Why would you use an instant printer to print your photographs? Most people immediately visualize taking a snapshot of a friend or loved one and handing them a photograph—and that is an absolutely perfect answer to the question. However, since many of us have gotten accustomed to the print-free life of digital photography, it might be good to brainstorm and discuss some uses for the photographic print—specifically, but not limited to, the FUJIFILM INSTAX instant camera or FUJIFILM INSTAX SHARE instant printer print.
While many are familiar with the concept of instant cameras such as the FUJIFILM INSTAX—Polaroid was a household word for decades—today’s instant film printers bring a new flexibility to the world of the instant print. With today’s FUJIFILM INSTAX SHARE instant printers, you can make prints of your smartphone snapshots or any other image that you can call up on your mobile device.
Gifts
Of course, the simple act of handing someone an instant print is one of gift giving. But let’s take a deeper dive into this subject.
Gift giving is synonymous with birthdays and certain holidays but, with an instant printer, gift giving can be spontaneous—no online ordering, shipping, waiting, boxes, postage, etc. Unlike the millions of awesome gifts you can find on the Web and the tens of thousands of items on the B&H Photo website, an instant print is a truly unique gift—a one-of-a-kind physical present that can be held, touched, placed in a frame or on the refrigerator, and passed to others to show off.
In many ways, the instant photographic print can be a perfect gift.
Art
Sometimes, my computer screensaver will cycle through my photographs when we have guests over. Occasionally, folks will glance at the slideshow of images—but usually not for very long. No one looks at digital photographs for very long—regardless of the subject.
Do you know what people spend time looking at? Photographic prints on walls. Make a collage. Assemble some small frames. Use magnetic paint and magnets. There are many ways to display your INSTAX SHARE prints on the wall where you know people will spend time admiring them.
Party Favors
My mother always assembled amazing party favor grab bags for friends attending my birthday parties. Often, I wished I was grabbing one for myself because they were filled with awesome treats and small toys.
In today’s instant-printer world, Mom can add instant prints to her party favor repertoire by snapping photographs with her phone or an INSTAX camera of me standing and smiling next to each guest, then sending the prints away with the guests as they leave. Better yet, Mom, make two prints—one for me to keep and one to send home with my friend!
Wedding Photo Fun
In the modern era of the smartphone, a wedding with 100 guests is a wedding with 101 or 102 photographers (a pro shooter or pro and second shooter were probably hired, as well). This is both good and bad (ask a professional what it is like to compete with dozens of smartphone photographers going for the same exact shot), and it is cool to have a special hashtag for your big day, but how many of those images make it from the screen to the print?
Here is my idea for wedding print fun: Find a willing volunteer (maybe a perfect job for a youngster) and station them at a table at the reception with a smartphone and INSTAX SHARE printer and a pile of INSTAX film. As the festivities transpire, wedding guests can swing by the table and send a photo or two to our volunteer via text and our master printer can then forward each photo to the SHARE printer using the Mini Link app and start cranking out prints.
By the end of the party, you’ll have a table full of awesome prints that can be taken home by guests or left behind as fun mementos for the newly hitched couple. This is way better than scrolling through social media on a hashtag search for photos from your event.
Insurance
Years ago, a wildfire was making its way through a dried-out, brush-filled San Diego canyon near my home. There wasn’t much time to evacuate, so what did I do? I threw two boxes of photographic prints and albums in my car along with some clothes (mostly uniforms) and headed to safety. The other thing I did before I left was walk around my house and photograph my stuff for the purposes of showing my homeowner’s insurance company a visual record of everything that I owned in case it didn’t exist in the span of a few hours.
This is a great job for your INSTAX SHARE printer. You can document your belongings and have those images stored in a safe or in your go-bag for those moments when you have to get out of harm’s way in a hurry and might need these images to help you recover your goods.
Refrigerator Memories
Using an INSTAX SHARE printer, you can crank out prints daily (or weekly) and keep the front of your appliance looking like a perpetual photo exhibition of recent memories. Did you spend a weekend at a museum, aquarium, beach, concert, or gathering of friends where smartphones were broken out and used to capture memories? Print out those memories right from your phone and get them shown. I promise that there will be smiles each time you reach for the handle to get to the milk.
Miniature Albums
Since your refrigerator is now a rotating art show, what should you do with the prints that have been displaced? Put them in a photo album!
While our computers, social media, and smartphones are full of photo “albums,” there is only one kind of photo album that gets handled and looked at regularly and that is the album that is full of prints.
So, migrate the prints from the fridge to the album or create albums from those special events like birthday parties, weddings, reunions, and more.
Other Uses
How things have changed. Thirty years ago, I would not be sitting at my computer writing an article to inspire our readers to print photos—much less come up with a list of reasons to print photos. But here we are in the world of digital photography where the photograph and print seem to come together rarely.
What are your favorite uses for INSTAX instant prints? Please share your thoughts in the Comments section, below!
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