February 15, 2025

0

film presets and styles, Film Presets for Lightroom, Film Styles for Capture One

Kodachome 64 was amazing. I spend years making it for Lightroom and Capture One

This film is long gone but it was the true legend of color films and one of the hardest to reproduce digitally. So I spend years refining it to this this new KodaChrome 64 preset.

I combined all my experience to make the perfect Kodachrome recipe.

You can get Kodachrome 64 Gen.3 the new Velvia 100 and more in Filmist 2.4 complete. If you have Filmist 2 go to the update tab. I’ll also show you my settings during the video.

Not orange or green. This is important.

If you watched my recent video on color science in your camera or on How to use White Balance better, you know that a little cast can easily be correction with a quick slide right or left.

But the iconic look of Kodachrome 64 is something more. As what is considered the most iconic Kodachrome by most, Kodachrome was the defining look of legends like Steve McCurry.

One of the patterns I found and something especially hard to defeat on digital is that is always has this rich coffee chocolate sort of brown. This is not as simple as a white balance slider. It goes against what most digital camera produce.

The cocoa in Kodachrome.

If you’ve ever held up a strip of film you know it’s not all roses. As light changes the color shifts and most digital cameras fix this on the go with auto white balance.

Because of this and many other factors there s no one single look that is Kodachrome, Velvia etc. When I design film presets (and this is especially true in Kodachrome) i looked at hundreds of tests to find the balance. What did this film look like in it’s best moments.

But camera sensors also vary. So if you apply this and it feels a little red leaning or too cool. That’s where the white balance comes in. You don’t need to rework the curves or the color of the recipe itself in the presets. Just nudge that white balance a little bit and that cocoa undertone shines thru. That is Kodachrome 64.

Making film profiles in camera

I’m not sure there’s any such thing as a perfect recipe. I’ve never found any Kodachrome recipe that gets this close. It’s rich look works digitally on portraits , streets weddings and anything else.

There are many you make recipes in camera. The problem is that these are very limited. If you see how I made this recipe it’s with complex color controls and a lot of detail. Detail you can’t get in camera. For in camera profiles I don’t usually recommend trying to really emulate a film. If you really want a film look, shoot RAW and add presets or styles after the fact.

Also As a positive film it did not have the dynamic range we have today. That can be good. It give you those rich shadows I teach you about in Shadow Hackers. Don’t push setting up just because you can.

That said. I often use the chem kit mods in Filmist 2 to add a little more range while still retaining the rich color. Nothing wrong with mixing it up. But the preset itself trues to remain as true as possible to Kodachrome 64

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January 18, 2025

2

special effects

Stop falling for the color science lie. Stop falling for it. Here is how to do color in your photos.

The main goal of camera makers is to lock you in maker is to sell new products. That’s why every year they pretend they have revolutionized everything.

Today I’ll show you how color works and how color matter, but color science is mostly a lie.

You can try some of the film presets I was using including Classic negative here in the free film sampler pack. Also watch my video on white balance and the Drop Color method.

Color gets easier as you relax.

It’s not that we should be lazy about color. But notice in the video how the differences are not always that huge,. The more you stop stressing about color and use the tools, presets, filters and setting to get the look YOU want, the easier color becomes.

The science of color is real. The color science we’re being sol is a marketing lie.

In the end you can apply any look you want and then adjust the Color-Science of it a bit with a very small adjustment. So Sure I might use Classic Negative or Portra. they are great. But I’ll do it as a preset or profile after on the RAW. Usually as a preset because I can us that on any camera.

Yes RAW really matters.

I know pros always say this and while the things I show here can be done on JPEGS, shooting RAw will always get you better color control. JPEG bakes in a camera profile and not always the best one for your scene. So then you edit again and it’s like baking a cake twice.

In camera profiles are fun. But in the end they are simply a preset that you have a lot less control over and pay over and pay a lot more for than the packs I make here on Seim Effects.

Taking time to dial in perfect color and save it is great. But Don’t get stuck on one look.

It’s not the Camera, it’s you.

That newest camera wont make your color better.

And there’s no one right color for sunsets, skin or landscapes.

Tale Canon who gets you ins their system then over charges for lens and prevents third part lenses from being sold. It’s a bait and switch. But you don’t need to be loyal to a camera brand. They all do the same thing.

Did you notice how much color changes in my video, with even small directional changes. That’s why you don’t want to be locked in. Any camera can be good on any of the situations. You just nee to know how to nudge your color like I showed you here.

If you want more videos on this topic let me know – Gavin Seim

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December 4, 2024

0

film presets and styles, special effects

Is Film is the amazing learning tool the claim?

Film and darkroom processes do make you think more about your photographer. But are they the right tools for improving especially for beginners? Probably not! But there’s a viable alternative.

I shoot film. But is it worth it for you?

You can also get the free Filmist presets here to see real film tones in your edits. Also actions like Emulsion were created based on darkroom processes.

Yes, the film is worth it sometimes.

Film has made a big comeback in the past few years as people tire of fakery and Ai and want more organic real experiences. But it’s also very expensive.

Whether it’s the magic of Instax or POloroids or whether it’s the subtle shadow and color theories you understand better using film. It does pay off. I just don’t think it’s the secret sauce for newer photography for the reasons I mention in the video.

Look at how film affects your digital edits.

Someone recently told me they liked my LIghtroom presets because they were not gaudy and pointless. A lot of that is that I’ve been making pro-grade presets longer than anyone on the market. But what I immediately thought of is film.

My film and shadow hacking studies have shaped the way I create tools and it’s a big reason why they are different from the others on the market. The way film helps you understand subtlety and tone and color versus just pushing a slider increases the more you use it. If you spend any time on analog I think you’ll understand what I mean.

My conclusion.

If I plied film is not worth it that’s not what I mean. What I mean is that film is a tough tool to start on. It’s more something to work with once you are at that intermediate or advanced level where it’s nuance will mean more to you.

So yes, everyone. Get some vintage lenses. Shoot some film on the cameras that often come with them. But don’t think you need film to improve your photography. Slow down and let the shadow lead you.

Gavin Seim

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November 15, 2024

1

Fine Art, special effects

Mochochrome photography. Make stand-out black and white with any camera.

Monochrome cameras let you shoot in ONLY black and white. But they are not what makes your photos jaw-dropping. I dug into this as I worked on the new Silver 5.5 preset update and the new L Monochrome preset I crafted for it.

If you own Silver 5 login here and get the free 5.5 update. If not get Silver or the FREE mini Silver Pack here and try some of these monochrome methods.

Do you need a monochrome camera?

Last night I was shooting a roll of Delta 3200 and thinking about what makes a black-and-white photo work and why many color photos converted to black-and-white fail. The problem is not the camera. It’s the tone. Like we talk about in Shadow Hackers.

Customers using a Mohchrome camera often ask me if my black and white tools like Silver and BlackRoom will work on these files. The answer of course is yes, it still lets you edit tone you just don’t get the color channel info. The process is still the same.

If you take a color Leica VS a Moncrhome for example and simply switch the color to BW mode there is very little difference. Monochrome does not make you better just because you paid more.

Use the camera that inspires you…

Just don’t think a cool camera will make you a great photographer.

In today’s video, I’ll show you the best secrets to amazing black-and-white images and it’s not the monochrome camera. But if that’s what makes you shoot and lobe your work, use that.

If you love this camera use them by all means.s Monochrome camera due to being made only for black and white has a unique feel and is also amazing at high ISO being less vulnerable to noise. Here’s a good video on that.

While the low grain of a monochrome camera is great it does not mean “better” photos or more authentic. True black and white film has grain and it’s one of its artistic characteristics. Neither choice is wrong.

Even that does not make a good monochrome photo

The gear is not what matters the tone is. Stay to the end of the video because I will close with some valuable tips to test and see if your tone is special or boring.

In studying how monochrome cameras render and making the new L Monochrome and S monochrome presets for Lightroom and Capture One I was struck by how flat and even monochrome fields were. They rely on you finding that contrast in the camera and challenge you.

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July 7, 2024

1

lightroom, lightroom vs capture one, special effects

DXO Photo Lab vs Lightroom tested. Can you switch from Lightroom?

People are sick of subscriptions and hate Adobe right now (they really deserve it). Subscriptions were never for us. So today I compare Lightroom vs DXO Photo Lab.

LR vs DXO Photo – An alternative to Lightroom and C1?

Maybe, but it’s complicated. Quality tools like Capture One (that I reviewed here) are also turning against their users by going virtually subscription only. So I am going to start testing. Today we look at DXO Photo Lab vs Lightroom.

I mentioned Filmist which includes LUTS you can use right now in DXO! For my LR and C1 users, I used Silver 5, Natural HDR, and my Speed Masks.

Last year I compared Lightroom to Lumiar Neo.

It was not there at a pro level. Luminar Neo got a D in terms of pro-level ability in my review. Lets hope in improves but in the last year much has changed.

It’s a fun tool. But not a serious choice for a pro. We need better integrations and better process quality. But with Lightroom vs DXO Photo Lab 7, there’s a smaller gap.

Lightroom vs DXO Photo Lab – Speed

DXO also has some unique tools and it’s snappy. Something you can’t say for LIghtroom and barely for Capture One. Both are resource-intensive apps.

It’s DXO Photo Lab is not without faults.

The 20 minutes of the video is worth it because I’ll cover the important things that make a pro-level app usable for actual pros. Not just cool features that look good in a sponsored review.

Zero sponsors. This is my honest DXO Photo Lab Review

None of these apps sponsor me and I have no affiliate links here at this time. This is just an honest comparison from 20 years of professional experience doing real sessions. No shilling.

Rather than write the results of DXO nouse reduction vs Lightroom and extra tests like how it handles processing against Neo, Capture One, etc. It’s all in the video.

If you want more hard tests of these apps let me know and I will not hold back. DXO Photo Lab Vs Lightroom seems to be a real option. But with limitations that I hope they can improve.

Gavin Seim

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