Is Anafi the homeland of my Polaroid Diaries? This was actually my thought when I decided to pack, once again, a Polaroid camera for my visit to Anafi. I’ve visited the remote Greek island several times during the last decade and constantly experimented with instant photography on its soil. Additionally, I never traveled to Anafi with the same Polaroid camera. And this time, I decided to capture some Anafi moments with the Impulse AF.
Anafi enjoys a fantastic climate all year, and it’s always sunny. But here’s the tricky part: although Polaroids always need light, give them too much light, and you might experience washed-off colors, wrong exposure, and vignetting. As if there was a reason to elevate the challenge, I decided to pack the Impulse AF. As you probably know, you can’t override this camera’s flash. It’s always on, and on a sunny island like Anafi, you might face the issues I described above.
I accepted the challenge and tried not to worry that much. The island has been good to me, and I thought of trying my luck. As I often say, I’m glad if I have a keeper per film. Sure, I don’t want the rest of the images to look bad, but a keeper is the goal. It’s like it encapsulates the whole experience of a place, and by looking at it, I can teleport back to a journey.
So, let’s see what I got in this 26th Polaroid Diary and the Anafi moments I captured.
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What’s on the Polaroid Diaries: Anafi Moments
In this edition of the Polaroid Diaries, you’ll see 8 photos taken with the Impulse AF. Initially, I thought of traveling to Anafi without a Polaroid camera -and after my Ricoh GR II got damaged, I decided not to carry any digital camera. However, a few days before the journey, I felt I was betraying Anafi. I always had a camera on my previous visits -instant or digital. It sounded wrong to ignore Anafi’s beauty and not capture anything.
Suddenly, I had instant photography lust: I wanted to buy several 600 films, skip my smartphone’s camera, and only shoot Polaroids. Unfortunately, finding films in Athens was hard. I guess instant photography is not that popular in Greece, and I luckily discovered a store in downtown Athens that had one film left. I bought it and placed it in my backpack.
Before presenting you the Anafi moments, I’d like to tell you that at the bottom of this post, you’ll find -like always- the settings I used for this edition of the Polaroid Diaries. Let’s start.
Polaroid Diaries: Anafi moments with the Impulse AF
The weather in Anafi remained sunny throughout my stay. The first photo I shot on the island was actually from the small road leading from the port to the Chora, the island’s only settlement. Although the views were stunning, I kept an eye for something that left local. Halfway, I saw on the street’s side a vessel. That’s standard practice in the winter or when the owners plan to repair it. And here’s the image.
The island is famous for its monolith, Kalamos, the second-biggest in Europe (Gibraltar is the first). On the monolith’s top, the locals built a small chapel. The so-called Kalamiotissa Monastery is a whitewashed church, and it takes an hour of hiking on the monolith’s slopes to reach it. On a clear day, you can see several islands, and the view is breathtaking. One day, Barbara and I visited the beginning of the path. It was a warm summer afternoon, and I shot a photo of her staring at the impressive landscape.
Close to the path’s starting point, you can visit the Lower Monastery. The late afternoon light was warm, and I decided to shoot a couple of Polaroids there. It’s all about the small Anafi moments, and in the first photo, you can see a playful cat. The playfulness might not be that obvious in the picture; however, it was moving fast, and that’s why it appears slightly out of focus. I must admit I’m glad it came that close to me.
Not far from the cat’s location, there’s a smaller chapel. Although it belongs to Anafi’s Lower Monastery, the small church is in a fantastic location, overlooking the Aegean Sea. Religion is an integral part of the island’s life, and even if you’re non-religious, you can’t ignore how tight the bonds are. The locals have built several tiny churches all around the island, and it always makes me think about how they transported the materials to construct them. So, here’s the small church I told you about.
In Anafi, there’s practically one street that connects the island’s edges. Dirt roads or paths, of course, exist; however, you’ll find the island’s traffic on this street. The island has two buses for locals and visitors, and while driving around, you’ll come across the bus stops. Of course, they are whitewashed like every building in Anafi. They also have the typical dome, a local architectural element that makes them charming. Shooting a photo of a bus stop was a must-do for this diary.
As you can easily imagine, Barbara and I swam daily in Anafi. Despite its compact size, the island has many beaches and crystal-clear water. I can’t imagine a better ritual than having a lazy breakfast and then driving to one of the beaches for swimming and relaxing. I’m never bored of that, and I could honestly do it daily throughout the year. I wish it was possible. Anyway, here’s a late afternoon photo of Barbara hiking the short path between the beach and the car.
Anafi can easily make you a person of habit. We always stay at Dream Studios because we can’t have enough of the place’s stunning views. We became good friends with the owner, Katerina, and chatting with her on the veranda is (yet another) ritual. Waking up in the morning, opening the door, and enjoying the view is priceless. The day I shot this Polaroid with the Impulse AF, the horizon wasn’t that clear. However, with some effort, you might see a small line on the horizon -that’s Santorini.
Finally, there was one last shot in the film. Although it’s tempting to overthink where to shoot the last image, I didn’t think twice. I decided to try to capture the monolith and the endless sea in front of it. However, the Polaroid Impulse AF is a weird camera. I was sure I’d get a great image: the light was sweet, and the view was stunning. And, as I often say, the moment you think you know everything about a Polaroid camera, something will go wrong. So, here’s the somewhat soft and blurry photo I took.
And that’s it with my Polaroids from Anafi, Greece.
Other Polaroid Diaries from Anafi, Greece
In case you feel triggered to see more Polaroids from Anafi, I share here my other diaries.
You can see my Anafi Polaroids with the SX-70 here.
And you can see my Anafi Polaroids with the OneStep+ here. That’s actually my very first instant photography diary.
The camera settings of this Anafi Polaroid Diary
I think it’s always nice to present each photo, whether it’s good or not. As I wrote, the Polaroid Impulse AF is a relatively weird yet capable camera. Since the weather was constantly sunny, I decided to underexpose every photo in this diary. The only time I didn’t do that was in the last picture.
The monolith and sea photo was taken late afternoon, and the sun almost disappeared behind the mountains. I thought of keeping the exposure wheel in the middle for this one because the light didn’t seem adequate. However, the result surprised me. Therefore, the best Polaroid tip I can offer you for the Impulse AF is to underexpose whenever there’s even a bit of sun behind you.
Moreover, in the two photos of Barbara, I should have probably pushed the exposure wheel to the edge. In both cases, I had the sun on the side and not behind me. Although I find both images satisfying, I believe they could’ve been better exposed. So, when shooting with the Impulse AF, keep an eye on the sun: if the light comes from the side, consider further underexposing.
Finally, here’s my usual end note: there’s no post-processing in the images you saw. I never post-process Polaroids, and I only add a +20 in sharpness for web optimization.
And that’s it with the 26th edition of the Polaroid Diaries featuring Anafi moments taken with the Polaroid Impulse AF.
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More Polaroids:Â The complete Polaroid diaries
Polaroid Camera reviews: My SX-70 review, Polaroid Sun 660 review & Polaroid OneStep+ review
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Last Updated on October 5, 2024 by George Pavlopoulos
These are great pictures, George, especially the one of Barbara looking out toward the sea and cliffs. The photo has a magical, dreamy feel about it. How long were you in Anafi for?
Hey, John! Thank you so much! I also like this polaroid of Barbara very much. I stayed 12 days in Anafi and it was once again great. I wish I could have stayed longer though… 🙂