No one else really seemed to notice. Except for a little boy, who quickly hid behind some rose bushes the moment I saw him. He slowly poked his head out and eyed my polaroid camera with curiosity and a little suspicion. He looked up at me and smiled. I smiled back. And then he jumped out and ran off to look for his mother.

My polaroid sx-70 camera is...not like other cameras. It's light brown and silver. Somewhat large when unfolded. And noisy. The shutter makes an unmistakable popping noise. I love it. But I'm also frustrated with this new love of mine.

The film is extremely sensitive. Only a few of the photos I took in the rose bushes at the Zilker Botanical Gardens last weekend turned out. On most of them, the chemicals ran down and bled into the image. A few turned out overexposed. One even turned out all white. Was it too cold? Did I not put them in my pocket fast enough? Is my beloved camera shoddy? I don't know.

Photos I took with my plastic polaroid camera last year look much better by comparison.

Which makes me a little sad.

But I'm not ready to give up just yet.

Perhaps my fascination (*cough* obsession) with polaroids seems a little strange. But the look of polaroids has completely won me over. Not to mention, I am inspired by the passion and engineering that goes into the making of the film (talk about chemical precision!) and the energy that went into the design of the original cameras themselves. Simply remarkable.

I'll try out a few more packs and see how things go. It's expensive, though. So, maybe I will just take my time with this little experiment...

Are you looking for polaroid film? Check out The Impossible Project.

Interested in dusting off that old polaroid from the attic? Read Susannah Conway's lovely guide, The Art of the Polaroid.

Don't have an old polaroid camera to dust off and looking to buy? Check out this very helpful video on what to look for when shopping for a polaroid camera.