which one are you?

i had already started planning this post a couple of weeks ago... not even realizing that 'roid week was coming up. if you don't know what 'roid week is, don't worry. i didn't know what it was either... until 'roid week came around last year, that is. it's just a week of the year when photographers and polaroid camera enthusiasts celebrate and highlight polaroid photography on flickr.

i don't participate, because you can only add to the pool if you submit actual polaroid film photos... not digital images that are processed to look like they were taken with a polaroid. i have two polaroid cameras... one was my husband's as a child, and the other i picked up at a thrift store for $2.50. they are both one-step models that use 600 film, and i don't have any film, so i have not yet tried them.

but i think i'm sort of holding out until i can afford to buy the sx-70 model. i've been dreaming of owning this camera for about a year. apparently, it's the one to have from what i've been seeing out there. i've seen so many gorgeous photos taken with that model in the past year. i absolutely can't wait to get one! until then, i use photoshop actions or web sites like rollip to get that dreamy or vintage look i love.

anyway, when i started this post draft {for which i created the above diptych }, it was going to be about the difference between a more accurate or precise photography {photos that more actually depict what we see with our eyes } and the kind of photography i am drawn to -- a more representational kind of photography {not necessarily what our eyes see, but something more blurred or muted }. whether this effect is created by the type of camera, or the way the photo was shot, or with a post-processing technique... it really does not matter to me how it is created. i just know i love these kinds of photos.

obviously, so do many others... thus the reason for groups and pools all over flickr for such images. a lot of the photo blogs i've been drawn to lately are also full of this kind of photography. and other than some of my recent crisp, bold tulip shots, a lot of my photos here have been more muted and/or blurry lately.

i think it is a mood thing for me... it depends on what mood i am in. i don't mean mood as in happy or sad. i mean mood as in what kind of creative or artistic mood i am in. for a while now, my creative mood has been more subdued. so i've been taking or processing a lot of my photos that way, too. {not only polaroid-esque... other moods as well.} often, i don't really know what i'm doing, but i just experiment and play until i get to something i like and that feels right to me.

which leads me to the point of this post... a question put to you. which mood are you? are you the one on the right... subdued, soft, muted, representational? or are you the mood on the left... bright, crisp, bold, realistic? maybe for you, it's not a mood thing, but rather a style thing... you're niche, you're trademark. if so, which of the above is more your style?

{the above images were taken with the same camera on the same day in the same place. but one is not processed {{obviously, the one on the left }} and the other has been processed to look vintage. here are a few more of my recent photos that i took and processed to look like polaroids.}

processed with a photoshop polaroid action

processed with rollip
{there's also a story behind this,
but i'll save that for another post.}

processed with a photoshop polaroid action