I know what you are thinking, “Why would you want to go on a trashy date?” Well, that isn’t exactly where I am going with this.

This summer, I had the idea that Christopher and I would take a disposable camera with us when we would go out on cute little dates throughout the summer. I wanted to capture these moments on film, and I was super excited when we got them.

I thought that this would be a pretty cheap date idea, especially considering we were able to take it on a total of six dates and end up with approximately 27 photos. The camera itself I believe cost about $10 at Walgreens. When I had it developed, I wanted two copies of each image (one for Christopher and one for myself) so that ended up being about $24.

I don’t know about you, but I used to use disposable cameras all the time when I was a kid. Back then, when you had them developed, you would get the film back, along with one print of each image. Now, they have changed that (at least at Walgreens). You now only get one copy of each image printed, along with a CD of all the scans of the images.

The Cost

To sum up: For a total of approximately $34 (spread out over about one month), I ended up with one camera, 27 images on a CD, and 54 prints (two copies of each photo).

As far as being on a college budget goes, I was working and it was summer vacation, so I had a little bit more money to spend. While this is pretty pricey, If you only take three photos each time you go out, you could spread it out over 9 weeks (assuming you only go out once a week).

You also could reduce the cost by only getting one copy of the photos and deciding who gets each one. Plus, since you have the CD, you can always go in and print more.

Originally, I was going to try and fill up the whole camera on the first date, so there are a lot of photos from that first day. However, we realized quickly that it would be more fun if we could just shoot images over the next few weeks and get them developed whenever we were ready.

Date One: Exploration

For our first date, we went on a drive to explore the more remote area around us. It was super fun. We found some abandoned trails and fun things like that.

Date Two: Craft.19

Over the next few weeks, we basically went out for coffee a bunch of times, so the majority of the photos are just of us drinking coffee. This first image is of Christopher outside one of his favorite coffee shops, Craft.19 in Sumner, Washington. (He took two photos of me, but I don’t like them enough to include them on this post.)

Date Three: Metronome Coffee

These next photos were taken at Metronome Coffee in Tacoma, Washington. They had amazing lattes. We went twice this summer, and this was the second of the two. I really liked their vanilla lattes.

Date Four: Craft.19 (Again)

Our next date sent us back to Craft.19, as it is close to where we live and one of Christopher’s favorites. These photos turned out a little bit better this time, however you may notice that in most of the photos Christopher took, his finger was covering the lens.

Bonus Photo: DAT

The next photo I have was from when Christopher came over to show me his scores from the DAT, the Dental Admissions Test, which he had been studying for all summer up to that point. As you can tell by the big smile on his face, he did very well.

Date Five: Dog Walking

Another thing we did this summer was take Patrick on a walk a few minutes away from my house. He had a wonderful time, and was very excited to have a brief moment away from his annoying little brother, Lewis.

Date Six: Seattle

The last two photos were taken on a date we had in Seattle one afternoon. Christopher drove us up to Seattle, and we explored the area around University of Washington. We had some amazing Thai food, and then decided to explore the campus a little bit. We ended up in their amazing library. I wanted to take photos in the library, but I thought the noise would be too disruptive, so we took photos outside instead.

The funny thing about these photos is that we look like two young adults touring Europe in the summer of the 1990’s, especially with the architecture behind us and the clothes we were wearing. I’m not sure what exactly went wrong with the photo I took of Christopher, but it may have just been weird since it was the last one on the camera.

Tips and tricks

While shooting with a disposable, you learn many things that are helpful to know as you continue to shoot that I want to share.

First of all, using a disposable camera means you essentially only have one chance to get it right. While this may put the pressure on for some of you, I urge you to focus on making this fun. Every shot you take is going to be different and one of a kind, so think of this as a sort of fun time capsule and a chance to get creative.

Also, keep in mind that there are different types of disposable cameras. I believe the one that I got was a Kodak. Different cameras use different film, which means the tones and colors will be different in each brand. So that I could give you an accurate representation of how these looked when they came out of the camera, I did not edit the images posted here at all, however I did edit the digitals I keep on my phone to look the way I would prefer. Next time, I am going to try to use a different camera until I find a brand of film I prefer to use.

I think I am going to try to spread out the photos over a longer portion of time, that way it is super exciting when I finally am able to get them developed. I also think that next time, I am only going to get one set of the prints, and then Christopher and I can split them between each other, and if there are others we each want a copy of, I can order them from the digital version given to us on the CD copy.

As far as using the camera, I have a few pointers. I recommend not winding it up for the photo until you are about to take the photo. When I was a kid, I would wind it up way before I was ready to take the photo, and then accidentally press the shutter before I was ready, and this ended up with a lot of wasted photos. To avoid this, and to get your money’s worth, I would recommend waiting to wind it up until right before you are taking the photo.

I also would recommend making sure that people don’t accidentally have their fingers in the photos. This was more of an issue for Christopher than it was for me, but if I had reminded him when he was taking the photos, it may have been less of a problem.

I also think that remembering that this camera is meant to be used from at least three feet away, so don’t try to take close up photos with it, because they end up blurry and oddly colored.

In addition to that, keep in mind that this camera works best in direct sunlight. When your subject is back lit, the photos aren’t going to turn out the way you expect, so maybe try to use the flash in those situations. The flash may not solve your problem, but it should help. Also remember to use the flash in darker surroundings. It may not look as great as shooting in direct sunlight, but it should help it look better for sure.

Overall, I really enjoyed shooting with a disposable camera, and I want to do it more over the coming quarter. I will be sure to share them here if I do end up doing it again.

Have you shot with a disposable camera, and if so, what is your preferred brand? Leave a comment below and let me know. Be sure to follow me here on Capturing College to keep up with me on all of my adventures.