I used to consider myself a straight shooter in regards to my photo aesthetic. Abnormalities annoyed the hell out of me, and I know I threw away less-than-perfect negs and blurred shots from my digital P&S. And I don't even know what got into me,but all of a sudden about 3 months ago I felt the urge to finally EXPERIMENT!!

I got some interesting stuff when I started night photography,but that wasn't adventurous enough. So (probably late in the game compared to most) I got a Holga and a Polaroid--yeah,I needed one as soon as they decided to make Polaroid film obsolete. And now...I love them,for completely different reasons.

The Holga forces me to let go of all my intentions. I can make a composition in the right distance and lighting,but that doesn't guarantee a single thing. I was kinda nervous getting my 1st roll back that I shot in the Sequoias--would I love it or hate it? And sure,half the roll was unusable,but as for the rest--I was totally impressed with the results! So much so I'm putting some in the Photo Club's show in 2 weeks. The stranger the neg turned out,the more character it had. Even photos I though were pretty simplistic when shooting them are given a whole new feel just from the Holga's quirks. Someone who found out I just got a Holga in my photo class suggested taping up the sides to prevent light leaks. Well guess what?! I want light leaks! I want light leaks, and vignetted dark corners, and forgetting to adjust the crappy little measuring device to give unexpected depths of field. My Holga's unleashed the crazy that was always there(as I'm sure some of you know),but that I hadn't let filter into my art.

The Polaroid was a whole different story. I hadn't really thought much about shooting a couple pics with my parents' olf one years ago;I certainly didn't take it seriously as a camera. Now that Polaroid's getting rid of their film, shooting with mine has extenuating circumstances kind of. They aren't the throwaway snapshots the Polaroid's been used for most of its existence. Not to mention the price for 10 exposures is sky-high now. It's the same old instant shooter,but I've used mine as carefully as I would set up a shot meant for my Yashica or 4x5. It's instant exposure doesn't make the setup any less important. I kinda am approaching each shot I see as a mini-masterpiece,instead of something to be flung around casually. The colors and detail aren't as vibrant as I see them,but hey,that's a quirk of Polaroid and like w/my Holga,I've gotten some shots I can't imagine liking as much as if I'd taken them w/one of my "straightforward" cameras.

Whew! Well...congrats to you if you read this whole outburst, but I'm just excited about my new creative outlets. And p.s....my bday's next week,so how 'bout some outrageously priced packs of polaroid? ;)