i discovered a few new tricks to do with these cameras- as the 600 film is so fast in these cameras. one- i shot the television [was watching b&w movies]- which made for nice but strange images. then i scanned/darkened the Polaroids in photoshop:
i shot some stuff in the house- in low light- and it came out- but not totally clear- BUT 600 film in the 1-step and Sx-might make for very interesting night low-light shots. but daytime... forget it... everything comes out white- BUT there are solutions for daytime: filters!
i went online to ebay and found they have 'filters' for Polaroid 1-step and Sx-70 "so you can use 600 film"; but, they were expensive. one was just some grey-ish mylar like plastic sheet which you place over the film pack before inserting it- the other were nice glass filters, specially made in japan. but again... both were over 24$, which seems dumb for a 1$ thrift store camera!- AND if a friend hadn't given me an abundance of 600 film, i wouldn't be doing all this trial and error BS! but sometimes from trial and error you accidentally get art!
BUT i found -on a roll of B&W film i'd just developed- one or two frames that hadn't come out. they were kind of grey; and so... i cut out and stuck a little round bit of a frame/film over the lens-then went outside and shot something... and it worked! not great, not perfect, but better that the total white i'd gotten before. so my theory is- any kind of grey film/plastic material would
probably work. maybe a piece of some kind of light grey plastic cut and tapes over the lens?
below: shot with the piece of film over the lens in daylight--- it would otherwise have been totally white!
below: shot
without the film over- this was a
very dark tree lined lane- shot at almost dusk!
so... the other option is to
only shoot w/these cameras [1-Step/SX-70] at night when using 600 film- maybe in a bar or cafe, or at nighttime in city light, etc. that could make for some interesting stuff- blurs and weird tones. that might be my next shoot. will post if i get something good.
[c]2008 doug duffey
i love making photos of places where people have put up posters, signs, fliers etc. and others have ripped them down to put theirs up. eventually they end up looking like collages. i shoot these whenever i see them, and have done that all over Europe since about 1991. i scanned these negatives at 2400 DPI- so they can be blown up. i could crop them more, but rather like the torn tape on the outside edges. these were shot in switzerland.
[c]2008 doug duffey
me at the piano in the u.s. ambassador's residence- moscow 1991 or 1992- think misty wilmore shot this using my canon ae-1
a shot by me of "misty wilmore" in traditional russian head dress- moscow
man walking with child & umbrella- zagorsk, russia- 1991 or 1992
i shot this by a lamp, using a Polaroid Spirit w/600 film- then gray-scaled and equalized it in Photoshop. it looks like old german expressionism.
this was a SX-70 mistake. i was shooting the muffin tins in a brown paper bag, last night w/the sx-70. because there was no light in the bag the shutter froze- so i pulled it out and pointed it at myself- which caused this weird double exposure. looks very Dada- like a gas mask or something!
grater
muffin tins
sifter
cardboard inside a cardboard box
the inside of a brown paper bag
2 shots from Switzerland- 2007- the top is in Bern; the lower is in my room in the old hotel post [before they renovated/ruined it this past year] zermatt
shot w/a 'toy' 35mm plastic camera and b&w [color process] film
i was shooting a black and white movie off TV- but because the lens stayed open so long [due to adjusting to light]- the image moved and this was the result.
st. john DEVINE church- monroe, louisiana- shot in march 2008-
a Polaroid i ran across yesterday- when sorting through old Polaroids- it's originally in color but i gray scaled it. it was shot in Yvonand, Switzerland in 1993
the 600 film pack quit working in the 1-Step, so i took it out and put it in the SX-70 and shot this 'test' shot. i didn't think the photo would come out at all, so decided to manipulate it. i saw a hairbrush close by, so took it and began beating the photo w/it as it developed; the bristles caused all the blue squiggly varicose veins looking lines; the darker patch across my mouth was where the film had stuck in the 1-Step. i scanned it in photoshop and did some work... i like this...
ok, like an idiot i bid on won an sx70 on ebay for about 20$+ shipping. compared to all other polaroids i have to say they are beautiful and beautifully made cameras- but again-
i shot some stuff in the house- in low light- and it came out- but not totally clear- BUT 600 film in the 1-step and Sx-might make for very interesting night low-light shots. but daytime... forget it... everything comes out white- BUT there are solutions for daytime: filters!
below: shot without the film over- this was a very dark tree lined lane- shot at almost dusk!
so... the other option is to only shoot w/these cameras [1-Step/SX-70] at night when using 600 film- maybe in a bar or cafe, or at nighttime in city light, etc. that could make for some interesting stuff- blurs and weird tones. that might be my next shoot. will post if i get something good.
i took the film out of the "One-Step" when it started screwing up and put it in the "One Step Closeup"- it spat out all the remaining film out- plain white on all shots- i grabbed them and mashed them up- then scanned them and got things like the above- which i photo-shopped; reminds me of 1960s light shows!--- i might also take a few snaps them mash them as the picture 'comes up' to see what happens. this was kind of cool- a happy accident.
thinking something was wrong with even that camera i stuck in a new pack of film- went outside and tried a self portrait- [i blurred it some in photoshop]- and it worked fine. i guess it wanted it's own pack of film! thank s to a friend i have hundreds!
