was quite excited to be the first one to shoot a polaroid at nancy
and dustin’s wedding. of course i had to take a photo of the photo. because this is what goofy photos girls do.

the magic of watching a thick square image appear instantly. i always
shake them for some reason, thinking it helps them develop. it must
root back to my good old stinky darkroom days.

when i was a photo teacher at a high school, i would shoot a polaroid of each
student. they would decorate them, write little facts about themselves on the back.
i would study them, flipping through the piles, getting to know them.
connecting a face with the name. everyday i would use them instead of the sheet provided by the office to take roll.

because there is no negative or digital file, polaroids are little one of a kind treasures. once i bought a
collection of them from an artist in mexico. i couldn’t believe
she would part with her originals. but she had boxes and boxes. she traveled all over mexico with her polaroid camera, boxes of film and coins to manipulate the surface. i spent over
an hour deciding on my collection of five. her little polaroids of
statues and doorways inspired me. i referenced them as i attempted to paint for the first time. i still cherish them.

using polaroids at a wedding is a great way to capture your guests. the images are candid and playful. i love the special polaroid guest books. each page has on little square to slide the photos into and lots of blank space for sweet messages.

what’s not so sweet is that polaroid announced on feb 8th 2008 that it will discontinue production of all instant film. check out save polaroid to get more info. you can still get a combo deal on amazon, guest book and a twin pack of film for $86.20 (not bad). get it while you can.

a few of my top picks:
upper left: photo of my toilet that i shot before going off to the plumbing store. i wanted to show the guy which type of toilet we needed parts for to fix. apparentely we have a rare old toilet. for some reason i can’t throw this one away.
upper right: my favorite image that i bought from the woman in mexico. i attempted my first painting using this as my guide. i prefer the polaroid to my painting. but it was fun to try.
two bottom ones: shots from my messy colorful classroom. i let the kids paint the walls and their stools. the pink stool on the right says "photography is for suckers-booyah!" you have to love adolescent self expression.

one of my favorite places to admire pretty polaroid images is at nectar and light by jenifer altman. her four year old daughter adie has her own blog as well. i don’t know what is cuter her funny photographs or her comments on them.

photos below by: jenifer altman.
right: adie with her camera named polly.