As of 2023, this is the absolute best way to get dramatic black and white I have discovered. Plus I just did a big update to my Blackroom actions (login here if you own Blackroom)
But today’s video will fill you with black and white-ness, even if you don’t use my actions.
I’ll show you the best way to create black and white in Photoshop and why it;’s better than doing it only in Lightroom as we edit a landscape and a portrait. Go fullscreen and watch this one in 4k.
Improving your Dramatic black and white is about nuance.
New photographers often make the mistake of thinking that dramatic black and white is more about adding contrast. Something the opposite is true. It’s actually about using shadow correctly.
That’s why you see me in the video referencing to the Zones and thinking about where I want the tone to be placed. You control all of that.
This lovely portrait edited fine in Lightroom. But in Blackroom it refined much more.
Lightroom, C1, or Photoshop for Dramatic black and white?
Both work great as you’ll see in today’s hands-on video. If you have a good editing plan they bother convert beautifully. But I’ll show you in today’s video why you will always get a bit more if you finish in Photoshop, even if you started out in Lightroom or Capture One (which is what I do).
In the end, you can do all of this manually, create your own tools, presets, actions etc if you are really experienced, or use tools like my Silver presets and Blackroom actions.
The main thing is to try the methods I showed you today and your dramatic black and white photos will touch the sky sell more and win competitions. Really.
That is the power of the dramatic black and white. Let me know what you think.
Gavin Seim
Using a gradient map and layers in PS I had more control in this photo from Yosemite National Park
Curves are how most pros and quality presets control the detailed tones in a photo. But in today’s short video, I’ll show you a better way to use your curves. We’ve been using S Curve in photography since the dawn of digital. But this is the F Curve!
Why did I stop using the S Curve in my Photography?
Because after years of editing, and studying dynamic range. Creating popular editing packs like Natural HDR and Silver black and white. I realized the S curve was often overdriving on our edits.
So I started creating the F curve in my recipes. It gives contrast control, without giving you a crunchy, overly processed look. It does this because it’s based on chemical film processing and is more flexible.
In this video, I’ll show you how to use the F Curve!
If you want Lightroom presets or Capture One Styles you’ll find great examples of the F curve in the free sampler packs of Filmist Film presets and Silver 5 presets.
It’s easier to add fine control to an F curve because we’re not always looking for that S shape. A film-like curve is useful not only for recipes that require a film-like feel. It simply works on nearly everything.
It might feel like an S curve when you start. But don’t stop there. Pull down the highlights and then lift a little in the middle, pull the shadow area a bit down and the black a bit up. You can vatu this any way you want. Just keep the curve smooth and maintain that highlight drop as needed.
I didn’t have a name for this, I just knew this simple course was giving me results that felt better in most situations, and I started using it a lot. It was only after years of applying this that I realized how simple it was and started calling it the Filmic Curve, or the “F” curve.
Gradually, I started using the normal photography S Curve less and applying variants that merged it into F curve. I watched as my own presets and edits got smoother, with better highlights and even better shadows and contrast.
It’s a simple tweak that transforms your edits.
An F curve can start like an S curve. But the way it drops on top is the key factor in the result. You can then mix shadow lift and drop.
But without Shadow, your curves mean nothing!
When I started developing Filmist film presets years ago, I realized that Film has a softer highlight roll-off than digital has a hard sensor. Contrasting lenses and easy-to-move editing soldiers were getting over-curved. especially with the traditional digital photography s curve.
A curve can add or remove your shadow. The S-curve in photography can quickly pop highlights or put some punch into shadows, and often it works well. The problem is that it tends to do the same thing to every photo, and while it boosts contrast in the edit, you lose fidelity in the roll-off details.
Tone roll-off is a big deal. And what most don’t realize is that you don’t always need to push up highlights because they are actually very perception based.
That highlight will seem BRIGHT depending on the tone of the shadows that surround them. To learn more about shadows watch this video on my channel. In short, combining smooth highlight roll-off with organic feeling shadow gives you a rich result.
In this Ektar recipe from Filmsit the F curve is already part of the process giving a subtle highlight rolloff like film.
The F Curve will replace your S curve crutch!
So instead of the S Curve in your photography, us the F curve because you better control the shadow dimension and how that relates to your highlights as they roll off perfectly, just as they did with Film!
You also won’t always feel like you have to create that S shape will open up how you use the tones in each photo.
I hope you found this useful and will spread it around because the F curve really is better than the S Curve. Please spread this around and let me know what you think in the comments.
Gavin Seim
A strong double drop at the top of this F curve softens the specular highlights that were a problem in the portrait processed with a Portra look.
Ektar 100 is a classic among films. So I made a film preset.
It’s considered great for landscapes and street work and it’s one of the few films still available in 2023. But those who know it well, also love it for portraits. Lots of prestes have been called Ektar inspired. Today I’ll show you the essentials of this recipe of my authentic and detailed Ektar 100 preset.
Get this film preset in my Filmist pack. Or make your own based on what I show in the video. You can get Classic Negative and Portra 160 presets in my FREE Filmist Sampler Here.
Why Ektar over Portra or Fuji Film preset recipes?
The first version of the Ektar 100 presets I made for the Filmist film presets pack was good. But it was now perfect and may not have been your go-to like the Portra Gen.2 presets. When I want something a bit more robust than Porta, Finer than Natura 1600, and more complex than film presets like Classic Chrome, I’ll be going to Ektar.
Rather than being designed for people like Portra, Ektar is more of an all-use film. But despite its rich reds, it makes great portraits, streets, and landscapes all in one film.
Here’s How I made the Ektar 100 like Gen2
Kodaks Ektar has come in various versions, but the most famous and still made is Ektar 100. It’s not an easy look to replicate digitally, but it has complex color magic that is great. Most of the Ektar variants are no longer available, but you still can buy the 2000’s era Ektar 100 version.
So in Filmist v1.8 I went back to the basics. As I show in the recipe overview in the video, it’s mostly about ultra-detailed curves and HSL. I’ve shot Ektar myself in my 4×5 work so I am familiar with its deep colors and often slightly red tint. But the secret to really getting a digital film look right is to refine it tirelessly until it works on all image types.
I researched deeper and watched reviews on the film, and how different people use and process it. How each process works differently to get slight variants. Then you combine all that to make the look really good.
The warm skin tones in Ektar 100 look great if processed well and that reflects in the presets simulation of the film.
What goes a Gen.2 Film Simulation Preset Mean?
Most companies make presets, you buy them and that’s what you get. But I keep refining and updating them and in Filmist I’ve spent hundreds of hours creating free updates since it launched.
Every Gen.2 film preset I make takes more hours of tinkering and study to make that film look perfect on digitally. In Filmist 1.8 I finished the Gen.2 versions of Classic Chrome and Classic Negative presets as well as vastly improved the color nuances of these popular fuji profiles. More on that in this post.
But Ektar 100 is about making the presets for Lightroom and Capture One represent the actual chemical film in every use case. And it’s fantastic. This new version is so much more subtle, and you’ll find that whether you’re shooting the streets of glamorous portraits, it has that natural fine-grain film feel with deep reds and nuanced color gradients. It’s a true Gen.2 film preset and will quickly become a go-to.
The ways reds and blues are rendered is distinct in the Ektar film look presets but it looks amazing in most scenes.
Why should you be using Film simulations as your editing baseline?
I make a lot of good presets, like Silver black and white and PowerFlow presets and more. Then there are actions. You may have those or you’ve made your own.
The film is something special. Using film presets as a baseline for color and black-and-white edits make you see color and shadow. It will make your editing more subtle and you’ll see the nuance that gentle changes make.
Try the Ektar film preset or make your own from the recipe essentials that I show in the video. There are different ways to interpret this film look as a preset, but I this this Ektar 100 like Gen.2 really conveys it well. If you still shoot film, go shoot a roll and tell me how you think this rates.
Thanks for coming and keep shooting – Gavin Seim
Complex shadow definition, fine grain and color nuance make this film a favorite and I worked overtime to re-create that aesthetic.This film preset give a magical undertone that makes ordinary scenes come alive. Film is good at that.Subline reds are a distinct thing about the Ektar 100 feel, but they way they mix with blues in Lightroom and Capture one is great.Like Fujis Classic film looks, Portra and Natura, Ektar Like Gen.2 will be a go-to film preset that you will come back to all the timer.
It’s been a few years since we’ve seen a fully new version of my black-and-white presets. I do minor free updates all the time. But I like to wait till the features and tools of Lightroom and Capture One improve for these big rebuilds.
Silver 5 makes next-generation Silver editing simple using native RTAW tools and black and white presets.
There are a lot of new things in these presets. They take advantage of Lightroom Ai layers and while Capture One still does not have Ai tools, Silver 5 is using every ounce of update that Capture One has brought us with layers and better one-click black-and-white conversions.
I’m excited about these new presets for black and white and I made a pretty fun video to share what I was thinking and what’s new in Silver 5.
Black and white preset are about the details. And that’s what Silver does makes it easier than any other tool. By using native tools instead of plugins, Silver 5 can leverage all the power of these apps but you don’t have to spend a lot of time tinkering.
Choose your black and white presets for the main look. Then mod them with the new Mod-Kit…
The mods are now a simple separate preset pack, so they don’t clutter up the main set. Whether it’s the Lightroom Presets, Capture Styles or working in Camera RAW. Just select your presets for black and white a lot like choosing a film.
Then you can mod it in a mod kit with adaptive detail tools. Grains, contract mods, and even Ai portrait tools. Of course, you can take mods further with packs like Elegance Speed-Masks but you’ll find that Mod-Kit has a little of everything so you can quickly get your edit right.
Presets and styles for black and white let you work better.
If you’re not using presets, you’re editing is suffering. It’s about being able to finish the look you visualized by quickly trying mixed that would otherwise never be tried. It’s the secret that nearly everyone professional knows and those trying to show off at photo club pretend are cheating.
My edits always stars with Lightroom Presets or Capture on styles because I know I will get a better result by mixing things in various ways to find the look I want. Don’t let snobs shame for you using good tools. Even if you make your own presets, make sure you have them ready and refined and that you are using them.
I’ll be doing a training video soon on how to use Silver 5 black and white presets to get the best edits in Lightroom or Capture One. Future updates to V5 will be bringing more improvements to Mod-Kit and these recipes for great black and white that I’ve spent a lot of years refining.
There are a lot of Lightroom Film Presets and Capture One Styles. But today I’ll show the films that keep me coming back for clean edits.
I did some street shooting and casual portraits over the weekend and it got me thinking about how my film edits get me shooting more and help me think creatively.
When things feel authentic, you want more of them. So I want to share with you how I use film looks for digital. These are my go-to Lightroom film presets and Capture one Styles for 2022.
I’ll share favorites emulsions from the Filmist presets project in no particular order. These inspire me to create better edits and shoot better in the camera. I encourage you to buy the actual films where possible and shoot a roll or two. It’s an amazing teaching tool. Classics Like Porta and Delta black and white can still be purchased. Others like Kodachrome, Fuji 400H, and Agfa are left to our digital edits which I’ll show you today.
Get Filmist presets here: You can get my complete Filmist pack which includes all these and a lot more. You can also go download the Filmist FREE sampler pack which has Portra 160 and a couple others to get you started and how good film edits actually are.
Classic Negative
This one is super popular in Fuji cameras. The look is actually based on Superia 200 film. It’s softer colored and moody and people love it for that. This preset lets me use the recipe on any camera or file and it’s actually one of the free ones in my film presets sampler.
I shoot better in the camera because of film presets.
Film has a special quality. The nuance of tone and colors. And even when doing that on digital, I find myself more confident in shooting and focusing on emotions. Knowing that I can choose my film after and get that atmosphere and mood makes me charge in. Maybe I’m crazy and that’s just me.
I created the Filmist pack a few years ago with one idea. To be the most complete and authentic film emulsion preset pack for Lightroom, Capture one and LUTS for video. I had tried others and they were not bad, but as the photographer who made professional presets since the very beginning of LR, I knew I could do better and make a film preset pack that was not just one or two films, but a complete chemical-inspired system The FIlmist project was born.
Let’s look at more film types…
Porta 400
Maybe the ultimate film classic and one that we film shooters can still get and always come back to. So I put a lot of time into getting all the Portra looks right. And I always come back to it.
It does not matter what Camera!
I was a film lover before I ever bought a Fuji Camera. And while their built-in color profiles are nice, they are locked to the camera. I see no need to bake in a recipe and throw away the rest.
When I create Filmist I, test on Fuji, Sony, Canon, Nikon, and others to make the looks as authentic as possible. Hundreds of hours go into this to make these film presets balanced on all images, not just a demo.
But even when shooting my Fuji X100V for example, I still shoot the Raw and add the preset from Filmist, not from the camera profile or a JPEG. This us all the control.
But I know Filmist will work on everything. Film colors and tones had creative twists and unique characters. But they give something that’s organic and make you want to shoot more and edit cleaner.
Agfaflex 45
It’s based on the early color film. So it’s a bit dark and faded almost lo-fi feel. I don’t use it on everything but when it works it’s amazing because the lights pop and the shadow and color are low. You’ll see what I mean when you try it.
Delta 3200
Another I always come back to. There are lots of other black and white films like HP5 and more in Filmist. But the Delta preset really does something rich with those shadows and tones and if the grain is too much I can just use one of the chem-kit mods to lower it. But honestly, I usually leave it grainy just like the real thing. I love it for portraits.
Fuji Provia 400
This classic was really versatile. While I will use it for portraits and especially streets if a want a bolder color than Portra, it works especially well in landscape photos giving a naturally rich color that feels straight out of the darkroom whether I’m using Lightroom or Capture One.
Natura 1600
This was one of the recent gen.2 updates. Natura is warm and grainy, but you can easily remove the grain. I like it myself and it really produces those on-the-go type street and portrait scenes that have raw emotion.
Fujifilm 400H
To be this was Fujis Portra. But its greens and tones are different. Like Portra however, it’s a wonderful go-to for when you want a clean organic feel without anything over-cooked.
Porta 800
All POrtra is good. I remember buying 800 in roll for weddings when I was starting out. It’s distinct from 160 and 400 and the presets and style is also. It works great on many portraits but it’s a tad more intense and greener also making and great street and journalists film.
Portra 160
All the Portra’s are in here for good reason. They are all amazing. !60 is a touch less warm than 400 with a softer grain. I would say I favor The 400 presets, but I will often use the 160 style as I did here, especially when I want a touch less warmth due to light conditions.
Agfa Vista
Based on Agfa vista and I love the way it uses greens give you a unique color mix without feeling over-processed. I use this everywhere, portraits landscapes, and streets, and also use the RSX variant quite a lot.
PoloColor S
Polaroid films vary because they are organic and their process can be altered by how chemicals are used. But polaroids can be all over the place and we still love them. So I have 3 Poloroud inspired looks to cover variables and the S variety is just soft warm goodness that works on a lot of things
Classic Chrome
Like the Classic Negative preset above, classic Chrome is another Fuji camera look but in creating it was a Lightroom Presets and Capture One Style we can use it on any file, not just Fuji. It’s very gentle so you can use it in batches and on anything for a clean look.
Classic Chrome is not actually based on Fuji films but on Kodachrome. Though it’s a loose interpretation. Filmist also has Kodachrome and that emulsion is a lot bolder. But at the right time, it’s amazing.
It’s not about faking it. It’s about growing your potential!
There are many ways to edit and refine a great photo. Using authentic film presets and tiles, lots for video, etc. It’s not about any sort of pretending. It’s about using the atmosphere and color our industry spent 100 years creating. You don’t throw out what works just because you have something new. And film works, the kind that comes on rolls and the looks that come inside Filmist.
