Winter Wonderland

The snow just keeps on coming!!  We Brits are just not used to getting snow like this down in the southern end of the island.... This is like a Cornwall I have never known, and being the big kid that I am, the novelty of the wintery white landscape has not worn off for me one little bit.

As I look out my window now, there are thick flurries of snowflakes billowing in the gusting South Easterly Gale force winds.  Definitely not a day for venturing too far from home!!

I thought you may like to see a few of my Polaroids from my 365 ways to say goodbye project.

Deciding to use only expired polaroid film and 40 year old cameras is presenting daily difficulties and the occasional near meltdown as I have to undertake late night strip down and repairs to the old kit, but so far so good, I have delivered my first 11 pictures on time and I am enjoying working with a medium that you can't photoshop, or crop or otherwise alter in the post processing stage.  I just scan my daily 'roids, adjust them slightly until they exactly match the original, warts and all, and that's it! Simple :)

Here are 2 of my favourites so far.

You can follow the progress of my "365 Ways to say goodbye" project here at www.365goodbyes.tumblr.com

Revisiting my past

Hello there.

I have been a stranger to this blog over the last fortnight 'tis true, but with good reason....

I have been very busy making new work!! Yes, I have shot over 2000 pictures over the last two weeks, and as if that wasn't enough I have just completed a fascinating course in high end fashion & beauty retouching too.

I had the opportunity to take the course free of charge and decided it would be an interesting feather in my cap to have the skill. One interesting side effect of taking the course has been my renewed interest in portrait photography. Way back when, at the beginning of my career, I dabbled for a while in portraits of musicians and artists who were in my work and social circle (back then I worked part time as a music talent scout).

I was always more drawn to the free expression of art photography though, and in the end that is where I have focused my career and studies. It has been a wonderfully refreshing experience to revisit this early interest of mine recently. I will post some of the results of this revisitation here sometime soon.

In the meantime, I have also been showing some tlc to a lot of my old cameras in the collection too, and I have been out and about again with my trusty, and newly refurbished Polaroid 240 Land Camera. Today's picture is a shot I tool a few weeks ago after a sunset surf with my husband, after getting out of our wetsuits we sat together with a hot chocolate and watched the sea as it calmed itself, and I took this shot of the peaceful scene.

Polaroid, My Long Farewell...

© Jo Bradford 2009

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As the last ever Polaroid film reaches it's expiry date next month, the long farewell to a lifelong friend has begun for us Polamaniacs. I say long farewell because I have stocked up on over 100 boxes of (mostly out-of-date) Polaroid pack film. Due to it's age and the delicate nature of the chemicals, the film needs careful care to preserve it for as long as possible. I am not in a position to treat it to a cryogenic solution, so I have had to get an extra refrigerator for my studio, especially to store it all in. I will take my time using it - making sure each shot really counts and thereby dragging out my long goodbye for as long as possible.
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© Jo Bradford 2009

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For lovers of the integral type of Polaroid film (the consumer kind that pops out immediately and after a few seconds the exposure is ready), you can relax. As those ambitious guys of The Impossible Project have bought the Dutch integral film factory and are planning to put a new and improved version of the old Polaroid integral film into production in 2010. That's if they can get the design and manufacture sorted... they are currently having a hard time getting all the components to fit together and work as a whole.... If you have a mind for science, or know exactly where the guys can get their hands on a 2 micron thick layer of latex that can easily be coated onto a gelatin base, then get on over to their website and offer them your help. They are calling out for it... http://www.the-impossible-project.com/.

© Jo Bradford 2009

Sadly, for lovers of the good old peel-apart variety of Polaroid film, (professional pack film as it's also known), our days are numbered. The peel-apart factory in Mexico has not been bought by anyone, nor does it look like it can be salvaged now having been abandoned months ago. So it appears unlikely that this type of film will be resurrected. I am very sad indeed :(

© Jo Bradford 2009

So that is why last summer I bought up such vast stocks of it (basically every box I could get my hands on) before it disappeared from my life forever. And that's why I plan to use it slowly and wisely... it is already one or two years past it's expiry date - hence the dodgy colours and the mistyness, but I love it... and that's that!!© Jo Bradford 2009

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And finally, the Observer Newspaper, this weekend, gave eight of today's leading photographers a Polaroid camera for the day, and asked them to capture their final instant images to celebrate the fact that the last Polaroid films expire next month. Take a look at what Mary McCartney, Nan Goldin and Martin Parr did with theirs

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2009/sep/06/photography-art

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Have a good Monday my friends, Jo xoxo

© All contributed content, all rights reserved

birthday bonanza

Happy Birthday to me ...
I had such a great birthday last Friday, I am so honoured to have so many sweet and thoughful people in my life, who played their part in making it such a special week :)

I was spoilt rotten all week, {thanks Hubby, for breakfast in bed with glorious happy birthday tunes by The Beatles and Stevie Wonder, wonderfully thoughtful gifts, bubble baths strewn with flower petals and fancy restaurants, amongst other things xx}.

We had several celebratory meals and gatherings, and saw lots of friends and family, I really am a happy lucky girl!!

(wo)mans best friend

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My family are all dog lovers and we are blessed with many beautiful and amazing dogs between us. Our pampered pooches rule our lives, in fact, as I type this I have Charlie, my full grown german pointer, is snuggled up on my lap snoring!!

My beautiful dog Charlie is in the top photo.... he's the solid brown pointer third left, first left is his black and white spotted sister, Missy, his brown and white spotty Mom, Lolly, and on the far right is his solid black sister Uno. The first photo is of my Mums new puppy Darwin, ain't he cute!!

vintage camera porn

Here are a couple of cameras that still see a lot of action, gotta love those old TLRs. And for the polaroid nerds amongst us, this was shot with one of my vintage packfilm polaroid cameras (the good old 104 Automatic) on expired Polacolor 679, (that green colour cast is thanks to the emulsion being 10 years out of date...)

Love it