This is a great little Polaroid camera if you simply want something you can point and shoot with and not worry too much about focusing or lighting. Whilst it’s quite a big hunk of plastic to carry around, I love the way it folds up and the balance of the thing in my hands – it’s a pleasure to use!

You can watch my video here for all the deets but I wanted to use this space to show some of the photos I have taken with it to demonstrate what this humble beast is capable of:

And finally – and this is a pretty scary photo, so apologies – this is the self portrait you saw me take if you watched the video.

I’ve ensured it stayed as true to what came out of the camera as possible – the yellow line about a centimetre from the bottom of the image; that’s the ‘edgecut’ – hardly noticeable I’m sure you’ll agree. This is Softone film and you can see it’s VERY soft and the colours are pretty muted. I think it should produce better results in lots of natural light (and no flash). I’ll keep you posted!

Wow. I love what Trey Ratcliff has to say in this video.

It was in my stack of videos to watch for ages, but to be honest the thumbnail image didn’t really appeal so I kept skipping past it! I’m so glad I didn’t let the HDR sunset and woman’s arse put me off though – the content is EXCELLENT. I promise.

If I had to quickly sum up what he’s saying to try and persuade you to watch it (please watch it) it would be something along the lines of:

• Fear and hiding away is demotivating
• Aim to project yourself beyond your ‘peer bubble’
• Open yourself up and and share what you do
• If you make yourself vulnerable, awesome stuff will flow into your life and everything will feel simple.

The video is an hour long but the main speach is only half of this – the rest is Q&As (but they are good too).

I love this time of year – when you get to see little signs that winter might finally be thinking about finishing. Today, in amongst the wintry berries and christmassy robins I spotted catkins AND snowdrops. Yay!

All taken this afternoon with my Canon 5D MkII and 135mm f/2.0 lens

Please note: I promise to stop banging on about this soon.

I have a new love in my life. It’s not something I thought I would ever be comfortable with or confident enough to do myself – not in a million years, somehow though I have found myself vlogging and am totally smitten with video.

For a while now I have been seriously addicted to watching videos. People are basically awesome and couple this with my innate nosiness and the fact I can easily access YouTube on my computer, TV or phone – it really is the most perfect way to while away the time.

‘Traditional’ TV is now (at best) in second place in our house these days. We’ve cancelled a lot of the satellite channels we were paying for and are using the savings to increase our broadband limit – that’s how much of an addiction it’s become!

So far I have just done vlog-type videos – straight to camera and virtually no editing. This has been a way of dipping my toe in the water and seeing if I like it. I love it!

It’s like… if all the things I’m passionate about and that interest me were put into a big Venn-diagram, video would be the bit in the middle that is encompasses everything. I think that’s why it feels so exciting!

I talked earlier in the month about my word for the year; STRIVE. This is something I want to strive for.

Here’s a flavour of what I am (more often than not) glued to on YouTube – any recommendations gratefully received!

• FleurDeForce
• The Readables
• TylerStalman
• HealthyVegan (i’m not a vegan btw)
• GridMonster

And because I couldn’t not include a photo…

Taken with my Hasselbladski – a Zenith 80 and 120 film

As you’ll be able to tell from the photos below, I went to the seaside today! Here’s a little vlog I made about it using my phone – looks like 2012 is going to be the year of the video pour moi!

Winter sunshine is beautiful, don’t you think?

There are probably scientific reasons why the quality of light is different at this time of year; to do with angles and unfathomable distances, no doubt – all I know is that it makes for lovely photographs.

This is Milford-on-Sea – we drove home through the New Forest as the sun was setting and it looked glorious…

Canon 5D MkII and 135mm f/2.0 lens

If my maths is correct (there’s a very good chance it isn’t) we are now half-way through 100 Days of Winter! Half-way!

In 50 days time we will have reached the end of February and be relishing the prospect of daffodils, lambs and an easter-egg or two (or maybe three).

I have been totally gobsmacked by all the amazing photos in the 100 Days of Winter flickr group – they are amazing! When I get in from work I have a look through whilst I wait for my coffee to brew. Here are just a few that have been making me fall in love with winter…

1. Sky Watch/9, 2. Day Thirty-Eight, 3. fir, 4. Cold Winter, 5. He called it a bokeh tree with snowflake ornaments., 6. _MG_1193.jpg

Thanks to everyone who’s contributed so far and helped inspire me through my early-evening coffee breaks.

Talking of winter – here are a few more wintry photos of my own – yes, yet more from that never-ending roll of 35mm film that’s been plaguing you these last few days!

Taken with Pentax K1000 and Kodak Porfessional Porta 800 35mm film

If you love winter; we still have 50 days of winter left to enjoy.

If you don’t love winter; there are only 50 days of winter left to go.

I can’t believe I made a vlog yesterday!

I can’t believe I made another video today, too!

I know they’re not brilliant but they never will be unless I practice. All I’ve done so far is talk into my webcam – all in one take – and do some very basic editing (literally just adding frames to the beginning and end of the video). It looks like I have a whole new discipline to master in 2012 if I want to pursue this – it’s quite exciting to have a new project to sink my teeth into though. Have you made videos before? Do you have any tips or advice for a newbie?

Anyhoo, here’s some more photos following on from yesterday’s post…

All photos taken with Pentax K1000 and Kodak Porfessional Porta 800 35mm film

There’s a teeny tiny bit of brightness left in the sky and it is well past 4.30 – wonderful!

Not this sky though – I took this one a few days ago when the sun was setting at about lunch time! (Exaggerating. About 4pm).

This is definitely the time of year to invest in the higher numbered ISO films – I’m using Kodak Pro Porta 800 ISO here which is great for low light. Yes, the graininess is noticable, but film graininess is something to be celebrated and treasured – unlike digital “noise” which never looks quite right.

It also means you can shoot indoors without a flash – though without a tungsten filter images will appear yellowish and I will admit the one below was tweaked a bit in Photoshop to correct the white balance.

I love the ‘bokeh’ in this one, although that’s down to the magical camera, not the film.

And finally – it was only after seeing this photo that I realised that yes, these jeans are too big for me now and look awful! I need to get a full-length mirror at home.

There’s more to come – I managed to squeeze 38 photos out of this roll of film!

All photos taken with Pentax K1000 and Kodak Porfessional Porta 800 35mm film

UPDATE

I’ve come over all brave – must be the new year or something, I’ve made a vlog! It was very spur of the moment – the web cam was sat there staring at me so I just started talking! What do you think – should I do more of these or just stick to typing?