Remember the disposable camera? The wind up ones with the click-to-open flash with no ability to view photos until they were developed? *GASP* Well I certainly remember them. And have a lot of cringe-worthy photos from the late 90s to prove it. Anyway, before we left for our trip to California, I ordered a disposable camera pack from Amazon. I had seen a few things floating around the internet about people using them on vacation and knew I had to try it. A little nostalgia mixed with a throwback “filter” that would take some serious editing to recreate and you’ve got a pretty fun photography experiment I think you need to try.
T and I actually had a lot of fun using the disposable camera on vacation and it was even more fun to get the prints back… 10 days later. We had forgot about pretty much all the shots we took. But, also pleasantly surprised by the fun pictures we got back. Maybe that’s why I immediately ordered more cameras to use at holiday parties. Yup, you read that correctly – I will be doing this again over the holidays. I’m straight-up obsessed! And that’s why I think you should try it too. Even if it’s one roll of 27 prints, the experiment is something different and a nice little throwback.
However, before you go out and buy a pack for yourself, I’ve got a few things to know before using a disposable camera listed below. Enjoy the photos!
A few things to know before using a disposable camera
It’s a little difficult to find a place to develop them. I used Walgreens and it sounds like the best option at this point. They also provide a CD of prints (another throwback), which allowed me to share them above! I think Target used to offer the service, but have phased it out. I believe there are some online services as well.
Even with the flash, night pictures aren’t a great idea. I kind of forgot about the night issue. Unless the flash has something really close to bounce off of, you’ll get a fuzzy black photo back. I took a few landscape photos at night (in my defense, they were in town on a lit street) and none of them actually worked.
Don’t expect a high quality viewfinder – it’s actually horrible. But surprisingly, the photos still turn out pretty great.
Be prepared to laugh. Because pulling a wind-up camera out of your bag to take a photo feels extremely hilarious. No other good way to describe it.
xoxo. B
Okay, I love love LOVE this idea and need to make this happen on our next vacation. I wish I would’ve thought of this with our last few Disney trips because that feels like the perfect place to do something like this. Your photos turned out so fun and nostalgic!
Yes, yes, YES! You absolutely need to try it next time you go to Disney – the photos would be fantastic! And I have to give my husband props because he took most of these!