[LargeFormat] Polaroid film/ My first photos

[rstein]

Dear Niece Rebecca,

     Uncle Dick has been there and done that and required antibiotics for
it. Be warned. Do not do it yourself.

    Now on the subject of Polaroid, and the doom-laden advice from your
Cousin Tim. Do not listen to him. You can learn a lot from Polaroids and it
sounds as though you have your first lesson down well. Look at the end of
the carton - if the use-by date is in Roman numerals pass it by. Old
Polaroid can be off-colour, off speed, and off. If it has been stored in a
warm and dry atmosphere like West Australia or California it can dry up in
there - when you pull the sheets through the rollers they do not spread the
gel and they do not develop evenly. If they are cold they need longer to
develop - give them a little more time than the temperature chart on the
pack suggests.

    All that said - the humble Peelaroid can sometimes tell your models what
to do far better than you can. It can ellicit from customers what it is that
they really want in the final picture ( "Anything but that.....") and they
can assure them and you that you have gotten something the way that you
intended. They make good giveaways to please the pests - and continuous use
of the sheet film prevents the Polaroid Corporation from going broke.
Their 4 x 5 sepia film is capable of producing little visual gems.

    Uncle Dick

PS: Nephew Tim is not really as bad a person as he makes out. He is just
misunderstood.