June 4, 2020

Last week I was working on the 1.2 update for our Filmist emulsion presets. We develop these for Lightroom Capture 1 and LUT. I needed some fresh test image so I took my model Sondra out for a quick natural light shoot on these quiet side street in central Mexico.

The soft light seems a bit flat but there’s direction to it and it’s perfect for portraits. The quiet greens made for a sublime contrast to the dress and the sunset light was filtered like a giant softbox. Then we started editing with FIlmist. No need to lose ourselves in over saturation. There’s a reason film color was refined for over 100 years.

I’ll with just some color grades and then do more detailed finish work on my top favorites. This first one is just the new 160V Pushed presets which gives a nice poppy push to the RAW file with this really soft light. We want to bring out the shape of the light. The reason good presets are so powerful is not because you can’t edit sliders manually. It’s because you cab quickly browse looks that are close and get the one that really fits the image you’re working on. You get to see things you would never see if you editing everything manually.

I start with the RAW file color grade. If it’s a 5 star image that I will edit in PS, I will take off the grain until after my final edit and then add it back to keep the image surface clean and free of artifacts. This one is just a preset and is now ready for some quick detail work in PS.

Ok lets go…

Shoot Notes:

  • Location; Querétaro mexico, May 2020
  • Time: Sunset, around 7PM, partly overcast
  • Gear: Fuji XT3 – 50mm f2 lens

Edited with: Filmist presets, Alchemist Actions, Lumist Actions and Sharpist Actions.
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The key with great color in a portrait is to separate the object. To make your  subject pop and have that 3D feel. It’s starts with light but the way we mix colors is huge. That’s why it used to be so important to choose the right film, today we can do that with color grading or tools like  Filmist which are my go to because they give me the right mix.

After the presets I went into PS for quick skin and sharpness detail using Alchemist retouching actions and last but now least SHARPist actions to give it that final zing. Here’s the finished shots and I’ll mark the film look I used on each one of these.

It’s worth noting that while I speak of the tools I use to save me time, all these things can be done manually. Using color sliders to control the mix and get a filmic look, using frequency separation for gentle smoothing, eyes bags and more,. Using sharping for that final pop. These are all tools we have in nearly every photo editor. It’s just a question of how you apply them.

The anatomy of an edit. We started with a nice soft Raw out of camera, then use the Color Pro 400p preset for a nice filmic color grade. Then I spend 5 minutes in Photos. I used Alchemist for a very subtle frequency separation skin retouch, the eye bag brush to quickly soften the eyes, the Alchemy eyes brush to make them pop and finished with a bit of burn and dodge and the Rocket Sharp action from Sharpist. Boom, bang, boom.

 

These are just fun shots and I don’t even need Photoshop. This super warm sunset light looks great but I don’t want top over saturate so I’m using a nice soft Concept film like 400 ES that keeps the color soft.

 

After the presets I did a little work Alchemist using tools like the eye bag brush and then a sharpening using Sharpist. Not too much, just a little final clean up.

 

The final edit

 

Full length for the legs for days look. I mixed presets for a soft color blend and then spent a few minutes without Lumist as tone control is key in longer shots.

 

Used PolaColor S here and the light dark sharp from Sharpist actions to make her pop. That’s all.

 

These are B type shots that are great for Instagram. Sometimes I’ll just to a color grade and leave it at that. No Photoshop or extra retouching needed.

 

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January 3, 2020

So what’s the secret to making digital film looks and great color and tone in presets? That’s something I’ve spent a lot of time with and today I’m going to share some tips for making better edits whether you’re making your own presets or using tools like Filmist or Natural HDR to make it easy, then tweaking them to your taste.

But today we are looking at the Classic Negative profile, a digital version of Sueropia 200 that’s popular on Fuji cameras. I made this so we can use it on any camera.

The Classic Negative look we talked about in today’s video is available for free.

You can Download the free pack on the filmist page.
It now inludes Classic Neg and 8 other film profiles.

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November 3, 2019

With the Fuji Xpro 3 came the Classic Negative look. It’s based on Superia 200. But older cameras and other brands don’t have this film style. As part of the Filmist Project, I started creating classic Fuji-like presets for Lightroom and Capture One. This is my Classic negative film simulation!

So I made Classic Negative Like, a Free Lightroom Preset, and Capture One Style that’s like shooting it in the camera, but better.

Getting film presets to work on any camera takes time. The classic negative-like simulation was no exception. I don’t like camera-specific color profiles that limit you. I use a preset like this “Classic Negative”-like preset. I also made a Classic Chrome preset and you can read about that here.

In action… Classic Negative film recipe Preset and Capture One Style.

– DOWNLOAD my new 2024 V2 Fuji Classic Negative preset FREE.

The improved Gen.2 2024 classic neg film simulation in my free pack on the Filmist 3 film presets page. It includes Classic Negative as a Lightroom preset as a Capture One Style a LUT for video, PLUS a couple other presets from Filmist.

For years, I’ve been expanding my Film presets project, creating presets such as Porta, Fuji 400, Fujifilm black and white, and others. So I created a mini-free pack from my complete Film presets collection You can get the Seim Classic Negative look for free.

I’ll add the link above so you can get my latest version of the Classic Neg-like look and try it out. Feedback has been great on this and the new 2023 version is even more dialed in,

Fuji Classic Negative Like Lightroom Presets and Capture One Style
In-Camera JPEG beside my 2023 Classic Negative, Like Gen.2 presets for Lightroom and Capture. This new version of my classic neg film simulation is better than ever.

Film-inspired recipes and presets bring out the magic.

Film is a secret weapon most photographers don’t realize. It brings a nuance and atmosphere. It helps us balance shadows in a digital slider world that is often overcooked. See my post… Filmic Lightroom presets and styles ground your edits.

That’s why Fuji is the only camera brand people love for its color profiles. They are inspired by film and they have years of understanding how shadows and colors alter our senses.

Fuji Classic Negative look was inspired by Fujifilm Superia, a negative film from the 1990s. There are zero technical reasons to make color profiles work only on the latest cameras, it’s just a marketing trick. That’s why I set to work and made filmic presets/styles and Luts for this process.

Fuji Classic Negative lightroom preset
Classic negative Like applied to a RAW file.

Don’t stop at the Classic Negative film presets.

People can get stuck on these Fuji colors. They are good, but they are just film-inspired looks. I’ve included a few more film presets for Lightroom and Capture One in the Filmist Sampler download, like Portra 160, start extending out and trying the films, and the more you do the more control you will have over the tone and atmosphere of your photos.

My free classic neg preset works for Capture One, Lightroom CC, Lightroom Classic, and Lightroom Mobile, and has a preset for older versions like Lightroom 6. Go here if you need help installing presets.

I hope you enjoy this Fuji Classic Negative look. Please let me know what you think or if you have questions. You can also subscribe to my YouTube photography channel.

Gavin Seim

Fuji Classic Negative Preset and Style from Gavin Seim
Classic negative look recipe on Sony and other cameras
Classic Netagive like on a Sony RAW file brings the same look to my non-Fuji files.
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September 27, 2019

We just uploaded the hands-on workshops for filmist! One for Lightroom, and 1 for Capture One! Check’em out below! I’ve linked the images directly to the videos on my YouTube channel so you can watch full screen in 4k. While your there give us a subscribe.

If you don’t have Filmist yet, get it here.

Gav


 

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October 15, 2018

LR has changed up how Presets work in 7.4+. There’s a new preset manager that’s actually pretty good; you can finally hide the presets you don’t want and you can even use your presets in Lightroom Mobile.  So I made you two videos to get you up to speed on installing and organizing presets in Lightroom including the latest versions. The changes in 2018 made presets a little confusing so I thought we should simplify.

This first video is a fast look at presets in Lightroom CC, Lightroom Classic CC, Lightroom mobile and even Camera Raw.

The longer video is the in-depth look at dealing with presets in all versions including pre CC for those who have held off to go to a subscription model. I get you, though if you never plan to go CC it might be time to look at something like Capture One because LR6 is getting older. We even have a preset pack for Capture One too. Anyways the longer video also covers installing all other kinds of presets like Local Adjustment Brushes.

This may not be terribly exciting, but over the years we’ve tried to make this is fast and simple as possible. Hope it helps — Gav

The quick video for LR CC users…

The more advanced video for power users of all versions…

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