Sharing My Love of Photography with Instax Mini 8 ~ & Giveaway!

I have been looking for ways to share my love of photography with Talia. Like most kids "these days", she is experienced with taking photos with a smart phone or a digital camera but we rarely print those photos, so there's not much of a project or feeling of completion that comes from that. Sure they can take a photo and look at the screen to see what they've created, but that's where it ends most of the time!

When we visited my sister in Utah, Talia's cousin had a Fujifilm Instax Mini 8 camera that all of the girls were extremely excited to use! There was something special about being able to see their creation in print, and to see it so soon after snapping the photo!

When I was thinking about birthday gift ideas for Talia's 11th birthday, I kept thinking about an Instax Mini camera because it would give me an opportunity to share my hobby with her in a way that would get her excited! I was right, by the way...

She has her very own camera now and she couldn't be happier with it! There are seven different colour options, so we went with raspberry because her favourite colour is red. 

This is the photo that got me thinking about getting her this camera:

During a sleepover with my sister's girls, Sierra pulled out her Instax Mini camera to take a few photos to document their visit.  I later found her sitting with Talia, intently looking through her own little photo album, filled with photos she had taken to represent memories that are special to her.

Now Talia has gone to work, documenting things that are special to her! We recently went out to get some photos of the girls in their new Spring dresses (me, with my camera in hand, and Talia with hers). I snapped this photo of Talia taking on the role of photographer:

It makes me so proud and so excited to see her taking an interest in Photography because it's something we'll be able to share, and to enjoy doing together. I'm excited to see Talia's collection of special photos grow. We choose to photograph the things that mean the most to us, so her collection of photographs is a glimpse into what she treasures.

Below is the photo Talia was taking of Katrina (in the photo above)- it turned out great!

We started with a cartridge of regular film, but we're looking forward to playing with some of the other film cartridges! There are a ton of different film options!

I'll share a photo below of some of the ones we're checking out. There are a bunch of cute borders and you can even get mono chrome film- I'm excited about the artistic possibilities with that one!

We recently attended a farewell party at our church and someone was going around with an Instax Mini camera, taking photos of everyone in attendance so they could give the photos to the guest of honour- like a photo guest book! This would be so fun for any kind of party- I can totally see a super hero themed party with photos using the Comic Instax film!

Finally, I wanted to share that there are fun camera straps and cases made especially for this camera.

The flap on the case is attached by snaps, so you can remove it and use the camera while still in the case!

There are also photo albums available that are just the right size for Instax prints (you can see Talia's in the video below).

Talia was excited to help me put together a little tutorial video about the Instax Mini 8. This is her YouTube debut, so she would be thrilled if you went over to the video on YouTube and gave it a thumbs up or a comment- she and Katrina are excited to see what everyone thinks of it! You can watch it here too:

Instax Mini 8 Giveaway!

Fujifilm Canada is going to give one of you an Instax Mini 8 camera of your own! The winner will get a camera and a pack of film so they can get right to work (or play)!  To enter for you chance to win, just fill out the form below! (Note: Giveaway prize can only be shipped within Canada.)

[Giveaway Closed]

Beginner Photography Tips

I wrote a series of posts on "How to Take Better Photos with the Camera You Already Have!"
If you're sharing photography with your little one, or you want to improve with your own, check these out!

Tip #1: Using Your Flash
Tip #2: Natural Light
Tip #3: Be Aware of your Background
Tip #4: Perspective
Tip #5: Focus & Zoom
Tip #6: Rule of Thirds
Tip #7: No Cheese!

Fun & Creative Instax Ideas

You can find lots of fun ideas for creative ways to use your Instax camera on their Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter accounts.


Disclosure: Fujifilm Canada provided product for the purposes of this post and giveaway. All opinions and experiences shared are, as always, my own.

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