moominstuff

Got back from California yesterday...took 13 rolls of 120, plus some Polaroids. I used Type 87 in my modified Square Shooter. Type 87 has an ISO of 3000, and doesn't require you to focus, so you get very sharp, stark photographs. You can see the ideal exposure of Type 87 in this shot taken from Point Loma in San Diego, CA. High contrast, but you still see range in the gray tones.


Another fun thing about Type 87 is that you actually get two images from your shot. The secret being that the second image is usually tossed. Each Polaroid has a print side:


And a "goop" side:


The goop is actually the print developer. So what you see should be some kind of a negative image. One of the neat things about this side is that, depending on how much light you expose this goop to, it will solarize the image to some degree.
You often see more detail on the goop than on the print. It is sometimes difficult to gauge exactly how long to develop your print, but, like Type 85, the 'negative' (goop) retains the original exposure of your image.

The downside to the goop print is that is takes a long time to dry ... which makes it difficult to carry around in the field. In Phoenix, the goop will dry in a few hours. My goops wouldn't dry in Los Angeles. After two days on a dresser, I had to take a hairdryer to them. And, I only managed to save two, because you can't touch them. Every mark you make on the goop stays on the goop forever. And you can actually wipe off the image. My solution was to use the old film pack case from a filmpack. It will only hold one wet goop print, but it prevents damage to the image (mostly).

Another goop image and a few more Polaroids from my trip.