Roger Williams Botanical Center with the Polaroid I-2

It’s so cold here in Newport right now. The high was like 30 degrees Fahrenheit today and the heat went out in my house. I was going to go to Mystic, CT today and shoot some film photography, but it was just too cold. I knew I would be miserable so I changed plans. I decided to go visit the Roger Williams Botanical Center. The great thing about this botanical center is that it is indoors so I wouldn’t freeze outside. The botanical center is in the Roger Williams Park. That park also has the zoo, a Japanese garden, and more.

I decided to shoot with my Polaroid I-2 and a pack of my Basquiat frame and black frame Polaroid I-Type film. I’m so sad I didn’t buy more of the Basquiat frames. I love the frame designs. If they ever come back in stock, I’m ordering a bunch.

Photo from Polaroid Newsroom Website

I’m trying to get over my aversion of shooting Polaroid film. I’ve been stocking up on film, but I haven’t been shooting with it. Polaroid film is a fickle mistress and she’s not cheap. I hate wasting film and shooting with Polaroid will likely lead to at least some film wasted. The Redditors of r/Polaroid basically reminded me I won’t get any better with shooting Polaroid…if I don’t shoot with Polaroid.

Roger Williams Botanical Center Entrance - Shot with I-2 and Black frame

This is a shot of the entrance to the Botanical Center. The photo was shot outside and started developing outside so that’s why it has more of a bluish-green tint to it. When I said Polaroid was a fickle mistress, this is what I meant. She is very susceptible to extreme temperatures…more so than Instax film. It was also pretty overcast today so that is part of the reason the sky is blown out. It was pretty much just a white out for the sky with the cloud coverage.

Here are some photos I took with the Black frame and my I-2. I like how the lady statue photo came out. I ended up using the flash for this one to better illuminate her. The photo that looks like it has white flowers should actually be more pink. I’m a bit disappointed that the camera focused more so on the back half of the photo instead the flowers in the front. I have mixed feelings about the last photo, the red flowers on the cactus. It’s not framed how I intended. I wanted to more of a mirror image on the side and then the bulk of the cactus in the middle. I’ve gotta learn how to better use the viewfinder for the I-2. There is a bit of parallax and I just haven’t taken the time to learn how to properly use it.

These are some of my favorite photos of the red plants at the Botanical Center. They are so much sharper in person. I actually really like how underexposed these photos are. The backgrounds are darker so I think it draws your eyes to the flower/plants. Plus, the Basquiat frames are so awesome.

Here are two different photos of the same flower. The Black frame is darker while the Basquiat frame is brighter. I think they both have their benefits, but I still lean towards the darker photo. I like the richness of the green in that photos. I do think the brighter photo of the flower and plants works well with the Basquiat frame with all of its yellow.

This was my attempt at a double exposure. The little green plants were the bottom layer and the bigger red and green plant was the upper layer. Like with parallax, I need to learn more about double exposure. I have that feature in a lot of my cameras, but I never really use it. It can create some really fun and creative images.

This is probably one of my favorite plants that I found at the Botanical Center. It looks like a little pineapple plant. I thought pineapples grew on trees, but I did a quick Google search, and it looks like they grew from a regular plant. I think this is such a cute little plant. I had a lot of fun at the Botanical Center. I did use this app called Lghtmtr on my phone to help me better choose my settings. It actually worked out pretty well. I’m going to keep using it until I get more comfortable with understanding my camera settings.

It was nice to get out of the house and take some photos not in the cold lol. I’ve done several shoots outside and it was just too cold. I definitely need to shoot with my Polaroids more if I want to improve. My dad got me a purple Polaroid Now 2 for Christmas, but it shoots in auto. I’m going to wait until I get more sun because it’s easier to get good shots with a non-manual Polaroid with more sun.