Caryn Gilbert Photography

All analog all the time.

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413. Hanging out at the Idyllwild 4th of July parade with my Polaroid SX-70 and film from the Impossible Project. The vintage cars are by far my favorite part of this classic small-town event!

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412. One of my favorite albums from my youth was Elton John’s “Blue Moves” and I can’t help but think of it when going through my latest set of Polaroids. Here’s hoping the next batch are more in keeping with the soft, dreamy tones I love and have come to expect from the good people at the Impossible Project! :-)

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411. An unusually quiet moment at the Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival. Photo taken with a Polaroid SX-70 and film from the Impossible Project.

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410. Hanging out at the Riverside County Fair with my Polaroid SX-70 and film, as always, from the Impossible Project. Glad to see that the colors produced by Impossible film are so much more vivid these days but why so blue? Ah, the vagaries of instant film!

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409. Another shot taken near the quirky and colorful Salton Sea, a once-popular but now largely-abandoned resort area in the desert about an hour east of Palm Springs. This one is from the first (and likely last) roll I’ve ever run through my vintage Brownie Starmite II. 

Manufactured by Kodak between 1962-1967, the Starmite is a basic snapshot camera that requires now nearly-obsolete 127 film. When I acquired it at a yard sale a few summers ago, I honestly didn’t expect much from it in the way of performance. Its appeal, for me, lay mostly in the fact that it’s cute in a Gidget-meets-Betty-Draper kind of way. But I like to run at least one roll of film through each of my vintage cameras so here you go. :-)

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408. A deserted video store at the Salton Sea, a once-popular, now largely-abandoned resort area in the Sonoran desert about an hour east of Palm Springs. It was 108 degrees the day I was there hence the yellow cast of this instant-film image.

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407. Random interestingness in Joshua Tree, California. Photo taken with a Polaroid SX-70 and film from the Impossible Project.

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406. Well that was interesting. I'm not one to buy into the idea that a particular year can be cursed but this really has been one for the record (and history) books. May 2017 be a year of hope, courage, integrity, and equal rights for all. Happy New Year!

(Photo taken in downtown Yucca Valley, California with a Polaroid SX-70 and film from the Impossible Project.)

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405. South Pasadena bus stop at golden hour. 

Photo taken with a Canon EOS 500 and expired Lomography 35mm color-print film, ISO 100.

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404. Fittonia in window light; Taken with a Polaroid SX-70 and film from the Impossible Project.

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403. Since I'm back into my New Mexico film archives anyway I thought I'd go ahead and post this 35mm shot taken in downtown Santa Fe. :-)

I'm dreaming of road trips and wishing you a lovely weekend wherever you happen to be! 

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402.  I’ve been thinking a lot about the mundane and less-obvious forms of beauty we so often overlook especially in cities. I took this in Santa Fe late one afternoon when I noticed the golden-hour light hitting this metal hatch in the sidewalk just so, casting little shadows and accentuating its pattern, texture, and rich color. Pretty!

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401. I just found this and thought, since it’s Throwback Thursday and all, I’d go ahead and post it. I took it way back in 2009 (or thereabouts) when I was brand new to the whole Polaroid thing and real Polaroid film was still available.  As grateful as I am to the Impossible Project for what they’ve accomplished since then, I must admit I do miss the real thing!

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400. “Pomonacopia” mural detail, original art by Andre Miripolsky.

Photo taken in downtown Pomona, California with a Polaroid SX-70 and film from the Impossible Project.

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399. The first thing that caught my eye upon arriving in downtown Pomona last week was the massive mural that adorns the entire School of Arts and Enterprise middle-school building. Created by artist Andre Miripolsky, “Pomonacopia” is an abstract work inspired by Pomona, the Roman Goddess of Fruit, and the area’s rich agricultural history. 

Photo taken with a Polaroid SX-70 and film from the Impossible Project.

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398. Doing the urban-photo-safari thing in the back alleys of downtown Upland. Photo taken with a Polaroid SX-70 and film from the Impossible Project.

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397. People watching in colorful Venice Beach, California. Photo taken with a Polaroid SX-70 and film from the Impossible Project.