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Film Look

Adding realistic grain to digital photos is a deeper rabbit hole than you think

Nov 7, 2022 by Vlad Moldovean 4 Comments
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For months now I’ve been obsessed with emulating the film look into my digital photos. It all started with me exploring the panoramic aspect ratio of 65×24 and other wide aspect ratios and trying to understand what makes a photo cinematic. As part of this journey I’ve also started to research grain, how is it formed, and how it looks on different film stocks and, truth be told, I was not ready for how deep this rabbit hole is.

In order to recreate grain well in our digital photos we first have to understand what grain is. On film, the images are composed of grain. Be it silver halides or dye granules, they are organic shapes that are distributed unevenly in an emulsion and when exposed to light they create the image you finally see.

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Can you tell the difference between these film and digital photos?

Feb 9, 2018 by Dunja Djudjic 4 Comments
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I’m sure you’ve seen many photographers trying to emulate the “film look” in their digital photos. There are different techniques to achieve it, but you’ll often hear that the “film look” is a lie and only actual film can give you this effect. Photographers Jay P. Morgan and Kenneth Merrill have decided to do a little test and compare some film and digital images side-by-side. Can the “film look” be successfully replicated in digital photos? Or you can see the differences straight away?

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The Faded Vintage Film Look is a Lie

Apr 17, 2017 by Pavel Kounine 5 Comments
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Two years ago, I published an article that took a lighthearted approach to making fun of the major wedding photograph image processing trends of the day. In today’s post, I will discuss the vintage film look at length.

Very broadly speaking, the faded vintage film look is a digital image editing technique that does one or both of the following: raising the black level or lowering the white level of a picture to compress the tonal range of the photo, making it narrower. The effect is most frequently applied to the black levels.

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Create the “Faded Film” look in 30 seconds using Photoshop or Lightroom

Mar 18, 2017 by Dunja Djudjic 10 Comments
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If you like the “faded film” look, this latest video tutorial from Mathieu Stern is for you. You can create this washed out, dreamy look in a few seconds, you only need a few simple adjustments in Photoshop. I tried it out on some of my images, too. I didn’t really expect to like it, but I was surprised by the result. It kinda grew on me. As a matter of fact, I even made a Lightroom preset.

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How to use shutter speed to your advantage to help you get the film look

Oct 24, 2016 by John Aldred 2 Comments
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There’s more to getting the “film look” with video than simply shooting your camera at 24 frames per second. It’s not just the colour grading, or the lens used, either. These are, of course, factors, but all components of a much greater whole. Issues other than the framerate are mostly variable. One issue that often gets ignored, though, is the shutter speed.

In this video from Wolfcrow, Sareesh Sudhakaran tells us how shutter speed affects our footage. It explains why we don’t always get the look we desire, and how to correct it. Breaking the 180° shutter rule (which is different to the other 180° rule) can work to great effect when used with a purpose. At other times, it just looks like a mistake. Understanding the principles behind the rule, rather than simply accepting it, helps us to know when and how to break them.

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Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

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