then, instantly

Considering the number of cameras I have at this point, one thing I didn't have at all was an instant camera that was... normal (the one I have is very specialized & I haven't used before. I'm somewhat of an old-film camera magnet from the people around me.) A few years ago, I was wandering along a river in Napa taking photos when I kept running into a woman shooting polarid photos. Ever since then, instant film has been in the back of my mind. This past Christmas, I checked out Instant Love from the Pasadena library. It's a pretty fast read about a variety of instant camera basics and had some of the similar appeal of simpler cameras like the Holga. I knew it was a matter of time before an instant camera would find it's way to me.

A few weeks ago, I finally broke down and bought an Instax Mini 8. I was a little sad, since I later found out about lomography's instant camera that's on kickstarter, which has some better controls and flexibility, but who knows... maybe I'll end up with one at some point. (I also remind myself that it's not available until November anyway.) For now though, I'm enjoying my Instax. It's definitely been a learning experience. At first, I kept forgetting the film was 800 speed, which means some of the outdoor shots were a bit over exposed. I'm also not a huge fan of the flash and am considering covering it in some way. I'm getting a better feel for when the camera works and how to compensate for the viewfinder vs. lens position though (you have to frame your photo, then move the camera slightly to the left and down.) I'm looking forward to taking it along on some of my adventures!

This is the most recent photo I shot. I was walking home from voting yesterday when I noticed this older car parked on the street. I really like the resulting photo - on one hand if it wasn't for the newer cars in the background, it would be hard to identify this as a photo taken in 2014. At the same time, I wish the new cars weren't there, but it is what it is and that's how photography works sometimes!