so, as usual, i’ve neglected to update for an inexcusable amount of time. to make up for it, here is a happy ending to the last post:
after my 5d had been gone about a week with no update, i called canon repair to pester them. it turns out that the person who originally took my repair order didn’t transfer my contact info that they’d gathered on the phone, so my poor camera body was just sitting there for days. the person i ended up speaking with was very apologetic for the mistake and as friendly as i could hope for. she expedited my repair, and i received my 5d back on my birthday. she’s got a whole new shutter assembly, new doors and dials, and is basically a brand new camera again. and they didn’t charge me a dime. canon, i love you.
despite my standard practice of asking people to not buy birthday presents for me, the oh-so-bearded as of late mr youngblood snagged a perfect ricohflex tlr with all of the original filters and cases for me as a gift. she’s a bit sticky, so i intend to clean the aperture blades when i get a spare hour or so. mom, of course, snuck in a bunch of neat things and then picked up the tab on my newest pair of boots. i find myself needing new boots far less now that i’m off the ranch and in the city, but darn if i don’t want them just as often. and, i like to think i get a pass b/c i still work in the horse industry. like, you must retain “this much” cowgirl to aquire new digs. something like that
my birthday also brought many gifts via post that i picked up for myself, including a new diana, a handful of diana lenses, two flashes, an instant back, and a crate of fuji instax instant film. i’m going to need another china cabinet soon. or house.
the instax has been quite a pain to work with, but i’m starting to get it down. protip: never start playing with instant film unless you’re comfortable with burning through many ruined exposures. i learned this much earlier in life, so it doesn’t stress me out too much now, but it’s still frustrating.
speaking on instant film, i’m on day twenty-two of my polaroid-a-day project, polamour. for those of you who don’t talk to me on a regular basis (and, therefore, aren’t in the know b/c i’m terrible at keeping you updated via blogs), i’m a polaroid nut. i grew up in the time of polaroid cameras, and i can’t seem to remember a time when we didn’t have one.
when polaroid announced the fall of time zero film, i had a moment of silence for a film i’d never gotten to know past a casual hello when we’d bump into each other. when it was 80 series’ turn, i started to panic. i was shooting 87, 88, and my good friend 84 with my custom holgaroid. when word came, straight from polaroid’s website, that they were ceasing production of all instant films, i lived in denial for a few weeks and wouldn’t even talk to people about it when they’d bring it up. the panic started to creep back in, and that began to sink into stockpiling.
did i mention that i still buy expired polaroid now, even though i have boxes at home? i’m out of my mind. but, see, i get this, so it can’t be that bad. right? moving on.
this project came about by finally making a decision to start using my film before it’s too long expired or the battery packs die. if you’re not already aware, there is a group called the impossible project, and they are bringing back some polaroid this year. i’m, of course, happy with this, but it’s a reserved glee. i don’t want to get my hopes up too high and suffer disappointment if/when i have to go through the loss again.
i have two lovely sx-70s: an original chrome and a white model 2. i’ve converted both of them for 600 film and stripped and recovered the model 2 in green. she’s a beauty. i’ve had to do pick arm adjustments on both, and i’ve already run into two other issues that i’ve managed to correct. my hope is that both of my friends make it through the year, as i’m certain that this is the most demanding activity they’ve ever been a part of.
i’m sure you’ll hear much more about polamour and polaroid in general here in the future, so i’ll stop rambling for now. you can follow polamour at polamour.com or by adding the project on facebook or flickr.