Stop Drop and Roll

As a hunter gatherer I know that some days are good and some are not so.. It only takes one good find to make a so so month turn into a WOW month but the good finds are getting increasingly harder to come by. A year ago I could shop one day a week and find enough to sell for several weeks. Now I'm lucky if I find enough to sell after shopping three or 4 days a week. But I'm not meaning to complain, just trying to set the stage for todays topic.

Earlier this week I set out on the hunt and left 3 or 4 places empty handed. I finally hit on what I thought was pay dirt when I found a Polaroid Pro Pack camera. (if you've been following along you know polaroid is a true love for me) I was thrilled, so thrilled in fact that I neglected to check the battery compartment, something I always do when buying pack cameras. Naturally after forking over 10 dollars I got home to discover that the batteries were left in the camera and had spewed their nasty acid. "No matter", I said to myself, "I will clean it up and it will be fine." It wasn't. Now you might be thinking "it's only 10 dollars", but to a hunter like me who's profit margin is very often thinner than a split hair, 10 dollars is a lot. Anyway, my point being that as buyers and re-sellers it behooves us to (as my good friend Perry would say)

Stop, Drop and Roll! 

In my profession excitement can be a job hazzard, I need to cultivate an attitude of calm when I'm out shopping so I don't end up with a cart full of "it's only x amount of dollars", purchases. Of course it's sometimes unavoidable and one can't be too hard on ones self, but it is a learned skill and I for one am determined to learn it. So next time I'm holding an object that makes my temperature rise I'll be sure to repeat my new mantra...

Stop, Drop and Roll!

And If that doesn't work I may be heading off  to the nearest ten step program, ;-).

Ode to the Polaroid Land Sx70

 It's high time for a post about vintage cameras. Long before I started selling vintage goods I was fully ensconced in photography. As often happens to photographers, I became fascinated with vintage cameras but for me it was specifically polaroid vintage cameras. I had seen these beautiful soft focussed images, heavy with grain and bits of  undeveloped edges and I needed to know how those were achieved.

It was the lovely hippy urban girl (who just happens to be my sister in law) who turned me on to The Sx70 alpha1. I had tried the 80's plastic polaroids which are fun for parties, but I wanted an SLR camera and the Alpha1 is exactly that. It was love at first sight......

For a while when the film was still easily obtained I preferred to shoot with polaroid. Even though the film was almost always expired it didn't matter as sometimes that resulted in beautifully decayed looking images.

As the film grew scarce my friends an I began to discuss whether shots were "polaroid" worthy or not.

In the fall of '99 Polaroid folded instant film production entirely. We began to buy expired film in lots of 25 and 50 packs. Those eventually became too expensive and so I reluctantly turned to 35mm film and rediscovered the joy of shooting with the camera I first learned photography on, my Yashica FR.

As friends and family learned of my interest in old film cameras I began to receive 35 mm cameras and gear until soon one whole corner of my bedroom was taken up with camera storage.

And on it goes.... My home is now filled with Vintage cameras some usable others just for show, but my true love is and always will be Polaroid Sx70 cameras.

                                       

Post script: I haven't completely left polaroid photography behind, I just (at this moment in time) don't have the kind of cash it takes to fill my need for film.  the-impossible-project.com is still producing film and it is absolutely beautiful and every bit as nostalgic as the original TZArtistic. If you have the means, do get some, you won't regret it and it just may lead you on to ever more creative discoveries.

Welcome

Hi and welcome to my new blog: Aunt Betty's, where I'll be sharing my latest vintage finds, my best flea market moments, and my humble thoughts and ideas about collecting, but first let me explain how I got here. 

It all began with my love of photography which led me to shooting with Polaroid. I fell in love so hard I began  finding polaroids everywhere, so I started my first collection. It ranged from the early 40's tank-like J66 roll film models to the 1990's plastic izone cameras, and it grew and grew and grew.  I could not stop until I had almost every polaroid ever made, and then some.

 I didn't stop at polaroids however, soon I began drooling over sparkling midcentury glass and swooning for garish fat lava pottery. After numerous discussions about whether I was in danger of becoming a hoarder (lol), it became clear that I would have to find an outlet for my new-found passion. I had truly fallen in love with the thrill of the hunt and once I found my first real treasure, a fabulously beautiful and elegant bohemian overlay vase (c1898), I knew there was no going back. 

Honestly, I was planning on selling said items, though I had no idea where I would do that. I have an etsy shop and I did sell a few cameras there, but truthfully mail order is just not my thing. I very much prefer the personal touch, which is why I now have a lovely little cubby of a shop at the

The Vancouver Flea Market
It is always a "work in progress" burgeoning with vintage bags, typewriters, polaroids and collectable chachkas.

and once a month you'll find me at
  the Croation Cultural Centre with 21st Century Promotions. 

Please stop by booth 69 on Saturday or Sunday from 9am til 5pm

703 Terminal Avenue near Main st

-or-

come see me 

July22

September23

November18

October21

December2

at the

Croation Cultural Centre

3250 Commercial Drive at East 16th Ave

Vancouver BC