I turned 26 this past Sunday and rung in the start to the later half of my twenties with my very best buds. I certainly don't feel any older, but knowing I can no longer choose "20-25" on surveys and whatnot weirds me out a little! But, it's onwards and upwards, so 26, here I come!
This year, I wanted to implement a birthday tradition to carry out well into my fifties, sixties and seventies. Eighties, too. Birthday photos in a real photo booth.
As a photographer, I'm always the one behind the camera. So it's nice to not have to set up a shot on a tripod, pass off my camera to a willing photog or spin the lens around and snap away at arms length. The photo booth had to be a real one, with film, and not one of those digitized versions. I wanted the film strip to have weight in my hands and feel cold after I grabbed it out of the slot straight from the processing chemicals.
Luckily, I know of two such photo booths, literally across the street from one another in downtown Northampton. The one I chose was in Thornes Marketplace, because I knew it would have less foot traffic at its second floor location. Surprisingly, there were two other couples after Sean and I who took some photos, so this baby must still be in popular demand. (Yay!)
Sean happily obliged me in my birthday request and we trekked downtown late Sunday afternoon. The booth was tiny and probably made for a single person, but we managed to squeeze in. We had the option (!) of backgrounds, which laughably was the yellow back of the booth or a fantastically retro blue curtain. I chose the curtain. We swiveled the seat down to eye level, popped in $4 and smiled away. The flashes came quickly, and we later had the idea to plan out poses beforehand. And to bring props. There will be props next time.
It was perfect. After four minutes, the strip came out and we were immediately histercal. The photos are absolutely perfect. I love the fact that only one person is in focus at all times. The graininess is spot-on and the chemical residue is very much wanted. I love the imperfections. That's what makes the strip so much better than any digital photo I could have taken.
Aren't Sean's expressions just perfect? (In the first photo, he was making faces at himself in the small mirror on the side!) And doesn't he look great in my new birthday glasses?!
The rest of the evening was wonderful. My bestest friends - the creme of the crop - came over to my Mum's house with Sean and I and we made mini pizzas, indulged in fancy drinks in fancy glasses (strawberry syrup, seltzer water and lemon juice, topped with a raspberry!) and played Pictionary on a giant whiteboard and then Balderdash later in the evening.
What more could a girl ask for? :)
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