Impossible Project PX70 Push - Warm is good. Warmer is better.

This past Saturday was a day full of polaroid fun. I stopped over at Aperture and picked up a pack of PX70 Push, PX600 and a Fuji 100c. Enough to keep my busy for a few hours at least.


First stop of the day was the Cleveland Botanical Gardens. I knew that I could stay inside, out of the rain, it would be relatively warm, and there would be plenty of color.

It's no surprise to anyone shooting the Impossible film at this point that heat directly effects the development process of the photos. I used this to my advantage quite a bit during the 100 Impossible Portraits, and did so again with these photos.


What I have started to notice, is that the heat brings out the contrast and color saturation of the photos, which many people already know. What many people might not know, is how much heat, how long to heat, and how long heat can actually effect the development process. We already know that the chemistry of these images continues to change for hours, even days, after the image is captured. I have found that while heat has the most impact immediately after the image is shot, it appears to continue to effect the photo for at least 10-12 minutes after the development process has started.

For these images, I was already in a warm green house environment, but I knew from previous shots that more heat is better. I immediately placed these images under my armpit, the warmest place possible at the time. I also made sure that after a few minutes that I rotated the images so that one side didn't receive more heat and develop in a different way. I did this for at least 10-12 minutes per image, until each had reached full color and contrast.


Unlike the PX600, which is also effected by heat, I have noticed that the PUSH seems to react differently to heat. PX600 is effected quickly, and only the first few minutes seem to have a direct influence. Placing a PX600 image directly under your armpit will actually cause a very uneven development because of how much faster heat effects it. The PUSH, on the other hand, seems to react over a much longer period of time and likes a steady stream of heat. It's actually hard to cause the photo to develop unevenly, unless an extremely warm/concentrated source is applied directly to just one area of the photo.


The only down side to these particular images, is the fact that you are not allowed to have a tripod in the botanical gardens, which caused longer exposures to be a bit difficult. As you can see though, warm is good, but warmer better.

Photograph Info:

Location: Cleveland Botanical Gardens
Camera: Polaroid SX-70 Sonar
Lens: Fixed

Film: Impossible Project PX70 PUSH!