I had two wonderful photographic experiences recently, both of which were
possible because I carry and use a Polaroid SLR 680.
Back in March I attended the annual Enumclaw gun show. (It's more of a
buckskinning show; gun dealers represent only about 100f the exhibitors.)
I got to talking with "Big Foot" (so named because he's about 5'8", but
wears a size 13 shoe), the epitome of the bearded old geezer. I put my
coyote hat on him, snapped a few Polaroids, and gave them to him.
Cut to last Saturday. I was at my mountain-man club's rondy (rendezvous) and
saw Big Foot walking his dog. (Actually, the dog was dragging Big Foot
along.) I went over to say hello and discovered he'd liked the Polaroids so
much that he had copies made and was giving them away to friends! (They
_were_ good pictures, by the way.)
Well, it wasn't a reason to go on living, but it sure made my day. We got
together Sunday morning and I took several more Polaroids, plus a bunch of
color-negative shots on his own camera, so he could get cheap copies.
The other experience also occurred at the rondy. I was eating breakfast with
Wayne, who had his lapdog along. (Lapdogs are fairly common among mountain
men, probably because they fit a stewpot almost perfectly.) Wayne was
leaning against the park table, and the dog was standing on his leg. I saw a
great shot and whipped open the Polaroid. "Look at me, Wayne." Pop-whir. The
air was cool, so I shoved the print into my axilla to keep it warm.
Now, I've handed out scores of Polaroids to many people -- including
Wayne -- with rarely more than a sincere "thank you." (I give great
snapshot, by the way.) But when Wayne saw this picture, he freaked out. "Can
I have it? I'll pay you for it!" "Don't be silly. I do this for fun."
I later saw the picture propped up beside Wayne's bed. He told me he's going
to give it to his mother, who's in a nursing home.
There are many kinds of photography and many kinds of photographic
situations. If you refuse to own a Polaroid camera because you think the
pictures aren't any good -- well, you're wrong. I'll send scans to anyone
who wants to see them.
PS: Sorry about the accidental posting of a formatted document.
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