Last of Fall: Polaroids and Photos in Forest Park

The other day I took a walk in Forest Park and hoped to get some nice, Polaroid instant photos. However, upon my first click, the film got stuck inside the camera, so I had to take out the entire film pack to fix it. In the process, I exposed a sheet or two to light…and those definitely got ruined. I thought that I wouldn’t be able to use my instant camera anymore, so I switched over to digital (always so dependable, except for the times when I forget to put in the battery). But in the middle of my shoot, I pulled out the first stuck photo and found to my delight that it developed!

Always one to model for me.

Those light leaks on either end were probably a result of the photo getting stuck inside the camera. But I can appreciate them –  I think the leaks make the photo look unique and cool!

A little further up on a hill:

Now back down the hill, lol:

At this moment, I discovered that my Polaroids were still salvageable and took another one:

You can still see some kind of light interference, but that’s ok with me. Imperfections and surprises are to be expected when taking film photos!

We found flat stones in this dried-up riverbed and Chad taught me how to skip rocks. I clearly need more practice…my best was 3 skips, and that happened only once.

We may or may not have disturbed some ducks nearby…

Photocred: Chad

Moving onward, we reached this clearing with beautiful golden leaves that covered the ground. Fall wins to be my favorite season by a looong shot.

Right after I turned around to leave, this flock of geese flew up into the sky all at once. It looked so incredible; I’m mad that I missed capturing it! Guess it’s one of those things you have to be happy to just see in person.

Found this gigantic pod on the ground and cracked it open. Doesn’t it look appetizing?

My favorite line of trees.

Now we’re in a whole new section of the park. I am amazed to see how vast and diverse the land is!

There are a ton of bridges in this park. I thought this one looked really beautiful, even a little industrial, and snapped an instant photo before heading back.

An omen, maybe?

This entire journey was supposed to lead me to the fish hatchery. But once I got there, I was a little disappointed (even though Chad warned me) because the pond was blocked by tall reeds so it was hard to see, there were no fish (from what I could tell), and parts of the pond iced over. However, I’m so, so glad that I captured the remnants of fall in the park before snow hit. And it did, the very next day! I’m even happier that not all was lost with my Polaroid project, and I got 4 nice photos out of it. I’m excited to continue experimenting with my instant camera, but also want to save the expensive film for “special occasions.” Any suggestions?

Thanks for reading!

This post is also linked here, here, and here.