As human beings, we all love to capture our favorite moments, places, people or situation. For that, instant photographs are the best.
Now you may ask us, why instant photography rather than digital ones? The answer is pretty simple. It’s because polaroid photographs are affordable, simple, easy and instant. You don’t need to wait for days to get your result. Instead, you can watch the picture right away.
In this write-up, we’ll focus on the instant photography tips so that you don’t get headaches after watching your final pictures. After all, you can capture some shots just once in your lifetime. Hence, make it worth it with our suggestions.
Let’s buckle up and guide you to those amazing tricks now!
Why Choose Instant Photography?
Every photographer should purchase an instant camera once in their life. The reasons are given below
- With an instant camera, you can immediately see your pictures.
- They’re super cheap, so anyone can buy one.
- As you can’t crop the images after they come out, you need to capture them very carefully. It helps to develop your photography skills.
- Instant cameras are cute and trendy.
- They create lots of excitement in people.
- As you can’t edit the photos, you’ll get the raw and exact moments with the photograph. Fresh and natural all the way.
- Excellent at creating personal postcards.
- The images will come out as vintage ones, which will give you a nostalgic vibe later on.
- You can add the picture to the portfolio in future.
Instant Photography Tips: 12 Tips to Be the Pro of Instant Photography
Well, now it’s time for you to learn some great tricks on instant photographs. Remember that, only great shoots can bring you great memories. You don’t want to miss any of the steps, trust us. Let’s check them out.
1. Embrace the Imperfect
Instant photographs are all about candidness or spontaneous shots. The magic lies in those pictures is insane. Always try to capture candid photos of your bestie, your favorite cafe, the street cat, the busy lane or whatever you want.
This’ll become an aesthetic once you get the image in your hand. And that’s the uniqueness of polaroids.
2. Connect with Your Subject
Don’t look for the perfect or super shot. Try to connect with the subject more. As you won’t know how the picture will come out, try to focus on the present. Observe everything around you and select the most memorable thing that’ll remind you of that place years later.
This way, your memory will be intact and you’ll get amazing shots for your postcard or Instagram.
3. Practice and Be Professional
With instant photos, you actually don’t need to be professional as you’re capturing what you like. But, if you become a professional with instant cameras, do you know how much befitted you’ll be?
Exactly. Being professional means, you should know the settings of your cam, the lighting, the background, the subject and your skill of candidness (we talked about it before).
For these, you have to practice on your own every day. The pictures can be of your neighborhood or something that looks valuable to you.
After practice, once you get to know the timing or once you’re sure that if you take pictures in some specific place, the outcome will be a bomb, you’re all set. The films won’t get wasted this way. You can post your pictures on your Facebook/Instagram page, which can make you popular as well. (as everyone loves aesthetic pics nowadays).
You can get photography offers too.
4. Watch the Light
Coming to the lighting part now. You should know that it’s the major key to your instant picture. Like seriously!
If the lighting is great, no matter what you capture will turn out breathtaking.
For example, try to take pictures on ‘Golden Hour’(before sunset) if you’re going to the beach or trying to take pictures with your family or friends. The lighting will be out of the world at that time, we can guarantee.
Moreover, if it’s nighttime or the place is dark, try to use flash. Note that, nowadays, flash images are considered the most aesthetic ones.
5. Get a Little Closer
This one is a secret from us to you. It’s that you need to get closer to your subject every time you’re taking picture of it.
You must not capture something from too far away as the meaning of instant photos is to be visible clearly. If the person or the subject is far away, the result will be awful.
6. Experiment with Double Exposure
Want to try out something unique? Play with double exposure, then. All you have to do is put something in front of a white background and then combine it with flowers/branches or just with hands.
See the final result and thank us. We’re sure the photos will be funny, surreal and imaginative.
7. Try Different Situation
Never just stick to one type of situation or subject while you’re using an instant camera. Don’t just take pictures of people. Try something new like street pics, clouds, campfire, animals, cafes, flowers, nature, etc.
That’ll make you experienced in different genres of photography, and you’ll understand the point of view of different subjects.
Just capture whatever catches your eye. We’re certain they’ll be worth the shot.
8. BMW for Spectral Feel
Sometimes it’s better to just get out of your comfort zone and try something contrasting. This makes you adventurous.
BMW is superior to any other color. You can get some mysterious, old and emotive kinds of pictures just by adding a soft BMW tone. Try it and watch how your photographs stand out.
9. Keep Your Films Cool
You may get shocked by the fact that polaroid cameras are really sensitive to sunlight. While you’re enjoying your golden hour moments and taking a bunch of pictures, make sure you kept the films in the ice or cold place before.
You can take them out an hour before the shoot and let them set in the room temp. Once the films are in a good position, we assure you that you’ll get great and constant outcomes.
Additionally, you can purchase a polaroid film box that’ll keep the films protected from moisture and light damage.
To sum up, keep them in a dry and cool place. That’s it.
10. Shield the Pictures from Light
Now it’s time for development. To develop your beloved pictures, choose a dark place. As you know, polaroid images are sensitive to light; it’s better to develop them under the film shield (you can install it on your camera).
After a few seconds, remove the picture from that shield and keep it somewhere dry and dark until it develops properly.
If the environment is hot, do this work somewhere cool with the air conditioner on. You can also develop it inside an insulated bag or under the cool beverage.
This way, you’ll get a sharper and deeper outcome.
11. Don’t Shake the Photo
As photographers, we have this tendency to shake the picture after its development. We’re telling you, ‘Never do this’. Shaking your photograph can damage the contrast and development.
12. Safely Store Your Pictures
You may think that after the developing time, the work is over with your photos. It’s not, actually. Even after the photo has developed properly, there can be still chemical reactions.
It’s better to protect those pictures from sunlight for a while. The images will be in great condition if you keep all your photographs in a dry/dark place for at least 30days.
You can use old shoebox or photo boxes as well.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Are instant photographs good quality?
Instant photographs are best if you want to capture the moment right away. The quality of the pictures will be great if you follow some steps like taking shots from not too far, getting the perfect light and focusing on the subject.
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Why are my polaroid’s coming out dark?
The only reason your polaroid’s are coming out dark is the insufficiency of light. Always try to shoot in the perfect daylight, more specifically, in the golden hour.
In this hour, your picture will have vibrant tones and the outcome will be accurate.
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Do polaroid’s fade?
As long as you develop your pictures properly, store them in a dark place and take care of them, they won’t fade. Besides, if you keep them in an archival album, your photos might last forever.
Conclusion
Instant photography tips are needed for your instant gratification. This kind of satisfaction is usually looked down but guess what? People and places don’t stay the same. So it’s better to capture those moments while you’re still in that instant.
Therefore, if you follow these tricks, you can store your polaroid’s, post them on Facebook/Instagram for likes, sell those pics as prints and even showcase them in your portfolio. Mainly, they’ll last for longer.
What more do you want?
