So, I assume that everyone has used a polaroid camera before. I used my first one when I was twelve; we had a Japanese exchange student who owned a camera and she let us try it out. (The pictures from that day are hysterical, I still have them and if you are lucky, I may show them to you). Polaroid photos had a pretty distinctive look that involved weird colours and slight vignetting on the corners. And, if you were bold, you could draw on them while they developed and get even cooler results. The whole idea of Polaroids was centered around fun instant gratification.
Fast forward to now, when Polaroid cameras can be found in the free box at any yard sale and Polaroid film is practically extinct. Hardcore fans have stored boxes of film in their freezers and sell it on E-bay for a fortune. One Polaroid film factory has been restarted by a new company and two new types of instant film are available to the public at twenty dollars for eight sheets of film. Basically, if one really wants to use a Polaroid camera, one can. Or, you can just take a digital image and drop it into a downloaded program. Wham! Polaroids!
So, this is what I did. And I have to admit, it is kind of addictive. In my head, I refer to it as "roiding," which might be part of why I like it so much. Also, I am a total sucker for photo gimmicks, like filed out negative carriers and over-saturated colour photos. I really tried to resist this, especially because of the plethora of Facebook profile pictures that have been "roided." But seriously! Look at those cows! Don't they look so much more meaningful now?
