It's Spring! That Means Flowers In PDX

With spring now in full swing it's only natural that I turn my attention toward all the plant life blooming up around the city. So of course I took to the sidewalks recently with my camera and decided to document some of the lovely color springing up around town.

I decided to be a little different this month and used my aging Polaroid camera and some instant film. Polaroid's aren't nearly as common as they used to be but one can still find the film at speciality camera shops. I have a soft spot for instant film in the same way most folks have a soft spot for drive in movie theaters and carnival rides. Sure, it may not be the most practical thing in the world, but I love it anyway. 

Number One.  

The color rendition here really shows why instant film can be a lot of fun sometimes. You just never know how a particular scene is going to translate onto the color chemistry of the film. In this case, I was aiming the camera straight upward above my head at some flowers just outside my house that erupted into full color overnight. You can also tell on this photograph that the rollers of my Polaroid camera need to be cleaned as the emulsion scratched a little bit as the print popped out the front. We'll just say I did that on purpose shall we? ;-) 

Number Two.

I thought this flower was cool because it reminded me of a crown. The photograph makes it seem much bigger than it was in real life. I would say it was really no larger than my thumb nail. Still, it packs a lot of punch for such a small and tiny little thing. 

Number Three.

Our third frame shows the scratch problem on my camera getting a little bit worse. Not to worry though. If I wanted perfect I don't think I would be making photographs with Polaroid film anyway. Part of me loves the shards of blue streaking through the frame contrasting against the white flowers and even stronger white border of the instant print. 

Number Four.

Stark white flowers always make me want to go on a picnic. A nice tall glass of iced tea, a yummy sandwich, some fresh berries, and a field of shite flowers stretching out over empty hills. That is probably the best way one could experience spring in my mind!