Behind The Scenes: Instax Moments

Here are some Instax images from the past few weeks! I haven't used my little cameras in quite a while so it was good to show them some light finally!

Do you have an Instax camera or Polaroid you still use? Feel free to share some of your favorite photos! (How do you store/share/show your developed Instax pictures at home?! I'm looking for a creative way to showcase mine opening in our home but nothing has come to me yet! I'd love your input!)

Instax Mini vs. Instax 210

One of the questions I get very very often is which FujiFilm Instax camera I prefer over the other. Of course I welcome them with open arms because I'm pretty passionate about both of them, but I felt like maybe it was time to dish it all out in the form of a blog update and also to open up the comments to your personal reviews and opinions, too! Because this is just that... my opinion! I'd love to hear what others think! I'll forewarn you that this will be image heavy!



So we'll start with the Instax Mini since that was the first one I purchased back in November 2009! I wanted to treat myself to something nice and that cute little brown camera was just smiling at me! Let me preface these by saying this: If you want to buy them for the cheapest price, buy via Amazon.com! At least in my experience! I purchased my Mini for $70 + tax and film and I purchased my 210 for $80! I saw them at Urban Outfitters earlier this week for $105 and $135 respectively! Yikes!

Instax Mini - Choco

Pros:

• Convenient size. Easy to fit in a bag and carry out.
• Credit card size photos fit nicely in wallet.
• Photo size makes for great Christmas ornaments!
• Takes great photos indoors with low-light!
• Takes even better photos outside.
• The aperture settings are easy to understand and sensible.
• They make great impromptu business cards! (Try it!)
• Comes in different colors.

Cons:

• The picture size is half the size of the 210 yet roughly the same price.
• It is very aperture-sensitive. Easy to over and under expose!
• Really only "work" vertically. Horizontal photos are hard to compose.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Instax Wide 210

Pros:

• Larger picture size makes more of an impact.
• Comes with a close-up adapter for self shot portraits.
• Takes nice outdoor photos with decent lighting.
• Works both vertically and horizontally without appearing "odd".

Cons:

• Far from the best at indoor photos.
• Blurry shots produced if you forget the close-up adapter at times.
• Heavy and large! The 210 is very very bulky and makes it hard to carry around.

Verdict

My personal opinion is so very very torn. Mike and I have had the conversation multiple times and it's hard to really choose between the two. I love the size of the pictures from the 210, but I guess if I had to choose just one (like, life or death situation here!) then I'd go with the Mini because it's small enough for me to carry around, I can use the pictures for so many things, and it really handles low light situations well. Plus who can deny the cute and quirky personality of an alien-looking brown camera?!

But I'm interested in what you think! Do you own either camera? Which do you prefer? Are there things about each of them that would make it/break it for you? Let me hear about them in the comments!

Click through the jump below to see a whole heck of a lot of instax images! I scanned them in yesterday so why not share them?! (Note: I could've scanned them at a higher resolution so they're a bit blurry! Whoops!) Seriously... there are a lot of pictures after this jump! Haha

Spring Fling in the Snow - Image Heavy!

Mike and I went to bed early early Wednesday morning (err, Tuesday night?) to several inches of freshly fallen snow. We were excited because it was falling like mad and we knew we'd wake up to a winter wonderland! Sure enough, Mike wakes me from my slumber at 9:30am (after a brief stint outside with the girls at 5am... all the while he was snoozing away!) and we were up! We started the day with a workout on the Biggest Loser and let me tell you one thing... 25 minutes of that after waking up to every muscle in your body aching is deadly. It felt good though, so I powered through it and then enjoyed some plain oatmeal. Yum! Afterwards we got dressed, bundled up and went outside for a bit! We shot some outfit photos and played around with several of our lomography cameras and instax, too!





This dress is a new one. I bought it at Charlotte Russe the other day as we were walking through the mall. I didn't even bother trying it on so I was relieved when it fit like a glove. The detail on the bust is my favorite. It's a very "spring time" dress and it makes me think of coastal towns and walks on the beach. I'm sure it'll get plenty of wear in the spring and summertime but I'm happy to share some color on days with a dreary sky like yesterday. I think the black tights and grey cardigan help play it down a bit, but it still feels nautical in a way. I think there will be a lot of great combinations coming!






By the time you read this Mike and I will [hopefully] have already returned home from an incredibly long drive to Nashville and back (2 hours each way now!) and also finishing up things at the house. I was going to stay behind and have the day to myself to work on designs, try and fix my Adobe Illustrator, and do a few scheduled posts. But I'd hate to send him out on that venture alone so I'm tagging along even if it means I just provide company on the ride. We also have to get some film developed from an old camera we found of ours and a new one we recently bought!

Then he has class tonight so I'll be at home doing design work. Catching up! Yesterday was a frustrating day for me, design-wise. Nothing was working and I had such a block that I couldn't work through. I ended up taking a 2 and a half hour nap after Mike and I went for lunch at the local Mexican restaurant! Hopefully today proves more productive!









I'm itching to rip open my Built By Wendy Dresses book soon! I hope I can fit in some time to play with it! Dresses are calling my name!