Welcome to Feb, the month when I like to think too much and experiment with shit cause it's that time of year where I'm stuck in the house.
After playing with Wordpress on and off for the past year I have made the decision to move my blog over to that interface. I have no intention of removing these old posts so they will remain active. I have also transferred all these posts over to the new blog, which in my eyes looks way more professional then here on blogspot.
The Canadian Loon's also has a new domain and a new home so please join me and follow the new site:
Feb 17, 2017
Feb 16, 2017
Playing with Film Simulations
Still eagerly awaiting the arrival of the X100F but as I'm sure many can contest to, when your waiting for something to land in your hands you continue to research and go back and forth as to if that is the product you actually want vs what you really need :-)
One of the main reasons I have been looking at the X100F is for some of the new film simulation modes that I can't get on the X100S. Primarily classic chrome and arcos. My X-T1 can give me the classic chrome but that camera is a bigger piece of equipment and it doesn't travel with me as much as my X100S.
We're in the deep of winter here in Ontario and it's tough to get motivated to buddle up and go out shooting. Unfortunately we have also had a death in the family so we're in that middle area waiting for the funeral so I'm home for my partner to support her and it's really not a good time to bail out on my own to take pictures.
A few weeks ago, I ran across this photographer - https://www.instagram.com/joshkjack/ (I hope he doesn't mind me linking without his permission) and I was blown away. The results that I have been envisioning in my head. And note his camera - the older X-Pro1 and the 56mm lens. Not what I expected for street photography (most use 23mm or 35mm) and definitely not the camera for film simulations. I'm not sure what he's using for his processing but the results are impressive and amazing looking film quality. That got me looking deeper into Lightroom and presets. I limit my time in processing so I really haven't spent much time digging into much beyond the basic settings. In the old days (go way back on this blog) in my DSLR days I was a processing idiot. Way too heavy handed, way too much contrast and colour, way too much HDR etc etc.... I would shoot for 1 hour and spend 10 hours processing. When I moved to the Fuji my processing is 1 minute per posting picture at most. I am damn near "straight out of camera". All is do is level the image if needed, bump the black, pull up the shadows, export.
This led me to a few "free" lightroom presets http://www.thephotoargus.com/230-free-lightroom-presets-will-love/ and I pulled a couple that looked interesting to me. I dug back into my extensive pile of photos that hadn't been published or ones that were published but wanted to gave them a new look. At most I spent 2 minutes per photo. I can live with that. I got some results that I liked and others that I didn't. But it does show that you really don't need to buy a new camera to get film like results (or anything else that your looking for).
Does this persuade me to not buy the X100F? No, I have disposable income and can afford it and the less time I spend in front of Lightroom, the better for me. But anyone who thinks a new camera is going to make you a better photographer - forget it. It will give you better looking images but it doesn't make the image itself better. A turd is always turd, you can't make a bad shot good. You can make the turd have more contrast and colour but it still doesn't make it a good image. Spend your time on taking the pictures and later you can play with simulations and new gear like me :-) (sorry ranting and off topic - haha)
Some of my new "film" pictures;
After I took this back in Nov, I tried everything to get this image right in my mind, I knew I had something I wanted but just couldn't pull it. Once I applied film simulation it popped and I was able to crop it to what I wanted. Located inside the Green Dragon Inn near Cheltenham, England.
I have posted a few versions of this image in black and white but I liked how this version turned out keeping some of the colour hues. Green Dragon Inn, Cheltenham, England
One of the few times I have taken a turd image and made it something I like - haha. Still not a great image but this film simulation made the image much colder and more interesting/intriguing. Coopers Island, Bermuda
Previously posted in a vibrant colour version of blues, browns and rain. I liked this 70's faded film look. Paget Parish, Bermuda
Also previously posted as bright vivid colour with blue skies and red bikes. The 70's/80's look take me back in time. Front Street, Hamilton, Bermuda
Now I have another weapon in my arsenal that doesn't add a pile of time to my processing. You can also look at the presets and see what they did to make the image the way it is and change it even more. Would I buy premade presets? Probably not, but some of the free ones out there are pretty cool. If you find yourself stuck inside and wanting to play with photos, pull a few and import them into lightroom and give some of your images a new look.
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