UPDATE: After messing around with Color Efx Pro 4from DxO's Nik Collection 3, I think my criticism and reaction to the SOOC JPEGs from my Fujifilm Film Simulation Challenge Roll 5: Kodak Portra 400 test was "user error". I think the exposure compensation dial may have moved during my photo walk. That would certainly explain the washed-out look of the SOOC image. As a test, I used Fuji X RAW Studio to reprocess the images with Ritchie's Kodak Portra 160 Film Simulation recipe and adjusted exposure compensation settings, and the results are much better. I think the photos were over-exposed by between EV +1/3 to +1. In the interest of transparency, I left the original blog post but included reprocessed images at the bottom of the post.
This blog entry is my fifth instalment for the Ritchie Roesch's Fujifilm inspired Film Simulation Challenge. For this challenge, I chose Ritchie's Kodak Portra 160 Film Simulation recipe for X-Trans III sensors and went for an early morning walk around downtown Princeton. This recipe attempts to simulate the look of Kodak Portra 400 Professional ISO 400 film. I've never used the actual Kodak Portra 400 Professional ISO 400 film, but I like the SOOC JPEG images on Ritchie's web page and decided to give it a try.
I walked north on Nassau Street toward Hogie Haven. I shot using Kodak Portra 400 until I got to Shouse, then switched to Kodak Portra 160 Film Simulation.
I shot RAW + JPEG and EV +2/3. The challenge is all about film simulation recipes and SOOC JPEGs, so I've included the best of the roll of 36. Many of the SOOC images have been cropped and edited for perspective correction only. Despite my best efforts with the built-in level of the Fujifilm X-T2 I tend to tilt.
What I learned from this experience is that while it's an ISO 160 film, Kodak Portra 160 Film Simulation might not be the best for brightly lit scenes. The image of the woman walking toward me seems washed out, although this could be because I did not expose correctly. I think Kodak Portra 160 Film Simulation might be best when shooting in the shade or shadows or on more overcast days.
UPDATE: After messing around with Color Efx Pro 4from DxO's Nik Collection 3, I think my criticism and reaction to the SOOC JPEGs from my Fujifilm Film Simulation Challenge Roll 5: Kodak Portra 400 test was "user error". I think the exposure compensation dial may have moved during my photo walk. That would certainly explain the washed-out look of the SOOC image. As a test, I used Fuji X RAW Studio to reprocess the images with Ritchie's Kodak Portra 400 recipe and adjusted exposure compensation settings, and the results are much better. I think the photos were over-exposed by between EV +1/3 to +1. In the interest of transparency, I left the original blog post but included reprocessed images at the bottom of the post.
This blog entry is my fifth installment for Ritchie Roesch's Fujifilm-inspired Film Simulation Challenge. For this challenge, I chose Ritchie's Kodak Portra 400 recipe for X-Trans III sensors and went for an early morning walk around downtown Princeton. This recipe attempts to simulate the look of the Kodak Portra 400 Professional ISO 400 film. I've never used the actual Kodak Portra 400 Professional ISO 400 film, but I like the SOOC JPEG images on Ritchie's web page and decided to give it a try.
I walked north on Nassau Street toward Hogie Haven. I shot using Kodak Portra 400 until I got to Shouse, then switched to Kodak Portra 160. I shot RAW + JPEG and EV +2/3. The challenge is all about film simulation recipes and SOOC JPEGs, so I've included the best of the roll of 36. Many of the SOOC images have been cropped and edited for perspective correction only. Despite my best efforts with the built-in level of the Fujifilm X-T2, I tend to tilt.
What I learned from this experience is that Kodak Portra 400 was most likely designed and tweaked for Western wedding portraiture. It seems to work best with a white and grey and a generally muted colour palette. This film would not be my choice for colourful Asian weddings and events. While I like how some of these images were rendered, I had this feeling that the photographers singing the praises of Kodak Portra 400 must hate the colour.
If your predominant market is light-skinned/Caucasian people, you can easily use any of the Portra packs or the Fujicolor packs.
If you're shooting mostly people of color or Asian skin tones, we recommend sticking with the Fujicolor packs and films.
I found Mastin Labs' article by searching for "best film for dark skin tones". Most of the results from Google were links to forums where photographers were asking the question. That's a good thing. Those photographers realise that not all skin tones are the same. But when I see any film described as "... delivers spectacular skin tones plus exceptional color saturation" I get this sick feeling inside that the writer meant white skin tones. When did white skin become the default?
During my sophomore year at Drew University, I took a winter semester course on photography with access to a fully stocked darkroom. As a student, the only thing I needed was a camera, film, and 8x10 photographic paper. I shot colour reversal, but thinking back to that time, I was enamoured with B& W film, shooting mostly Kodak T-MAX.
I recently purchased a roll of ADOX Scala 160, which is the reversal process film alternative to the discontinued AGFA SCALA. Once I shoot the roll of film, it would be interesting to compare to Ritchie's Agfa Scala Film Simulation Recipe. I wish I had done a better job of keeping my negatives. They are lost somewhere during one of my many moves. After selling her home in Florida, my mom is visiting while she decides what's next, and she shipped me a large box full of prints and film negatives she found. We are going through the box, and I occasionally have found a gem or two. Somewhere in that box is a set of film negatives that I may have captured during my photography course. Maybe.
This blog entry is my fourth instalment for the Ritchie Roesch's Fujifilm inspired Film Simulation Challenge. For this challenge, I chose Ritchie's Ilford HP5 Plus recipe for X-Trans III sensors and went for an early morning walk around downtown Princeton. I shot RAW + JPEG. I've never used the actual Ilford HP5 Plus film (or ACROS), but I do like some of the SOOC JPEG images which I've posted below. Some processed some of the RAW and achieved results that I preferred over the SOOC JPEG version. But the challenge is all about film simulation recipes and SOOC JPEGs, so I've included the best of the roll of 36. Many of the SOOC images have been cropped and edited for perspective correction only. Despite my best efforts with the built-in level of the Fujifilm X-T2 I tend to tilt.
I drove into Princeton with the intention of getting some early morning images and then stopping in at Rojo's Coffee for a latte and muffin for breakfast. Rojo's opens at 8 AM on the weekend so I had about 45 minutes to walk around. Perhaps because it was a cold winter morning or because it was very early morning, the area around Palmer Square was mostly free of vehicles and people. I parked on Palmer Square West and walked around to Palmer Square Sout toward Nassau Street and toward Witherspoon, then down Witherspoon toward Hulfish Street, before circling back toward Palmer Square East.
None of the restaurants and stores on Palmer Square was open at this hour but there were a few people on Nassau Street. I found myself drawn to the facades of the stores and restaurants and the way the early morning light looked on some of the buildings. There is a lot of shadows. Once I completed the square and arrived back at my car, I looked at the time and realised that it would be another fifteen minutes before Rojo's would be open. I was cold and hungry. I left Palmer Square and drove back to Skillman to pick up breakfast at Bagel Barn.
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