Strawberry Pickin’ on the Instax SQ6 Square
Fun fact that I didn’t know until we moved here, strawberries grow most months of the year in Northern California. On Saturday, we ventured to Swanton Berry Farm, north of Santa Cruz, to pick for ourselves. I grew up picking strawberries in the fields of Pungo, Virginia and fresh berries always make me think of the heart of spring and strawberry shortcake. This time, our berries were destined to become chocolate covered strawberries, but may I need to make a return visit soon and bake up a shortcake.
For the day’s adventure, I carried my favorite Fujifilm Instax SQ6, a discontinued and cherished instant camera. With the bright sunlight, I had to lower the exposure compensation to avoid overexposing the photos. Even with the exposure turned down, shooting instant film in harsh midday sun is always a bit of a gamble. You only get ten shots per pack, so every time you press the shutter, you just have to trust your eye and accept whatever comes out of the top of the camera. A few of the prints came out a little brighter than I wanted, but the cool blue tone of the Instax film paired so well with the clear blue sky overhead.
Field Notes: If you are shooting an Instax SQ6 outdoors in direct sunlight, set the exposure to Lighten/Darken mode (L/D button) and shift it to Darken. Instant film highlights blow out very quickly in bright sun, so pulling the exposure down gives you much better color saturation in the sky and foliage.
