What does "film look" mean to you?

Shangri La said:

emem said:

I think it means "inferior to the best in digital imaging but we still use it for nostalgic reasons" look.

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Robin Casady said:

Shangri La said:

Robin Casady said:

I shot film for decades. To me, "film look" means trying to make something look like something it is not. It is sort of like making Formica look like wood grain.

When shooting film I either tried to use the film's characteristics as part of the aesthetic, or I tried to make the best of the limitations they presented.

There was the grainy look of Tri-X, especially when pushed in the developer. There was the narrow DR of Ektachrome. There was the over-saturated look of Fuji Velvia that many landscapers liked. I have no desire to emulate any of them with digital. I'm more for using a medium for its own right. That's why I put this quote from Ansel in my signature.

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Shangri La said:

I was looking at different LR presets and editing styles and one thing was mentioned so often: the "film look". I don't know what it means to everybody, but I see most images with the supposed film look have subdued/faded color, or what I'd call the old film look.

To me, the first thing jumps to mind when referring to the film look is rich/vibrant/deep colors and wide dynamic range, as opposed to the 'digital look' you get from for example early day phone cameras with lifeless/flat colors and blown-outs due to poor DR.

Film look includes but is not limited to old film look. The faded vintage look with altered colors is fine in some images, but I think it's overused nowadays. In my opinion, film image CAN have unaltered and vivid colors, and looks great when the image calls for. Of course I have limited experience in film photography and can very well be wrong.

So, what does "film look" mean to you?

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Robin Casady said:

Shangri La said:

Robin Casady said:

I shot film for decades. To me, "film look" means trying to make something look like something it is not. It is sort of like making Formica look like wood grain.

When shooting film I either tried to use the film's characteristics as part of the aesthetic, or I tried to make the best of the limitations they presented.

There was the grainy look of Tri-X, especially when pushed in the developer. There was the narrow DR of Ektachrome. There was the over-saturated look of Fuji Velvia that many landscapers liked. I have no desire to emulate any of them with digital. I'm more for using a medium for its own right. That's why I put this quote from Ansel in my signature.

Click to expand...

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Robin Casady said:

Shangri La said:

Robin Casady said:

I shot film for decades. To me, "film look" means trying to make something look like something it is not. It is sort of like making Formica look like wood grain.

When shooting film I either tried to use the film's characteristics as part of the aesthetic, or I tried to make the best of the limitations they presented.

There was the grainy look of Tri-X, especially when pushed in the developer. There was the narrow DR of Ektachrome. There was the over-saturated look of Fuji Velvia that many landscapers liked. I have no desire to emulate any of them with digital. I'm more for using a medium for its own right. That's why I put this quote from Ansel in my signature.

Click to expand...

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