A couple shots from a recent trip to Ireland.

[Philligan]

I've been working on my post-processing a bit, trying to add some griminess and hopefully get a bit of a film look. These two are from a trip to Ireland I took over the Christmas holidays. These were both taken with a Canon T3/1100D, and I'm pretty sure both used the 50mm f/1.4. This was taken in Galway IIRC.



And here's some foot traffic in downtown Dublin.

 

[SLPhotography]

What effect are you using to get a film look like that? Is this done in PS?

 

[Philligan]

Thanks for noticing, that's the look I was going for.

I use Lightroom. I've never used PS, but from what I gather they aren't too too different. Hopefully it carries over to PS.

To start, I use the Basic section. I'll adjust the white balance if I need to, then tweak the exposure if it could use it. I may or may not have added a bit of contrast, I don't remember - when I do, it's just a little bit. I definitely bump some Vibrance, but don't really touch the Saturation very often. Next, still in Basic, I'll play with the blacks/highlights/etc to get the lighting levels where I want them or how I remember them. I usually pull the whites or highlights down a little bit. Sometimes I raise the blacks/shadows to show more detail in the dark areas, and sometimes I darken them a bit to add more contrast or moodiness. In the one of the people walking, I'm pretty sure I raised them up a bit, whereas in the bike one, I darkened them a little bit to make it feel a bit juicier.

Next, I'll use the Tone Curve to mess with the feel of the colours. I click on the icon that lets you adjust the actual curve, and not just use the sliders. It should default to being a straight line from the bottom left to top right corners. I'll click on the line to add an anchor point, usually down towards the lower left, and then push the bottom left point up a bit. This lightens all the darks and gives the shot that matte look.

Next, I'll play with the colour balances sometimes, but I don't think I did in either of these shots. I'm pretty sure I added some sharpness in both - I know for sure I did to the bike.

Last, I went to the Effects section and added some grain. That works with the matte darks really well IMHO. And that's about it. Hope this helps.

 

[gsgary]

If you want film look shoot film

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[Designer]

.. trying to add some griminess and hopefully get a bit of a film look.

So, film is "gritty and grimy"? I did not know that.

 

[Philligan]

.. trying to add some griminess and hopefully get a bit of a film look.

So, film is "gritty and grimy"? I did not know that.

Now you do!

 

[gsgary]

.. trying to add some griminess and hopefully get a bit of a film look.

So, film is "gritty and grimy"? I did not know that.

Now you do!

Thats strange my colour film shots are no gritty and grainy

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[Designer]

My own experience with film is that is capable of producing excellent image quality unless it has been mishandled in some way.

Instead of putting all that effort into doctoring (!) your digital images, you just get a film camera and mishandle the film.

Nah, that would be too easy. Never mind.

 

[Philligan]

And this is why I don't post here often. Sorry for wasting everyone's time.