Instant Photography – Dave's Place

#InstantRegret (not)

Throughout August my Twitter feed has been full of regret, of the instant kind!

The event is run by @ShittyCameraChallenge who are “a grass roots photography contest that encourages photographers to get out & make art using shitty cameras.” It’s not for the purists or the anal. The emphasis is on having fun and the only real restriction is that you can only use a camera of dubious quality. This August was dedicated to instant cameras and with plastic lenses and uncompromising recording media there was a heck of a lot of dubious quality but aesthetically wonderful images on display. From Polaroid and Instax to thermal printing paper there was a lot of variety to enjoy.

For a truly analogue experience I also chose to use a typewriter for the captions and for the same reason typed each only once, seeing errors and typos as part of the authentic vibe.

Whilst instant photography on the whole has a built-in lo-fi aesthetic it’s not a genre where you can just point and shoot willy-nilly and expect to get consistently great images. At least not in my experience. Much like traditional transparency films instant film is not the most tolerant of extremes of contrast for example. I therefore tend to look at a scene reasonably carefully (not to an anal degree though) and consider what will happen to highlights and shadows before pressing the button. Some of these cameras have a limited degree of manual control, emphasis on limited, but nevertheless this can be a real benefit in certain situations.

Week 1 was all about Polaroid for me, the SX-70 Sonar to be precise. At £18 per pack (the cheapest I could find) this works out at £2.25 per image. It’s definitely not a camera to wave around indiscriminately! That said, I still experimented and so not every frame was a “keeper”. I shortlisted 19 of the 24 frames however and posted 16 to my INSTANTREGRET album.

But, it’s not just about cost. It’s about the aesthetic and the experience.

Before anyone who knows me objects, I know that I don’t usually like the word “experience” as in “customer experience” applied to visiting the bank to withdraw money. That’s a necessary chore … an experience for me is something outside of the realm of the daily humdrum of life. So, using a camera is definitely in the category of an “experience “ in my view. But I digress.

The SX-70 is a lovely old SLR camera using SX70 instant film, introduced in 1972 although my Sonar model hails from around 1978. It is of the right vintage for my first serious photography phase during my teenage years but at the time I worked exclusively with a couple of 35mm film cameras and never dabbled with instant photography. It sits very nicely in the (my) hand and handles beautifully. Even my 10-year old Grandson can handle it with confidence (see pic). Mine has no “frog tongue” to protect the newly ejected print, however I have developed a technique of twisting the camera upside down at the moment the print starts to eject which appears to do the same thing. It’s an odd looking camera compared to a standard SLR with no obvious hand grip … but as Zac demonstrates, it is incredibly easy to hold.

Week 2 saw the Instax Wide 300 camera in action. A large, chunky and clunky affair with some limited manual control available, it is my preferred instant film format. The image area is similar to the Polaroid and I also have a Wide printer that I use to print iPhone pics for giving to others.

This printer allows me to instantly print phone pictures and also demonstrates that the film itself isn’t that bad. Limitations in the images from the Wide 300 are down to the camera rather than the film.

Week 3 Instax Square with the Instax SQ6 was the camera of choice next. I enjoy the square format. My Bronica SQ-A medium format camera produces fabulous 6x6cm negatives and whilst I know some people struggle with the format I thoroughly enjoy creating images within the square field of view. The only struggle this week was with time for photography. My wife and I provide childcare during the school holidays for our four daughters. With up to six grandchildren at a time and never less than two it’s been a busy time.

Week 4 is currently underway and was originally intended to be devoted to the Lomo Instant which uses Fuji Instax Mini film. However, the week isn’t going exactly to plan. With additional, unplanned, childcare our free time is less than expected. In addition I had an attack of FOMO* and rather recklessly added another instant camera at the last minute.

So, in addition to the Lomo Instant, with which I have a love-hate relationship, I also have a kids thermal print camera in the bag vying for attention. I will write about this latest addition at a later date but the images it produces are truly “shitty” and I love them!

So, a quick update from the midst of the Challenge. I shall return to the theme several times over the coming weeks I’m sure. I will also share more images from the Challenge as I start to work through them prior to pulling together a commemorative zine.

Watch this space!

*FOMO – fear of missing out

In an Instant

I posted recently about the Spring Polaroid Week and commented that I wouldn’t be contributing for various reasons. However, the act of blogging about ‘roid week motivated me to get the Instax Wide 300 camera off the shelf and to make a few images with it.

Now, whilst I did make these images during the week I was insufficiently organised to get any of them posted to the Flickr group that I joined specifically for this purpose. Rather than leave them on the table unused though I have shared them here.

I’m a fan of the Instax Monochrome film too

There are two Instax Wide films – colour and monochrome. I like both although the colour, contrary to the norm, is cheaper to buy so tends to be my first choice. The monochrome does what it says, it produces monochrome prints. Not strictly black and white but definitely monochrome; to my eyes they have a blue/grey hue (see first image) but that’s easily cured if desired (above). For context, I do have mild colour blindness – one of the reasons I mainly use black and white film.

I’ve been sat here this morning wondering what it is about instant images that appeals so much. I’ve not come up with anything erudite however I do think the clue is in the title. It’s instant. It is the nearest a film photographer gets to the instant gratification of the digital worker. It is also very easy to share around with others and in the moment as it were. From capture to consumption – instantly.

So, having missed the boat for the Spring edition I am keeping my eyes open for the Autumn date. In the meantime I had a look back through my more recent instant images – the only proper way to do so was of course to get the box down from the shelf and tip them on the bed!

Zero Image 5×4 Pinhole with Graflock Back, Instax Wide film

Intrepid 5×4 camera, Graflock back and Instax wide film

These first three are all Instax Wide film but with three very different cameras. As well as my Instax cameras (I own a mini and a square, the Wide belongs to my grandson) I also have a LomoGraflok back which enables the use of Instax Wide film with one of my 5×4 cameras.

The next couple I guess help answer the question “why?”, the ability of an instant camera to capture then immediately share the fun moments in life. Be they fun selfies with the grandkids or double exposure selfies, they capture spontaneous moments wonderfully.

Instax Mini – selfies and double exposures

The oldest instant camera in my small collection is a Polaroid SX-70 Sonar. A rather temperamental old warrior that has a charm all of its own although doesn’t always want to play ball.

Polaroid SX-70 and some slightly out of date film

Polaroid SX-70: same day, same location, same pack of film but different results

So, there you have it. A romp back through the (physical) archive of instant photographs covering the last 18-20 months. Looking through the box I kept the duds as well as the successes – hoping perhaps that they will become fashionable one day?

Polaroid Week 2022

This is Polaroid Week, an annual celebration of instant photography. I’ve had all sorts of instant cameras over the years but these days just a couple of Instax cameras adorn my shelf. However, there is a vibrant online community and I do enjoy seeing what is posted. From straightforward images of everyday life to fabulous fantasy creations the instant film community is thriving.

But instant photography can be very rewarding

One camera that I owned and used for a while is the Lomo’ Instant

I have however gone through occasional phases of using instant film as well as a fair number of different cameras and formats. I have blogged about it too of course on several occasions. My Perfectly Imperfect series springs to mind in this context too.

Priceless! Harry and the pepper plant he grew

So, whilst Instant photography isn’t something I do that often, it is priceless for capturing and sharing little moments. Harry is very proud of the pepper he grew from seed … this morning we took his picture with an Instax Wide and he’s proudly carried it to school to show his teachers. Priceless!

ps – the print behind mine is one he took himself

Double exposure: Instax Mini 90, Neo Classic.

So, to those of you celebrating Polaroid Week 2022, good luck, have fun and I’m with you in spirit!

The Big Orange — Finally, a link to the online ‘roid week album on Flickr

Impossibly out of date

One of the things I noted whilst researching instant film photography and in particular Polaroid cameras was the market for out of date film. Packs of long-expired film were changing hands on eBay for more than a fresh pack would cost on amazon for example. The potential for weird and wacky colours and effects, together with the unpredictability of the expired film seemed to be the draw.

I was delighted therefore when a pack of expired Polaroid 600 colour film arrived in the box with a newly purchased Polaroid Sun 600 camera. A chance to try expired film without any additional cost! I was excited by the possibilities. The film was however “use before 2002” which given the stated life of 12 months, the passage of 17 years and the knowledge that colour film generally deteriorates faster than black and white left me feeling very doubtful as to its veracity. I was not disappointed.

The 1st image on the middle roll has a hint of the subject in the very middle

Those are not Newton Rings on the border incidentally, I photographed these 9 (of 10) prints using my phone. The tenth was exactly the same and is only excluded so I could make a nice square.

So, my first foray into the world of out of date film was interesting even if it was not particularly productive. How would a pack of Impossible Colour film, expiry date 12/16, fare in the same Polaroid Sun 600 camera? At a mere three years past its expiration date surely some magic was on the cards?

I shot the image above on a crisp but bright and sunny day in good light with a fabulously blue sky. On a glossy colour film.

As you can see I do have an image this time, in fact all eight prints produced a recognisable image. But where was the colour! The batteries were clearly failing too as I struggled to get the last two shots exposed and ejected but they hung on grimly to the end. Just.

This scene is normally a “banker” for vibrant colour …

I have not desaturated these images at all, in fact I’ve photographed them with a Fuji X100t, in good, even daylight and I’ve carefully matched the images on the screen to the prints on my desk. I don’t dislike these however although I’m not rushing on to eBay for another pack of expired Impossible film!

A sealed pack of Polaroid 600 Extreme, expiry date 12/2001, was the next film to come into my possession. Tucked in the bottom of the box where no doubt it had sat since the camera was bought. The box advertised “Plus 2 Free Films!” and no doubt only the first got used. I put this through a Polaroid Supercolor 635 camera, a reliable old camera that’s produced some nice images. As with the Impossible film the batteries were clearly failing and in fact after just six of the ten prints were exposed they gave up the ghost entirely. But was that a problem? See for yourself below!

At least the box retained it’s saturated colours!

So, that is my experience with three expired instant films. Be warned I do have a couple of packs of Polaroid 300 Instant film, expiry date June 2012, which I shall soon put through the Fuji Instax Mini 90.

Lomography: in an Instant

Lomography – love it or hate it, a true lomography image has a very distinct look. Despite being an old-f@rt I love the look of these lo-fi images and have indeed owned a couple of film Holgas for quite some time now. Imagine my delight therefore whilst exploring the world of instant photography for the Instant August project to discover a Lomography instant camera. Even better it was half-price in a flash sale on their website. Just as well because the full retail price is ridiculously expensive for what is in fact a cheap plastic box with an extremely basic, need I say cheap, plastic lens. It’s the one thing that spoils Lomography as a company for me – they price their cameras way too high and whilst the prime target market may well be affluent enough to afford them I for one could not justify that sort of expense. Even at half-price it was pushing things (even so, I told my wife it was half again of what I actually paid!).

Lomography film on the other hand is well priced but this may be because there is a lot more competition in the film emulsion market than there currently is in the production and sale of plastic cameras. I like to be even handed in my criticisms.

Three for the price of one – Halifax Piece Hall

One of the things I enjoy about instant photography is the (almost) immediate gratification. Now, it could reasonably be argued that digital photography actually does give truly INSTANT gratification as you can see the image on the LCD screen immediately after pressing the button. However, in my world the final product is a physical print, regardless as to whether it starts life on a piece of plastic or as a series of 0s and 1s is irrelevant to me; the ultimate aim of every image I make is to print it. Now, don’t misunderstand me I do not print every digital image I make, think of the time required if nothing else, but I am always aiming for an image worthy of printing and ultimately hanging on my wall. Instant photography therefore, whilst a side-line in my photographic interests, appeals to me because the objective EVERY time is a print.

Lomo’ Instant – Piece Hall, Halifax 12/9/2019

What the Lomo’ Instant does is offer me the best of two of my niche interests – lomography and instant photography. I shoot images every day, without exception, but I don’t shoot film, instant film or create images in a lomographically-inspired vein every day. The vast majority of my 365 images for example are straight-forward digital images. Year to date 71% of my 365 images have been made with a Fuji camera for example with only 9% coming from the iPhone and a mere 2% from my instant camera collection, none of which were made with the recently acquired Lomo’ Instant.

I couldn’t tell you exactly why it is for me that lo-fi photographs appeal so much. Perhaps it’s a reaction to the homogeneity of so many technically excellent yet sterile and soulless images that bombard us constantly these days. Or is it the fact that they are deliberately different thus appealing to the inner rebel? The “Perfectly Imperfect” tag sums it up for me quite nicely. These are not perfect images but flawed and therefore somewhat more human as a result – is that what gives them “soul”? Or are they actually just junk and I’m deluding myself?

The only image here not scanned on my Epson, this was copied with my phone

Before you start shouting hypocrite at me I do know that it is the wonders of digital technology that enable me to share my photographs, instant or otherwise, with a wider audience than the people in my company at any time. The fact is that even if I were not sharing my images online I’d still be making instant prints, I’d still be printing from both film and digital cameras and I’d still be framing prints and hanging them on the walls of my house. The digital sharing is a bonus and a welcome one at that – I’m neither a hypocrite nor a Luddite!

I thoroughly enjoyed my first outing with the Lomo’ Instant and you can bet it will be going out with me again very soon.

Instant August: Day 26

I really struggled narrowing my Instant August choice down to just one for the 26th; the Mini 90 was very productive that day and I was spoilt for choice. When I collate the final Instant August project (a scrapbook) all three of that days shortlist will make it onto the pages of the book! Until then – here they are!

The front runner for several days – Instax Mini 90, Neo Classic. (flash OFF)

Double exposure: the “one” that made it to Flickr!

All: Instax Mini 90, Neo Classic.

Meeting of Technologies

Original image taken with a Fuji Instax SQ6 instant camera. This was scanned, with white borders intact using an Epson flatbed scanner into my Mac computer. I applied a texture to the white borders within Photoshop and voila! A meeting of technologies.

The image itself now I look at the print on my desk shows that composing to avoid the sky on bright days like today would be sensible to avoid that white stripe. Unless I try holding a graduated ND filter ….

Instant August: 8th – 14th

Six different instant cameras showcased here.

PolaroidSX-70
Fuji Instax SQ6
Polaroid 635
Lomography Instant
Fuji Instax Wide 300
Fuji Instax Wide 210

Perfectly Imperfect #23

August #23 — Instax Wide 210 with close-up lens

This sunflower has been a useful subject whilst testing my instant cameras during Instant August. I found the close-up lens for the Instax Wide 210 this morning (it had become buried under the detritus on my desk) so despite the sunflower being way, way past it’s best it was the obvious subject. Especially with a blue sky against which to frame it.

By way of comparison, this was taken at the same time but with a Polaroid 635 camera.

Original prints copied using iPhone

Perfectly Imperfect #20

The image surface of the Instax Mini film is 46x62mm – which means that most of us using a desktop machine will be viewing the scan above at considerably more than the prints physical size.

The whole point of Instax Mini though is not photographic-perfection but that is that it is fun. It’s not a serious photographic tool, but meant to be something that captures the moment. Pixel peepers need not apply! This was the very first shot from a secondhand Instax Mini 70 camera and despite its flaws captures a spontaneous moment in a way that couldn’t or indeed wouldn’t be captured by the nearest camera at the time – my Fuji XT3 which has a 100-400 lens permanently fitted.

Horses for courses.

As this was the very first image we captured I was not aware of the light leak, something I associate with Lomography or Polaroid but until now not with Fuji Instax. I found that I could cure the problem by using the case which came with the camera (which is for a Mini 8 but that’s another story). I think I’ve isolated the point at which light is leaking in so it’s either some black gaffer tape or the neat brown, semi-fitted case.

Photography is fun, we all lose our mojo at times, what better way to regain it!