As I stated in my New Year’s Resolutions post, one of the things I want to work on developing this year is my film photography skills (no pun intended).
While I’m figuring out all the film camera stuff my grandad sent me in the mail right now to make that all possible, I decided to find a sort of baseline for myself. I have a few different disposable cameras I took to CVS the other day to get developed, and I’ve recently gotten the photos back.
The cameras I used are the Kodak Daylight disposable camera and the Fujifilm disposable camera.
I thought it would be fun to share some of the developed photos I got back, talk about what I liked and disliked about them, and what I hope to accomplish with film photography going forward. I think it would also be fun to take a look at using the app Huji for photography as well as how I’ve used my Polaroid Instax Mini. So let’s hop in.
1. Huji
I’ve talked about this app before, but for those of you who don’t know, Huji is a free camera app that you can use to give your pictures the aesthetic of film pictures. There’s also a paid version, which has a one-time fee of a dollar or two, where you can import pictures you have already taken. Huji gives that oversaturated, warm look to pictures, and you can also choose to add a date stamp, lower the quality to give it a more grainy feel, and “distressing” with random light patterns.
I used Huji all throughout high school to take selfies with friends, but I’ve also used it with some actual photography, like my Valentine’s Day shoot.
I really like Huji for its easiness and fun, but it’s nowhere near working an actual film camera. I’ll continue to use it, but it’s not really a replacement for film photography. However, if you have no desire to learn how to develop pictures, and don’t want the hassle of disposable cameras, this app can be great to give you some of the “aesthetic” features associated with film photography.
2. Polaroid
I got a Polaroid camera for my birthday in 2019, and while I loved it, it’s also pretty finnicky. I would take pictures of my friends when they visited my dorm room or before we went out. So many of the photos are treasured to me, but unfortunately, I left them with my belongings at school. I do have one photo with a bunch of them, so I’ll include that.
I did really enjoy the ease of a Polaroid camera, and how I instantly got the result of the photo. However, since I got my camera I’ve had issues with it where more often than not photos will develop completely black. Pricey without results just feels like a complete waste to me. I will say that it does prepare me a little bit for shooting on film cameras; sometimes your shot is going to be completely ruined and there’s nothing you can do about it after the fact.
3. Fujifilm
The Fujifilm disposable camera I had developed I actually found during the summer of 2019, and my friends and I continued to shoot on it until it was full. It already had a few pictures taken, so I honestly didn’t even know what to expect until I developed them. (By the way, I got both my cameras developed at a local CVS. They don’t return negatives unfortunately, but they do give a CD of the photos along with the actual prints. It’s a 7-10 business day wait, and costs about $15 per camera.)
After picking up the prints and looking through them, it became clear to me that more than just a few pictures had been taken. That’s okay though; the pictures still have a certain charm to them. The ones that I did take I love. They show friends sharing moments together, and bring me back to the memories I have of spending time with them.
4. Kodak
Last up is the Kodak camera. I actually have a couple of these, but I only got one developed. My big fear with this camera was lighting, as it’s supposed to be used only outdoors during daylight since it doesn’t have any flash capabilities. I, of course, still took pictures indoors at night and in low lighting. While I got them while I was at college during the 2019-2020 school year, I didn’t really use them that often right up until they moved everyone home. Because of that, I decided to try and fill up the cameras as fast as I could. Maybe not the smartest choice, but definitely fun.
After flipping through the pictures, I saw that my lighting fear was warranted. More than half the pictures were basically unusable because of the low lighting conditions that I took them in. I expected that, I guess, but was more just hoping they would turn out fine. They clearly didn’t:
Here’s how the (usable, lol) Kodak pictures came out:
I definitely like these. They were taken at moments when I was just having fun and joking around with my friends and family. They definitely capture a feeling, which is what I’m ultimately after when it comes to working with film right now. Those ambitions might change, but for now I can easily say that’s what I want.
Overall, I would say that my clear aim was to get those fun, candid shots. I feel like that’s how film best lives: with fond memories. In my journey to working with real film cameras and not just apps or disposable ones, I definitely want to get back to my roots a little bit and work with more candid shots. Now, I’ll also be trying some more editorial portrait styles, and maybe even going back and doing some landscape work, but as of now that’ll be my goal.
Remember, you can find all the posts about me and film camera journey under the tag “filmjourney”. Next will hopefully be a post about buying the final needed items and some much needed practice photography. Until next time!
EAC Photos 