The Perfect Shot

Old Main

On the way to math class, I found myself with the perfect opportunity.  I had found a void amid the masses of students laboriously dragging themselves to their next class—the sidewalk was empty.  It was as if the Blue-and-White Sea was parting right before my eyes.  After rushing to grab my camera, I quickly adjusted the exposure, compensating for the bright sky that laid overhead.  My fingers wrapped around the camera's plastic body as the reflex to find the camera's shutter button took over.

Click.

Bzzz...

This particular instant film (Fujifilm Instax Mini film), for those of you who have never used it before, leaves the camera completely blank and develops in front of your eyes in a matter of minutes. Liken watching instant film develop to opening that present you've been shaking for days. On that note, I'd like to bust the myth about shaking modern integral film (I will explain the difference between integral film and pack film in a future post).  It does not speed up the chemical process nor does it "dry" the film, as the chemicals are encased in a layer of plastic.  More likely, you'll end up damaging your film.  Sorry, OutKast, and your song, "Hey Ya!"

Out came the photo above.

As a perfectionist, I was disappointed with the composition of the photo—Old Main wasn't exactly centered and the circular portion of the sidewalk wasn't symmetric across the bottom of the picture.  The lighting wasn't perfect either, with the foreground a smidge too dark and the background washed out.  Worst of all, it turns out I wasn't in a mystical void bereft of rushing students.  See that speck in the middle of the sidewalk?

However, the more I looked at the photo, I was reminded of what makes instant photography so special.  The "unwanted" splotches of color, composition "issues" due to lens parallax, and unexposed shots that don't even develop...  Sometimes, the film could be expired, too cold, or too hot, resulting in something like this:

Polaroid 600 film that developed in the cold and was underexposed

These are innate flaws in the art that make photographers more cognizant of how they can improve.  Moreover, I've come to realize these imperfections are what make these little pieces of film so perfect.  They also make the exposures that do develop correctly that much more rewarding.

The shadows in the foreground create a stark contrast with a glowing Old Main farther behind.  The solitary student walking toward the building enhances the depth of the photo and further emphasizes a focal point (I'll explain that soon too!)  It turns out these defects aren't entirely adverse after all.

What's most important, though, is understanding that perfection isn't everything.  Perfection is not what makes photography fun, nor is it what makes life such an adventure.  The twists and turns in life, whether while taking a photograph, playing a sport, or trying something new is what truly makes life worthwhile.