Portsmouth Old Towne Farmers’ Market

Today was a hot one, but I wanted to get out and do some shooting. There have been so many times when I’ve thought about shooting, but put it off. This year, I’m making a conscious effort to actually go out and shoot. So today I went out to the Portsmouth Old Towne Farmers’ Market. It is a local farmers’ market that also has a cruise-in where people bring their classic cars. Plus, since it was the first Saturday, there was also an artist market. I went to photograph some of the classic cards and ended up listening to some good music, trying some tasty beverages, and buying a cool pouch.

Classic Cars

There were several classic cars out today. Several were decked out in red, white, and blue. There were also some very cool Ford cars on display. It was nice that the cars were parked in the shade (mostly)…it helped it not feel so hot. I probably need to invest in a polarizer filter if I am going to go back to photographing cars.

These were all shot with my Sony A7RIII and my Tamron 18-300mm variable aperture lens. I wanted to travel light so I opted to just bring one lens. It was great for today and exactly what I needed. It allowed me to get a variety of different shots…some wide, some close…all with one lens.

Here are some of the other non-red, white, and blue cars that I captured. There was a Purple Hellcat that I absolutely loved because I am a purple girlie if nothing else. There was also a Ford Mustang GT and a Ford Shelby. I ended up speaking with the Ford Shelby couple and the guy had owned the car for about three years. That reminds me, I need to build my Ford Shelby Lego set…that is probably as close as I will ever come to owning a Shelby lol.

Polaroid at the Farmers’ Market

I also ended up bringing my Polaroid Flip and a pack of Purple Reclaimed 600 film and a pack of I-type film. I recently did a YouTube video on shooting Polaroid in summer heat. Generally speaking, Polaroid often color shifts when shooting in temperatures above 82 degrees Fahrenheit. Well, spoiler alert, there really wasn’t much of a color shift even though I was shooting in 95 degree weather. I was curious if I was going to get the same results and also how the Purple film would react to the heat.

This time I did notice a bit more color shift in my regular I-type film. Still nothing drastic, but noticeable. However, I’m not sure about the Purple film. The Purple film almost seemed over exposed. Like there were a couple of photos where the center of the photos didn’t really develop. The thing with the Purple film is that it is made from “waste” chemistry that Polaroid otherwise would have thrown out. So I’m not sure if it is the “waste” chemistry that caused the issue or the heat. There are these white snowflake like artifacts in my Purple film. I think it is because it was too cold in my fridge. I dropped the temperature a bit so we’ll see if that changes anything…it could just be part of the “waste” chemistry. Overall though, I’m still pretty happy with how the Purple film came out.

I was also reminded how much I enjoy the round frame 600 film. There is just something about how it looks. I had a successful day out with my Polaroid.

Vendors

I tried a couple of different vendors at the farmers’ market today. The first one I went to was The Fizzy Fix. It was a basically a cool drink stand. It was much needed because it was sooooo H O T outside. I ended up getting this drink called the Suffolk Sunset. It was made up of Sprite, Mango, Peach, and Pineapple Cream. The 16oz version cost me a little over $7. There was also a 24oz option. It was so refreshing that I finished it in no time. However, silly me, I didn’t take a photo of the drink. If they show up at another farmers’ market I’m at, I’ll have to snag a photo…and maybe try another flavor.

My next stop with The Local Print Shoppe (TLPS). They had ball caps, pouches, and lots of patches. I saw a purple pouch so of course I had to snag it. When you bought an item, you got a patch for free. It cost me about $20. My patch of choice was “Not Today Satan” lol. I ended using the pouch as a dark place to put my Polaroids while they developed…since I left my other pouches at home. Did I need it…no. But it was Purple so I had to get it lol. I’m either going to keep using it as a photo pouch or a pouch to store my fountain pens.

Not Today Satan purple pouch from TLPS.

Wrap Up

Although it was super hot outside, I enjoyed my time at the Portsmouth Old Towne Farmers’ Market. I definitely want to go back again and take more photos. I’ve gotta see what other open air markets are around so I can take my camera out and have some fun.