i documented my whole summer on disposable cameras, here is how it turned out.

so if you know me, then you know that i am suCH a big picture person. i like documenting everything. and if you also know me, you would know that i like physical things. my two favorites: printed pictures & handwritten letters.

tbh, i hoard printed pictures. i have a fujifilm instax and i use polaroids like a madman. i print about 100 photos at a time at least twice a year. i like my things phyiscal.

something that i have always wanted to try was using film. like, film you have to develop in a darkroom, that typa film. film that you get developed and printed for you.

i have been wanting to try disposable cameras for awhile too. they’re cheaper to buy (developing? we’ll get to that later) and i really am obsessed with the way film turns out when it’s developed. i was originally going to get a disposable camera for my november trip to cozumel but i procrastinated too long on ordering cameras. so, i waited until summer. it was summer, i would obviously have a lot of things to photograph, a lot of things i would want to photograph. i was determined to make tons of plans this summer and was also doing a month in china so… there was most dEFINITELY stuff to document.

i can’t say i did much research either before i bought the disposable cameras. damon & jo loved using them so i was like why not?

i documented my whole entire 2.5 months of summer and i was actually so excited to develop them because to be honest, i had forgotten a lot of stuff that had happened in the beginning months of my summer by the end (oops.) i faced one large issue though: developing.

guys, i looked everywhere for places to develop my three cameras. drug stores, online, local photography stores. everywhere was expensive as fCK and was not worth it. i had three cameras, i think the cheapest price i found was about $20/camera. 

it was gonna cost me about $60 to develop 81 exposures (27 exposures/camera). LMAOOOO heck no !! the polaroid costs cheaper than that sdlkfjsdlkf

THANK GOD, my friend told me about a photography store that wasn’t super local but was accessible. i ended up paying $30 for three cameras, half of what i was gonna pay. and not gonna lie…i loved the results.

i had read before that the best thing to do with disposable cameras is wait awhile before you develop them. it reminds me of time capsule to be honest, burying something just to surprise yourself years later. but like, ya girls impatient so i just developed my cameras at the end of my summer.

when i got the prints, i was so satisfied with how they turned out. half the pictures i took, i had forgotten i had even taken them. i loved the look of film and how 1989 everything looked. first disposable camera experience: definitely a positive one. probably going to get about 10 more disposable cameras and document my junior year on them, YOU ALREADY KNOW !!

if you don’t want to invest in an instax camera, then i think disposable cameras are a good alternative to try. they’re pretty decent in pricing if you’re able to find a place to develop the film for you for cheap. they’re easy to use, easy to bring around on vacations and such, and they give your photos a unique vibe. you don’t have to be any type of professional photographer. just wind up the camera, point, and shoot (and pray the shot will end up okay.) when done right, disposable cameras can be great ways to document your life and it’s something that i hope i’ll be able to do a lot of in the future.

so to conclude, here is a small collection of my most favorite shots from my disposable cameras, documenting summer ’18:

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i hope you enjoyed 🙂

kaitlin.