I have a Polaroid camera that I have had since you could but the film in a normal store. Then it sat in a drawer for years. I had the best of intentions to find out how to get film for it. More years passed. Then we moved again and were going through our stuff, getting rid of whatever we could. (Twice. We got rid of a bunch of things before leaving North Carolina and again when unpacking in Pennsylvania) That Polaroid camera made it through the process, which meant that I had to use it.
Film was purchased on Amazon. I was so excited to take it on trips and get some great shots. It turns out that it is important (necessary? imperative?) to read the instructions on this brand of film before use. In my head, the sun would help the film develop. In reality, the brightness of the light is very bad for it and so the first round was sadly and dramatically over exposed. You can see the top picture for what NOT to do with this film. The other part of this specific film that was explained in the instructions is that it takes a half hour for development. OH. I took the picture of the film on the snow because they were blue and thus I thought they were duds. What you are supposed to do it take the picture and hide it as fast as you can. Then in a half hour, there should be magic. My second round was much better.
Sometimes, it is hard to give stuff away. The hope in it being used is bigger than the sadness it giving the item up, but it is still hard, especially when there is sentimental attachment. I had another camera, a 35mm film camera, that I always had the best of intentions of using. It was nice, I loved it, it was a great camera, complete with instruction book, carrying case, beautiful woven strap, the works. But I did not use it. To have something so great and not use it is terrible. It was a gift to me years ago, which made me love it even more, but also made it more sad that it was not being used. I decided to give it away. I did not want to just take it to a donation site though, I wanted to give it to someone who would use it. I took it to work and it got snapped up within about a half hour. I overheard oooohhhs and aaaahhs as the strap, the camera, the case and the lenses were explored. It is sad that I never learned how to use that camera well. However, I am hopeful that it is in a good home now. It deserves it. That camera was much too special to sit in my closet.
