NIGO-my-god!

It blows me away that I still hear people complaining about The Impossible Project. Perhaps the internet has seeped into our lives so much that we now bitch about the smallest things in real life. Wait what am I saying perhaps, I know this. I am guilty of it! But when I look at the progress that this company has made in the past few years, with nothing but an idea behind them. It is nothing short of inspiring!

This past week as a part of my 365 project I shot using only the NIGO edition film. For those un-aware NIGO edition was one of the latest releases from Impossible. Inside each pack are 8 differently colored frames for your images. They come out in random order so you are never sure what you will get. Now full disclosure time, when I first heard of this I was a little bummed. I wanted the control, the ability to know what colors would be popping out when. That way I could plan my shots accordingly. Using complimentary colors, or going all out with one color and a matching frame. So when I got my first (and only up to this moment) pack I waited. Portland was wet throughout April, and with wet comes grey, with grey no sun, with no sun comes no color or contrast. It sat on my shelf this whole time, I didn't want to shoot one here or there. I wanted to do all 8 shots straight. So I knew I needed to wait for a week sunny enough that I could take full advantage of it.

Enter May. Portland explodes with sun and heat. This wasn't a gradual "let's go on a few casual dates and get to know each other" introduction to summer. It was a "Hey I know we just met 5 minutes ago and I haven't asked you out yet but would you like to come up for coffee?" introduction (hint: the coffee in that last example was code for sex. Ask your parent's about it).

 

I knew this was my chance, so I put my pack of NIGO film in and went out seeking color like I was a KKK member. But being controlling, I took a peek inside. I wanted to see the colors, I wanted to know what would come out next. First up was green, and I can see cyan in there underneath it I thought to myself. Green and blue, that is what I will look for these first two days. I can tell you folks, that lasted one day. I got my green shot, but then I started to let go. I just went with it, shooting what I wanted to shoot and not worrying about what color the frame would be. It was exhilarating. And to my surprise, there was never one shot that came out where I said to myself "eh, I wish it was a different color". Each one was accented in a way that enhanced the image! It felt as if I could do no wrong.

 

Today I shot the last image from this first and only pack. Impossible still has some left and I am dying to get my hands on more! Will it show up in the 365 project again? Not like this. This was a one time thing and I'm happy with it. To push it on would be as ridiculous as making a movie about a children's board game like Battleship... oh wait.