FILM EMULATION
Black & White Film Emulation
Chasing the film look through modern techniques
Grain From Scanned Film:
A large aspect of black-and-white film emulation is the grain introduced to your images. All grain is not created equal, because it accrued on real film, scans like this can make your images feel more natural. In addition, digital noise is from failure to properly light a subject, while analog noise occurs due to the film sensitivity. For these images I used film composites free high res Ilford HP5 film scans (not sponsored), which can be found here: film scans.
Lower Sharpness, Clarity, and Texture:
A great way to make your images look more vintage or properly emulate film photography is by reducing the added clarity, texture, and sharpness in your photos. These days lenses are made to render the most optically perfect image possible, but vintage lenses were not made for the same purpose. In Lightroom, I usually lower the clarity and texture on an image by -10 and subtract all artificial sharpening done by the software.
Masked Dehaze:
The most subtle detail that you can add in your editing is using the dehaze tool for your backgrounds. In many analog photos, there is a brighter glow seen behind the subject, and this can easily be replicated. Start by masking your background, and then bringing the dehaze slider down in Lightroom. I usually bring it down to -20 for a reduced effect, and -35 for an artistic look. For each and everyone of these tips, remember: less is more, don’t over edit your images.
Embrace Mistakes:
If you are going to try and emulate black and white film, you can’t be worried about the smallest imperfections in your images. In my photos, I turned off all lens corrections and allowed the distortion and vignetting to give the image more character. Film is about embracing your mistakes and conveying emotion. This final tip can be accomplished by deactivating the settings in the lens corrections panel in lightroom. Hopefully with these suggestions, you can create more unique images that feel like analog but provide the convenience of digital.
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