POV: You brought your instax™ on the Earth Day walk

Your phone's been buzzing all morning. Notifications, news, another group chat that's already 47 messages deep. You know the feeling. Earth Day rolls around every 22nd April, and somewhere between the doom-scroll and the recycling reminder, there's a quieter invitation hiding: go outside and actually look at things.

This year, make it count. Grab your instax™ camera, head outside, and document the world around you, one perfect, tangible print at a time. No editing apps. No filters. Just you, a walk, and film that develops in your hand.

Why your neighbourhood is the best subject you're sleeping on

It can feel like you have to go somewhere special for 'good' photos. But Earth Day is the perfect nudge to look closer. The buddleia growing through the crack in the wall. The allotment three streets away with its wild, wonky courgette plants. The park pond that somehow always has a heron.

This is nature photography and you don't need a flight to do it. You just need a camera, some film, and an hour you'd probably spend scrolling anyway.

The instax™ format is made for this kind of spontaneous, eyes-open wandering. You spot something. You shoot it. You hold it in your hand ninety seconds later. Simple as that, and it's genuinely brilliant.

Which instax™ camera to bring on your earth day walk

Different cameras, different vibes. Here's the lowdown on the best instax™ cameras for outdoor use.

instax mini 12™: the ultimate backpack companion

If you want something you can toss in your backpack and forget about until the perfect moment, the instax mini 12™ is it. Lightweight, colourful, and genuinely simple, it's the go-to for casual, instant camera outdoor shooting. The automatic exposure adjustment means it handles bright daylight better than you'd expect, which is great news when you're shooting in the midday sun.

Best for: quick snaps on the go, park walks, and those little nature moments you notice along the way.

instax WIDE 400™: go big or go home

When the scene is just too good to fit in a mini frame, reach for the instax WIDE 400™. The wide-format print (roughly twice the size of the mini) is built for landscape shots that actually feel like landscapes. Think: sweeping park views, rows of green walls on a city street, allotment beds stretching into the distance.

It's analogue, just point, shoot, and the prints come out stunning. For Earth Day, it's practically poetic.

instax WIDE Evo™: for the ones who like options

The instax WIDE Evo™ is the hybrid option. It’s part analogue camera, part creative tool. Switch up lens and film effects, shoot digitally first to check your composition, then commit to print. For nature photography, the ability to preview before you burn film is genuinely useful, especially when you're trying to capture a moment that’s easy to miss.

instax SQUARE SQ1™ & SQUARE SQ40™: bold colours, maximum impact

If you like the idea of turning your walk into something you can keep, the square format is the one. Both the instax SQUARE SQ1™ and SQ40™ give you a wider frame that works beautifully for scenery, group shots, and building out a nature journal.

The SQ1 keeps things simple and playful, while the SQ40 leans a bit more classic with a sleeker design and a built-in selfie mirror. Either way, you’re getting a format that feels right at home on a scrapbook page or pinned up on your wall.

Shooting in bright daylight: instax™ tips that actually work

Outdoor photography on a sunny day looks gorgeous in real life and occasionally terrible on film. If you want to get the best snaps, here's how to nail it.

• Avoid shooting directly into the sun. Harsh backlight will blow out your print. Instead, position your subject with the sun behind you or to the side for even, flattering light.
• Use the brightness dial. The instax mini 12™ automatically adjusts exposure for you, which makes shooting in bright daylight much easier. On very bright days, nudge it slightly darker to avoid overexposed prints.
• Embrace shade. Dappled light under trees creates gorgeous, soft prints with natural contrast. Find a spot under a canopy and see what happens.
• Get close to flowers. Most instax™ cameras have a close-up mode or macro setting. Get close to flowers. Use close-up mode to capture the colours and shapes up close. It’s perfect for adding variety to your shots.
• Wait for golden hour. If you can manage a late afternoon walk, the warm low light makes every print look like it was taken in 1976. In a good way.

What to Shoot: Your Earth Day photography checklist

Stuck for subjects? Here's a starting point.

• Wildflowers. Dandelions, daisies, buddleia; the ones everyone walks past. Get low and shoot upward for dramatic perspective.
• Green walls and climbing plants. Ivy-covered buildings, wisteria in bloom, moss-covered steps. Urban nature at its most cinematic.
• Local parks. Trees, ponds, benches, dogs. All excellent instax™ subjects. Bonus points for catching light through leaves.
• Allotments. If you have access to one (or can peer through the fence, respectfully), the textures and colours of a working allotment are incredible on film.
• Puddle reflections. A surprisingly underrated subject. Sky, trees, buildings; upside down, distorted, and genuinely beautiful.

Your street. The mundane stuff. The cracked pavement with grass growing through it. The neighbour's overgrown rose bush. Earth Day isn't just about the grand gestures.

How to build a local nature journal with instax™ prints

Here's the move that separates a nice walk from something you'll actually remember: make a nature journal.

Pick up an instax™ photo album and dedicate it entirely to your local area. Every walk, every season, every weird and wonderful thing you notice. Over time, it becomes a genuinely stunning document of where you live. It’s the kind of thing you'll look back on in ten years and feel something about.

Some ideas to get you started:

• Label each print with a location and date in pencil or pen directly on the white border
• Add pressed flowers or leaves alongside the prints for extra texture
• Mix square and mini prints if you're shooting with multiple cameras
• Leave blank pages for notes, sketches, or found objects (a bus ticket, a seed packet)

The real point of all this

Earth Day is a reminder to slow down and actually notice what’s around you. Taking the time to photograph what’s growing, blooming, and thriving around you is its own small act of noticing. And noticing is where care starts.

Bring your instax™ camera on the walk. Shoot the things that catch your eye. Hold the prints in your hand or build a nature journal. 

Because every photo you take is proof you noticed, and on Earth Day, that's the whole point.