry yellow T-bird. A while back I had taken an image of a bumperette and I wanted to take the same style shot with this new 8×10 film. It took me a good 30 minutes to set everything up and when I was finally ready to take the photo. I took a deep breath and slowly pressed the shutter release that was attached to the lens. I rated the film at 400 ASA, the scene metered out at f/11 @ 1 second.  I shot it around f/8ish due to the bellows extension of the camera. It was 74 degrees inside the showroom.

Minter’s Thunderbirds – Impossible Project 8×10 Color Protection Film

When the image slowly started appearing after it had been processed, my jaw was on the floor. The detail was stunning and the color … oh the color. Finally, a large format color instant film I could shoot. When I got home, I scanned the image, showed it to my wife and raced up to Kinko’s (or whatever its called now) and used their paper cutter to cut the tabs off the film.  While I was up there, I started to press out the excess developing paste. That was a mistake. I inadvertently pressed the paste back into the image just on the left side of it. Whoops. It wasn’t that bad, but overnight it creeped into the picture about a centimeter wide and 2 inches in length running up the side of the image. I did remember reading somewhere that these color images would need a little extra care. They weren’t joking. So what do you do when you’ve got this great image but there’s something that’s just bothering the heck out of you .. like this developer paste that was creeping in? You might have guessed it already. You cut the edges off the photo and you transfer that bad boy to a piece of mounting board. Visual distraction solved.

Impossible Project 8×10 Color Protection Emulsion Transfer

It was honestly a pretty easy transfer.  About 24 hours after I took this photo, I used a paper cutter to cut the edges off the image. I peeled the positive away from the negative and submersed the image in luke warm water in a tray. Within 5-10 minutes, with a little bit of coaxing from my fingers I was able to remove the semi-gelatinous emulsion. It was surprisingly durable and within 20 minutes I had it transferred to piece of mounting board. I used a roller to smooth out the emulsion, something I had seen Noreen Loh Hui Miun do in a video she posted a while back on Facebook. It worked very well.

Another test image I shot was of Jonathon Kimbrell, a screen printer that I’ve recently been in contact with here in Dallas.  He made these incredibly cool cards for us a little while ago.  I knew that his place, Napkin Art Studios, would be perfect for another test image. I cruised up there, set up the 8×10 and shot one of him using only the ambient light available.

Jonathon Kimbrell – Napkin Art Studios – Impossible Project 8×10 Color Protection Film

I rated the film again at 400.  The scene metered out to be about f/7 @ 1/4 of a second.  The ambient temperature was 60 degrees when I developed the film.  The light was coming from an open bay door at his studio and a few flourescents that were about 15 feet above him.  Something I noticed on this shot that I hadn’t noticed on the other, was the blue line that looks as if it came from in between the pods, assumedly from the paste being thin in that area.  You can see it faintly on his shirt and it runs across the length of the film.

The next image I took was at Makeshift Photography‘s studio in Deep Ellum. A handful of us got together on Saturday to test out some more images. I set up a scene with some of Steve Reeves’ toys that he had laying around. We grabbed a wooden figure, a zebra and a Spiderman figure that he had laying around. We used Amanda Potter‘s SX-70 in the image and set up a shot

Impossible Project 8×10 Color Protection Film

I used 4 lights for this image.  An octabox, a couple of strip boxes and a flash behind the curtain in the back.  I was hoping the film would have picked up the wider spread the flash had on the curtain in the back, oh well. The scene metered out to be f/22 @ 1/60th but due to the bellows extension I shot it at f/16. The image developed at 69 degrees and the setup was …

Studio setup for Woody / SX-70 / Spidey / Zebra image

The next image was another picture of “Woody”. The thought I had, was I’d set up some christmas lights behind him in the shape of backwards P and would position his arms so that it looked as if he was holding it up, sort of like a trophy.  I spent a good four hours on the set up of this image. Admittedly, I probably wasn’t working the whole time on it, but it did take quite some time for me to position everything before I was finally ready to click the shutter.

Impossible Project 8×10 Color Film

I used two strip boxes with grids on either side of the figure. I tested the lights with my D700 and the exposure I came up with was f/8 at 2 seconds.  When I was finally ready to pull the trigger, I opened the lens up to its widest aperture, f/6.1 (due to the bellows extension), tripped the shutter with the cable release in one hand and popped in the strobes via a Pocket Wizard with the other.  I had the lens open for just over 2 seconds.

Impossible Project 8×10 Color Protection Film

The image was processed at 72 degrees and took about 45 minutes to appear, as did all the rest. I stowed it away in an open box on my way home and peeked at it carefully when I finally made it through the front door. Stunned .. once again.

The last image I took for this review was a simple available light portrait of my friend’s son, Callum. The last time I photographed Callum was about 2 years ago. I took the image in the same style as the last (of course this one was in color) and set up the same way I had before (butcher’s paper taped to a wall on the side of a building).

Impossible Project 8×10 Color Protection Film

One of things I noticed off the bat, was the wispy streak across his face. I would love to use this film for this type of portraiture in the future. I can’t being to fathom the challenges Impossible’s chemists have had in creating an integral 8×10 color film but I hope this is corrected before the release this fall. That’s my only issue with this film.  

The image is slightly warm. Callum’s hair is blonde and due to the development temperature I assume (79 degrees), the color cast has shifted a little bit towards magenta. This image was metered out as follows: 400 ASA at 1/30th of a second at f/16 and two-thirds. I shot this at just under f/16 due to the bellows extension.

____________________________________________________

 - Troy Bradford -

Impossible Project 8×10 Color Protection Film

Troy’s notes

____________________________________________________

- Steve Reeves -

I must admit that the new color 8×10 instant film from The Impossible Project is a lot better than I expected it to be. I participated in the test group for the Black and White version of the film last year and over the last couple of years I’ve experimented with a number of the films they’ve released. I love the idea of being able to produce an instant analog image and because of that I’ve been a fan and impassioned supporter of their efforts from the beginning. Getting good color from the films, however… Well, it’s been a whole lot of “grinning and bearing it.”

To be fair they’ve come a long way. The current versions of the smaller formats produce color images that are leaps and bounds beyond where they were even a year ago. Bravo for that. I was skeptical that it would prove to be as successful with the 8×10 right out of the gate. It’s test film after all, right?

Well, color me impressed. The stuff looks amazing. In the shots I’ve done the reds and blues really pop. Greens seem to be a bit weak, but otherwise the color is strong and vibrant. I’ve only taken half of my shots so far. Three relatively successful ones. One underexposed and one catastrophic user error that generated a real mess.

Shot #1 “OT SED” and #2 “DES TO”

“If you’re not going to use movements, why shoot big!” I said. Those around me had their doubts and they were right. The giant vignette you see in the two shots of the car are the result of using a 4×5 lens on an 8×10 camera. Oops. Otherwise these two shots show an interesting comparison between the new IP 8×10 color film and a sheet of Polaroid 809 circa 1999. The 809 shot came in a little underexposed and the IP shot came in a little hot. We spot metered the scene and the IP film being fresh and rated at 400 ISO should have come out spot on. It’s close and the error was mine as I didn’t get the camera set to the exact prescribed f-stop. I’d like to think that film with a wider latitude would have protected me in this case but there’s very little of that to be had. When shooting 8×10 you’re already dealing with the added complication of factoring in bellows draw and in this case there’s very little room for error. My advice? Triple-check your meter readings then check them again. This was the first shot of 809 that I’ve taken out of my precious box of the stuff and I was real happy to see an image at all. We rated the film at 64 ASA and it looks like it could have even been pulled to 50. The color has shifted over the years towards green. One other thing worth noting, the old 809 peel-a-part film gives you a correctly-oriented image. If IP is going to stick with integral film then I suppose we’ll have to get used to the “wet plate” look where everything is backwards.

Impossible Project 8×10 Color Protection Film

8×10 Polaroid 809 Expired Film

Shot #3, #4 “Necktie Dyed Eggs” (Underexposed)

IP – f/45 @ 1 sec

809 – f/45 @ 32 sec

I “digiroided” this scene in my studio with a Nikon D800. Oh the irony! I forgot to factor in bellows draw and as a result, took the shot one stop lower than I should have. The keen eye might notice that it’s WAY more than one stop too dark. Might light source was a south-facing window. The strength of the light changed with some regularity, but even so I got pretty consistent readings from the Nikon. Alas, way too dark. While I was waiting out the 45 minutes to see how the shot turned out I fired on off onto a sheet of the 809. I gave this one an extra stop (after also adjusting the ISO from 400 down to 64) and the result was also under exposed. I’m chalking this up to reciprocity failure. To get the depth of field I wanted I had the lens closed down to f/45. If I were to guess, I’d say I should have added a few stops to each shot to brighten them up.

UPDATE: After reviewing my notes I came to realize that my initial shot was more than one stop lower than my metered shots. Including bellows draw I made that exposure 3 stops too dark. This seems like a reasonable difference without suggesting reciprocity as a contributing factor.

Impossible Project 8×10 Color Protection Film – Underexposed – f/45 @ 1 sec

8×10 Polaroid 809 Expired Film – Underexposed – f/45 @ 32 seconds

Shot #5 “Neck Tie Dyed Eggs”

At this point I adjusted my settings to try and get a brighter image. I upped my time by three stops and let loose with an 8 second exposure using the T mode on my lens. As you can see it’s a lot brighter and there is some pretty good exposure in the mid tones. The highlights, however, are gone. Very very narrow latitude!

A word of caution! Make sure you load your film carrier into your processor correctly. If you get it in backwards where the tab is pointing outwards (an obvious problem to anyone paying attention better than I was…) and press the big white button you will instantly coat your rollers with blue goo. Trust me, don’t do it. The good news is that the negative wasn’t ruined. It was still safely in the carrier. Unfortunately I now have an extra negative and no positive to make a happy IP color sandwich. Anyone out there wanna buy half a shot of IP color film?

Impossible Project 8×10 Color Protection Film – f/45 @ 8 seconds

Nikon D800

Shot #6 “Dyed Egg”

At this point I felt like I was more or less dialing it in. After recomposing I found that I could get by with f32. The last image was a little darker than I wanted so I split the difference. The result, as you can see, really demonstrates the narrow latitude of the film. I like the moody dark shadows but man, I sure wish I had more details in the highlights. In the vase below are some pigeon feathers that Annie Donovan’s pigeon shed when she came by the studio last year to shoot her IP 8×10 B&W test film. Unfortunately, that area is too blown out to really notice what’s in the bottom of the vase. I did try to bring it full circle though.

Impossible Project 8×10 Color Protection Film – f/32 @ 6 seconds

Overall, I’m very happy with the film. The color is a lot stronger than I expected and knowing that the light conditions need to be tightly controlled is ok. If I know it, I can plan for it. Being able to hold an original 1st generation 8×10 instant image in my hands is well worth the challenges.

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Observations

The materials used are of course slightly different than Impossible’s 8×10 black & white film. One of the things that I’ve noticed is that there seems to be some waviness on the back of the negative after the paste has been spread. I think it might be from the moisture and the amount of paste that’s spread in between it that is causing that to happen.

Be VERY careful when handling these images, especially near the top where the excess paste is trapped. The images definitely remain wet for quite some time and are more sensitive to movement after it has been developed, more so than their b&w. You might notice that because of the paste at the very end that’s caught in the ‘trap’, over time the excess will creep back in just a little bit.  Troy did mention to me over the phone, that he and Tyler pulled their rollers outside of their processor and have used them to gently roll the excess paste out and away from the trap at the top or side of the image.

____________________________________________________

Conclusion

It’s worth it. It has that unique look and color quality that’s unattainable using any other photographic medium. The colors are rich, it’s about as sharp as a tack and it has those Impossible qualities and quirks that we’ve all grown to love so much.

Thank you Impossible for bringing integral 8×10 color to our door steps!

-Justin

www.instantfilmsociety.com

- © The Instant Film Society -

The Marie Cosindas Exhibit at the Amon Carter Museum

Last week, I swung by the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth to check out a rare exhibition of some of Marie Cosindas’ works. This is her first major exhibit in decades. It was and is an opportunity that should not be passed up if you’re in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Seeing the quality of the 4×5′s and 8×10′s displayed made me long for the instant perfection as was once had with now defunct Polaroid film. The scans of her work shown below do not give them justice. The images in person are simply stunning.

© Marie Cosindas

The Amon Carter blurb on her exhibit: “Marie Cosindas (b. 1925) did not intend to be a photographer. The eighth of ten children in a modestly situated Greek family living in Boston, she studied dressmaking in school and took up a career designing textiles and children’s shoes, also acting as a color coordinator for a company that made museum reproductions in stone. On the side, she created abstract paintings filled with atmospheric color.

Cosindas initially thought of the camera as a means for making design notes. But as so often happens, several photographs she took on a visit to Greece convinced her that such prints could stand on their own as finished works. In 1961, she participated in one of Ansel Adams’s photography workshops in Yosemite Valley. The following year, when Polaroid sought photographers to test its new instant color film before bringing it to market, Adams recommended her.

Cosindas immediately took to the process of instant-developing color film and, in so doing, proved instrumental in revealing the artistic potential of color photography. She made such exquisite still lifes and portraits that even Polaroid’s founder, Edwin Land, was astounded. This exhibition includes 40 of Cosindas’s one-of-a-kind Polaroid photographs and is the artist’s first major show in decades.”

The Marie Cosindas Exhibit at the Amon Carter Museum

© Marie Cosindas

© Marie Cosindas

The Marie Cosindas Exhibit at the Amon Carter Museum

The exhibition is a visual treat.  Rarely do you see the instant medium showcased in museums.  Don’t miss out on your chance to see these and many of the others displayed in person.  The images will be up through May 26th.

-The Instant Film Society

Photo: Justin Goode – 35 Denton – The Hive – Impossible Project 8×10 PQ Film

35 Denton Music Festival + Impossible 8×10 Photo Booth + PolaWalk

The repetitive dance music was pounding the walls of The Hive late on Sunday night. A handful of The Instant Film Society’s members had been on-hand all weekend at 35 Denton, documenting the festival on instant film. I had been setting up the 8×10 view camera throughout the festival and was setting up for one last image before I called it a night. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a figure stumbling backwards towards me. Within a split second, a drunken idiot was falling into my camera. I quickly braced myself, grabbed his arm as hard as I could, used my other arm to brace the camera and pushed him as he fell into the tripod. The camera’s tripod squeaked from the pressure of his body as it tested its limits of holding this heavy piece of equipment. Miraculously, I was able to keep him standing up as he was passing out from what I assume was a drug-induced stupor. His girlfriend pulled him upright and quickly apologized. He turned around, pupils completely dilated and gasped “Whoooooooaaaaa .. duuuuddddeee … thank you .. shake my hand dude.” Whatever.  *hand shake*  It would have been a tragic ending to a fantastic weekend. The image you see at the top of this post is what I was setting up to take. After a few minutes and some quick conversations with the ones that saw this go down, I snapped it, packed up my gear and rolled on out of Denton with a smile on my face. The weekend was a success.

Shooting at 35 Denton was one of the coolest events we’ve had the chance to help out with to date. The organizers of 35 D are in love with instant photography and had asked us a couple months before to help document their event on this unique medium. We were delighted to have the opportunity to bring our expertise to the table. We organized a handful of people that were able to make multiple trips out to Denton throughout the four day festival and we ordered an insane amount of Impossible Project and Fuji instant film.

Along with documenting the festival, the creative director at 35 Denton asked us if we’d be interested in setting up a photo booth to take 8×10 portraits on Impossible’s large format instant film. Of course we agreed. Shooting Impossible’s 8×10 film is an amazing material to work with and it’s something that I personally love sharing with others as often as I can. To be honest, sharing the love of instant is something I do daily, but this niche in particular is something that I really really enjoy. There’s nothing else like it, literally.

In the days leading up to the festival, myself and I’m sure the others who were joining us, were beyond anxious as to what we’d capture and what we’d see. 35 Denton is the largest festival of its kind in the north Texas area. 100+ bands give the audience everything they have over a four day event throughout multiple venues around Denton’s downtown square. We all knew it would be challenging documenting this festival with instant film due to the limitations of the film speed of some of the films used, but we were all up to it. Pushing the limits of where this film can be used is something I enjoy. I knew that using the multitude of cameras that we all were bringing, we were going to get some quality rare images that most people wouldn’t try to get.

Armed with promotional materials from the Impossible Project and Instant Film Society cards we jumped in on Thursday night promoting all things instant film-related to anybody & everybody that would listen. I set up the 8×10 in various venues, right next to the stage, and started documenting the festival on large format instant film. Challenging? You bet’cha. It was NOT easy and there was quite a few exposures that did not turn out as hoped.  The weather at times was cold and wet.  Not ideal for hand-cranked processing by the car.  Overall though, I did come out with some images I’m happy with. Plus, the exposure for both Impossible and FujiFilm was something I was happy to help provide. The looks I was getting and the questions asked were hilarious. “What the hell is that?!” “Is that a camera?” “Are you shooting large format?!” “What film are you using?!” The list just went on and on. Most of the media photographers there at first gawked at the fact that I was sitting there with an 8×10, but as the festival went on, many of them walked up to me expressing how cool it was that I was using this beast of a camera and was shooting Impossible’s large format instant film. I preached my love of this medium to almost everybody I was in contact with. Throughout the festival, we passed out tons of stickers, cards and gave away a heap load of instant images that we took of the participants. About a week before the event, I had custom stamps made for the Instant Film Society and we stamped the backs of a lot of the images we gave away. I hope that many of the ones we connected with head to our website and find out the necessary info on how to get into instant photography.

Photo: Amanda Potter

Photo: Justin Goode – 35 Denton – Impossible Project PX-680 CP

Photo: Amanda Potter

Photo: Daniel Rodrigue – Craig Welch of Brutal Juice captured with a Polaroid Spectra 1200FF on PZ 680 Color Protection film.

Photo: Synthia Goode – Expired PZ-680

Photo: Daniel Rodrigue – Evan Henry enjoying Brutal Juice’s memorable performance at 35 Denton. Shot with Fujifilm’s Instax MINI 7s on Instax MINI film.

Photo: Justin Goode – Brutal Juice – 35 Denton – Impossible Project 8×10 PQ

Photo: Richard Kacprowski

Photo: Daniel Rodrigue — Matt Pike of doom metal act SLEEP – Polaroid Spectra SE – Expired PZ 680 Color Shade film.

Photo: Catherine Downes — Kiernan Maletsky shot on The IMPOSSIBLE Project’s expired PZ680 with a Polaroid Spectra SE.

Photo: Daniel Rodrigue — Aarn Talbot near 35 Denton’s Main Stage on The Impossible Project’s PX680 Color Protection film.

Photo: Richard Kacprowski

Photo: Justin Goode – 35 Denton – Impossible Project PX-680 CP

Photo: Steve Reeves

Photo: Steve Reeves

Photo: Justin Goode – 35 Denton – Space Camp Death Squad – Hailey’s – Impossible Project 8×10 PQ

Photo: Amanda Potter

Photo: Amanda Potter

Photo: Steve Reeves

Photo: Justin Goode – 35 Denton – Impossible Project PX-680 CP

Photo: Synthia Goode – The Atomic TanLines – Polaroid Spectra AF – Exipired Impossible Project PZ-680

Photo: Catherine Downes — Allsyas Lweo of The Atomic TanLines on stage at Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios for 35 Denton. Shot with The IMPOSSIBLE Project’s expired PZ680 on a Polaroid Spectra SE.

Photo: Amanda Potter

Photo: Amanda Potter

Photo: Daniel Rodrigue — Liz Larsen captured with my Polaroid Spectra SE on The Impossible Project’s PZ 680 Color Protection film during Strange Towers’ memorable set at 35 Denton.

Overall the weekend was a great success. One of the many highlights of the weekend was the 8×10 photo booth. When we arrived on Sunday, it was cold and there were 20-25 mph gusts of wind. There was no way I was going to be able to set up near the vendors to shoot it.  Most of the tents had been blown over during the night and it looked like a mini war-zone.  When you’re using studio lights and a giant camera perched on a tripod, the last thing you want is any chance of that gear being toppled due to high wind conditions. Luckily, a new camera store had opened its doors for the weekend just one block from the square. Denton Camera Exchange, owned and run by Armand Kohandani, turned out to be the perfect place to set up the booth. We had already stopped by on Thursday afternoon to drop off Instant Film Society cards, Impossible Project promotional material and to introduce ourselves. After we had talked with Armand for a while, he did mention that if we needed a ‘plan b’ option, we could use his store for the booth. When we faced those windy conditions, Daniel called Armand and we made my way over to his place to start unloading a car full of gear.

Armand was all smiles when we walked in the door. He was happy to have us there and I can’t think of a better turn out of events for this booth. We brought in people who probably wouldn’t have stopped by on the day of, and immediately made friends with this great guy and his wife, Ellen. Anybody reading this, if you’re in the Denton area, go check this place out and introduce yourself to these people.  They are ‘good people’. The kind that you just want to hang out with all day. And that’s what we did. We hung out, talked shop, chatted about anything and everything and had a blast doing it. Thanks again Armand for letting us use your space!

Armand – 35 Denton 8×10 Photo Booth at Denton Camera Exchange – Impossible Project 8×10 PQ Film

35 Denton 8×10 Photo Booth at Denton Camera Exchange – Impossible Project 8×10 PQ Film

35 Denton 8×10 Photo Booth at Denton Camera Exchange – Impossible Project 8×10 PQ Film

35 Denton 8×10 Photo Booth at Denton Camera Exchange – Impossible Project 8×10 PQ Film

35 Denton 8×10 Photo Booth at Denton Camera Exchange – Impossible Project 8×10 PQ Film

35 Denton 8×10 Photo Booth at Denton Camera Exchange – Impossible Project 8×10 PQ Film

35 Denton 8×10 Photo Booth at Denton Camera Exchange – Impossible Project 8×10 PQ Film

35 Denton 8×10 Photo Booth at Denton Camera Exchange – Impossible Project 8×10 PQ Film

Stuart – 35 Denton 8×10 Photo Booth at Denton Camera Exchange – Impossible Project 8×10 PQ Film

Photo: Synthia Goode

A good amount of our crew came out on Sunday and snapped photos during the PolaWalk we had organized. I wish I would have had time to hang out more during the day, but I was wrapped up shooting 8×10 all afternoon. The images they captured were incredible! It’s neat to see what others come up with using instant film. Enjoy a handful of our favorites.

Photo: Laidric Stevenson

Photo: Amanda Potter

Photo: Laidric Stevenson

Photo: Adriana Salazar

Photo: Adriana Salazar

Photo: Erin Curry

Photo: Erin Curry

Photo: Linda Thompson

Photo: Linda Thompson

Photo: Amanda Potter

Photo: Amanda Potter

Photo: Amanda Potter

Photo: Steve Reeves

When we finally wrapped up at Denton Camera Exchange, it was nearing 7 o’clock.  Light was fading and we raced over to catch the last of Chelsea Light Moving. Thurston Moore, the former front man to Sonic Youth, was playing and we all wanted to capture an instant of him. When I got to the pit entrance, I had to convince security personnel that I had clearance to shoot. He kept saying no, but after a handful of calls over his walkie-talkie, our contact at 35 Denton, Kyle La Valley came up and gave me the go ahead to grab some shots. I raced inside, set up the 8×10 and Daniel passed me the Polaroid 180. I knocked out a handful of frames before they left the stage. Afterwards, we left and went over to The Hive to catch the last couple of shows before calling it a night.

Photo: Justin Goode – 35 Denton – Impossible Project 8×10 PQ

Photo: Justin Goode – 35 Denton – Fuji FP-3000B

Photo: Daniel Rodrigue — Thurston Moore on PZ 680 Color Protection film. Shot this immediately after Chelsea Light Moving played the Main Stage at 35 Denton.

Photo: Justin Goode – Mac Demarco – 35 Denton – Impossible Project 8×10 PQ

Photo: Justin Goode – Mac Demarco – 35 Denton – Impossible Project 8×10 PQ

Photo: Synthia Goode taken on PX 680 Gold frame edition

Photo: Catherine Downes — Mac Demarco’s guitarist at The Hive on PX 680 Color Protection Gold Frame.

Photo: Justin Goode – Mac Demarco – 35 Denton – Impossible Project 8×10 PQ

All in all, a fantastic weekend. A HUGE THANK YOU to 35 Denton and the Impossible Project for making this weekend so special for all of us. We greatly appreciate everything you did to make this event wildly successful.

-Justin

www.instantfilmsociety.com

BUY IMPOSSIBLE PROJECT FILM HERE

Peeling an Impossible Project 8×10 PQ Image

Peeling / Preserving Impossible Project 8×10 B&W PQ Images

A few months ago, I finally got everything I needed in order to shoot Impossible’s 8×10 large format integral black & white instant film. After doing quite a bit of research on this particular format, I knew that there were some key things that needed to be done after the images were taken. Because of the chemical make-up of Impossible’s black and white film, it’s highly sensitive to humidity and moisture. I’ve heard “humidity is the enemy of our silver shade films” from Impossible. For the ones that have used this medium extensively, we all know there are things that need to be done after the image has ejected and/or been processed to help ensure that the image stays stable and doesn’t shift.

With Impossible’s 8×10 B&W film, due to its size and amount of developing paste that’s squeezed in between the negative & the positive, a good amount of moisture gets trapped inside. If you don’t take steps to prevent the moisture from essentially attacking the image, the images will shift, start to crystalize and destroy the art that you’ve created. Considering the cost of the film, it’s not ideal to just sit and watch this happen over the span of days, weeks and months.  There are dry-age kits that you can purchase from Impossible in which you store the image inside a packet, for about a month, with silica packs inside to pull moisture out of the image and dry the paste and excess developer goo. I’m just not patient enough to wait a month while an image dries in a dry-age kit. I want to share the image once it’s been taken almost immediately.

Peeling the image, shown by Impossible here, is the best way to prevent tonal shifting. You release the trapped moisture inside the image, arrest any tonal shifting that could occur and quickly the positive and negative side of the image dries out. Images I shot 3 months ago, all of them peeled, haven’t shifted whatsoever. It’s definitely the way to go.

Peeling is time sensitive. If you peel too early, you can ruin the image. If you wait too long, you start to pull up the dried white goo that’s stuck on the negative side of the 8×10. I’ve found that peeling 15-20 minutes after you pull the image out of the processor is the best time to peel. If peeled within this time frame, you won’t need to heat the image with a hairdryer (as shown in the Impossible peeling video) and you’ll get a clean peel. You have to peel slow & steady. I prefer to peel from the corner at a consistent speed and it usually takes me about a minute to fully perform the peel. If you peel too fast, you’ll start pulling up the white goo from the negative. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll develop a technique and have no problems drying your images to help preserve the investment.

- THE RATE IN WHICH YOU PEEL IS ABOUT A QUARTER OF THE SPEED SHOWN IN THIS STOP MOTION VIDEO - 

Watch this video on YouTube.

Once the images has been peeled, scrape the excess developing paste with a card and wipe any excess off that’s stuck on the ends of the negative & positive. Also, remove the developer packet that is at the base of the film. Once you do that, either lay them out to dry separately in a safe place, or after 5 minutes of dry-time, place a piece of copy paper in between them.  I usually either cut the paper tabs off with a paper cutter and tape the bottom & one side of the image, or I slide the paper tabs back together to keep the image together.

Peeled & Dried – Impossible Project 8×10 PQ Silver Shade Image

TIP: If you’re out and about shooting and you’ve peeled your images and need to pack up, wait about 15 minutes after the peel, place a piece of copy paper in between the negative & positive layer and the image will be dry enough to carefully transport. I usually place them inside the lid of the 8×10 box the film came in.

If you have any questions about this technique, post it below, tweet us @UseInstantFilm or send us an email: info@instantfilmsociety.com

Happy peeling!

- Justin

Read Impossible Project’s blog post: Dr. Love’s Tips: 8×10 Film – To Peel or Not To Peel

PICK UP SOME OF THIS FANTASTIC 8×10 FILM HERE at Impossible’s website