this is my favorite class

because instant photography plus middle schoolers? yes. yes, this is my kind of class. my favorite kind of class. 

twas a small but wildly enthusiastic group. they rolled right through the challenge of shooting through grey rainy weather and met peel apart film catastrophes head on. and the girl who just about drove me crazy the first day of class, the girl who would. not. stop. picking up cameras and pushing buttons shortly won me over. she was there every wednesday, ready to shoot, determined to master that land camera beast. her little hands could barely pull the film out of the compartment when we first started. every week, she struggled. but then-- then she got it. and she began to wield that thing like a pro. she became what I like to call UNSTOPPABLE.

we should also talk about how my daughter signed up, even though I told her she didn't have to, told her she could totally skip it and my feelings would not be hurt. but she decided to take the class anyway and so of course my mama heart wanted to burst into a few thousand pieces because oh my goodness her shots were beautiful. I had to refrain from saying so at least seven hundred times. maybe more.  

there will, of course, be more classes. which means more stories, more images. more kids with polaroid cameras in their hands. and for this, I am infinitely thankful.