It’s January. Goodbye Christmas. Elves of tears are running back to the North Pole. Oh, where have the holidays gone?
I am particularly forlorn in the following photograph. I know neither of the coming snow on my Birthday, nor that I will soon acquire an Instax Mini.
Santa will leave me one more present, as he did for Ralphie in A Christmas Story. Ralphie nabbed his Red Ryder BB Gun, and I, my first instant camera.
I am thrilled, overjoyed, gregarious. Positivity is contageous, as is Covid, with which I too was gifted immediately after Christmas.
So, I take my first photos. Underexposed. Everexposed. I am an Instant Newbie!
I am overzealous, this process is so damn satisfying. I dash through the snow, camera in hand.
Loading the camera is remarkably easy. Line up the yellow arrow on the Instax film with the yellow arrow on the camera, and boom goes the dynamite. Remember, the first shot is the dark slide, so fire that one off before you start taking pictures. And here’s another pro tip from an amateur Instax user: frame the composition slightly to the right, or your picture will come out off-center. The Instax is no rangefinder, so keep in mind the eyepiece favors the left, hence framing to the right, to balance. Lastly, the flash is no dash of sunlight. It’s a spotlight close but take a photo of a bus at six in the morning and you will have a severely underexposed image.
I am ready for my close-up, as is the rest of our snow-day staff at Beau Photo.
Anyhow, the Instax Mini stole my heart. And I’m a runaway bride. February is around the corner, and I have my camera Valentine. I had long forgotten how fun it is to take pictures without any expectations. If you have fun, you’re free. So, if you’re up for falling in love, at ten frames per film pack, the Instax Mini 90 Neo Classic, is yours, regarded as perhaps the best version of them all. You can shoot macro, long exposure, double exposure, landscapes, and selfies on this little guy. And do not get too hung up on perfection – the beauty of Instant photography is its imperfections, after all, so go out and have fun with it. 🙂
Boris Riabov
