Research
As a photographer I’ve played with all kinds of cameras, from high-end digital cameras to dollar store 35mm, and Polaroids are no exception. So when I saw that the classic Polaroid camera has been re-imagined for the digital age with the I-1 Analog Instant Camera, I knew I had to test it out. With a trip to London and Paris coming up, I had the perfect opportunity to give it a try.
Hypothesis
The instant photos I take will be a reminder of my trip long after I return to New York, and will add some variety to digital photographs.
Experiment
With digital photography I’ve gotten accustomed to taking as many photographs as I need, but with these instant photos I knew I had one shot to get it right. As with every new camera there is a learning curve, and this one was no exception. My first few shots were a bit over exposed, but I quickly learned what settings worked in which lighting.
With that knowledge in mind, I took my camera with me everywhere. It was actually pretty light compared to my DSLR, so I didn’t mind always carrying it. Since I only had a few packs of film, I had to stop and think about the picture before shooting. This was a huge change of mindset from being used to digital cameras and really made me capture only what I knew I wanted to, leading to every picture being special. I tried to capture a wide variety of things from the typical tourist pictures to little things I saw while exploring the city.
One great thing about the camera is that you can download an app to control it from your phone. You can play with different settings like double exposures, self-timer, and light painting. I had a lot of fun with the double exposure setting and seeing how the photos came out.
It also allows you to “scan” your photos on the app to make them digital (in fact, that’s what I used to get these digital photos on the blog). The scanning process is very simple and easy to use and comes out pretty true to the photograph. It also makes it simple to Instagram.
Conclusion
The camera was a lot of fun to play with, and got me some amazing shots that I will be looking at for a long time. One thing I love about the instant camera is it’s a bit unpredictable, and so you never know what the end shot is going to look like. This led to some interesting colors and light leaks in the photos.
Overall, I think this camera is a great way to break out of shooting digital and created photos I will be looking at for a long time.
1 Comment
Really nice and definitely it will be useful for many people who are looking for polaroid photography. Kindly keep update like this, Laura.