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?
The Faded Vintage Film Look is a Lie
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.
Create the “Faded Film” look in 30 seconds using Photoshop or Lightroom
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.
How to use shutter speed to your advantage to help you get the film look
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.
