Thanks to <trigger warning> that virus </trigger> like most of the population I'm currently grounded at home (albeit still working until my office reopens) spending a lot less amount of time outside than I could be. This has given me a chance to catch up on things a bit and I was going through photos on Flickr the other day and thought to myself; I don't use my Instax enough. I always save it for special occasions because the film is quite expensive and then end up never using it. So this Easter weekend I decided to make the most of this new situation, dig out my Instax and use it some more! I had a couple of packs of film in my bedroom kicking around that I hadn't used yet, so I took it out to carry it around whilst I was having my government mandated daily walking exercise!
Nuneaton isn't the most picturesque town in the world... but it does have a few things going for it. I live near the canal that runs through the length of the town so I've been spending most of my time walking along there and there are a few parks and places within half hours walking distance so despite being locked down I still had a few places I could go to take photos. I started shooting with a pack of expired Instax Mini Airmail film, that expired in February 2020, so was only just out of date and still worked alright. I actually overexposed a few shots even though I shot on the "bright sunlight" setting because the sun was just that bright!
I also bumped into my friend Tara on her way to feed her ponies!
The day after I shot with my last pack of in date Instax Mini film and I got some really nice photos. Shooting with this film again reminded me why I was attracted to owning an Instax camera in the first place. The little tiny photos, when everything goes right, look really cool and have a really unique look to them you don't get with anything else. Instant photos just have something magic about them and are so much fun to play around with.
On the Bank Holiday Monday I shot with a pack of expired Instax Mini Monochrome film which I had also let expire, in October 2019 but it still worked pretty well. I really liked how the black and white pics turned out, being a fan of b&w film anyway, and I really wanna shoot this some more. Maybe next time actually in date...
There should be some graffiti on that wall, but it didn't show up on this pic!
Not being able to see people or to travel, and not commuting thus not being in Birmingham has messed up the photography plans I had for the next few months but it also gave me a chance to think more creatively about how I can still make photography happen despite being stuck in my home town and limited to only a few hours, at most, outdoors. I had fun playing around with my Instax again and I'm going to try and make an effort to use it more regularly instead of letting it gather dust in my bedroom! You can check out my portfolio of Instant shots, which is a gallery of all my favourite Instax Mini and Polaroid shots by clicking on this little bit of text.