LifeInDigitalFilm

This blog is deceased if you were not aware.

2009-12-01T13:21:00.003-06:00

This, the original LifeInDigitalFilm, hosted on Blogger/Blogspot is dead. If you are coming across this site for some reason, please head over to LifeInDigitalFilm the new incarnation of this ratty old blog.

If you are subscribed to the feed, please delete this feed and update your feed reader with my new feed that can be found on the new site.

Thanks,
Michael

Film Review: Kodak Ektar 100 – 135 Format

2009-07-27T20:19:00.007-05:00

Film is dead…or so many people though until Kodak released their new Ektar 100 film to the public last year. Coming to market with the daring claim of “Finest Grain Ever” it would be an uphill battle to sell a new color print film to the general photographic public in the age of 10+ megapixel consumer-level DSLR cameras. It would take a really special film introduction to stand a chance up against the modern resolution of DSLR’s with a 35mm format film. Did Kodak do that? Yes they did.

First thing to note about Ektar, is that it was designed from the ground up to be scanned into a computer. As most labs now do digital prints, requiring the negative to be scanned before printing, Kodak had to design a film that could easily be scanned, have great color and high resolution. I have been scanning my rolls of Ektar with an Epson V500 at 3200 and 6400 DPI and my Plustek OpticFilm 7200 at 3600 and 7200 DPI.

[NOTE: All Scans are made with V500 at 3200 DPI with Digital ICE off to avoid blurring. Click for fullsize.]

On either scanner Ektar 100 brought forth good contrast, bold colors and almost no grain. In fact I notice digital noise from my scanners more than I do traditional grain. Ektar has required little correction in Photoshop or Lightroom after scanning is completed.

As far as image quality goes, I have been successfully printing excellent 8x10’s from 3200 DPI scans on my V500 and 11x14’s at 7200 with my Plustek OpticFilm at 7200 DPI. No other negative film will allow me to make quality prints with these scanners and resolutions. Even most slide films will not scan this high quality for me with consumer grade scanners.

Ektar delivers a clarity nearing slide film, color characteristics not found in any other film with the wide exposure latitude of negative film. Ektar shows to produce good images in my testing from -1 EV to +2 EV (or shot at ISO 50 up to ISO 400) without needing to push the development. Albeit the further you get away from box speed the more image degradation occurs, but in a pinch you can pull a good image out of Ektar shot at ISO 800 with some good scanning techniques.

Ektar’s next big advantage is price. You can find Ektar in 135 format for little more than a roll of Kodak Gold and quite a bit less than Portra. At my local photo shop, Gold 200 goes for $4 USD, Ektar 100 for $5.25 and Portra 160 NC for $7. So for little more than the price of regular consumer film, you can get a high resolution professional-quality film. A film that can be scanned with an inexpensive flatbed scanner and produce images equal or greater than current low-end DSLR’s. With better scanners you can even outperform the quality of many high-end DSLR’s and still retain the unique look of film. I have a 20” x 30” print on my wall made from a drum scan of one of my Ektar shots and the print is beautiful with a barely perceptible grain, my Canon 400D XTi or 5D could never even come close to producing that print. At this point a $10 dollar yard-sale SLR and a few rolls of Ektar can do you as good as a $500 XTi, if not better.

Cost, ease of scanning, resolution, grain and exposure latitude alone are good reasons to grab this film, but the unique look is worth the price of admission and then some. What really gives Ektar a unique advantage is its appearance. I find it to have a strange modern nostalgic look when shot at ISO 50 or 64, like a quality film shot from the 70’s. It shifts a bit blue and retains bold colors. If Ektar is shot at box speed, I have found that it reproduces colors reasonable accurately, although more punchy than normal. I find myself overexposing street photography for the vintage look and shooting landscapes and nature at box speed. It is nice to have the option of two distinct looks from one film and get good results at either setting. Again, you can take Ektar on upwards toward ISO 800, but plan on spending some time in post getting you image looking good. Still, it can be done though.

Some have complained of Ektar being inappropriate for human subjects, being a bit too saturated for skin tones. I have not found this to be the case, as some simple adjusting of saturation in Photoshop can alleviate this issue without dulling the overall picture.

Oversaturated skin tones with Ektar tend to be most common at box speed, and taking it to 50 or 64 can help as well. However I have no issue shooting portraits at box speed with Ektar. In fact Ektar has almost replaced Portra 160 VC in my wedding gear for outside, nature portraits. I have been happy and so have been my clients.

In general, Kodak’s Ektar 100 is a great general purpose film. It is well suited for travel, with its punchy colors and great contrast. It can capture human subjects and look fairly natural, while at the same time give you saturated backgrounds. Ektar is the new film of choice to take for family photos at the Grand Canyon (Now that Kodachrome is gone).

It’s great to keep in your camera for indoor flash photography. Ektar is a great choice for a primary film, and I have shot the same roll at ISO 50-200 varying between frames and got great results with standard processing. Give Ektar a try and don’t be afraid to experiment with it, the results may surprise you.

If you are interested in grabbing a few rolls of Ektar to try out, please go down to your local pro shop and get yourself a few rolls. If you don’t have a good pro lab, then consider ordering from Amazon or Adorama from the links below, it’ll give me a little kickback then, but please support you local photo lab before ordering online. You may pay a bit more, but to have personal service and knowledge people nearby it is well worth it.

Try it...You'll like it!

Michael

Links to purchase Ektar below.

Buy at Amazon or...

Search for Ektar at Adorama.

LR/ACR Preset: Polaroid 600

2009-07-18T15:48:00.004-05:00

Hey everyone, it's been a while, but it is finally time to resurrect LIDF from the ashes created by all my personal issues from the past few months. LIDF will now update on Saturdays and Wednesdays, with new articles, presets, reviews and my own rants. We will be taking a voyage more into film as we proceed, as I am now shooting film ten times more than digital. But LIDF will not be completely film based, as I will continue to feature Lightroom tips and presets on a regular basis.

Part of the reason I am shifting some focus to film on LIDF is because one needs to know about film to properly simulate the look of film. In fact you should shoot a roll or two regularly to make sure you are achieving the desired look when faking it. For more reasons to shoot film, check out my recent article over at the X-Equals blog +Improving Digital Photography with Film. As I shoot film to make more and improve existing emulation presets, I get more and more attached to the process. In fact, I am currently working on a series of articles covering a workflow for using film within Lightroom, from shooting, to scanning to processing. Watch for it in coming weeks.

I will be posting some film reviews pretty soon too. Hopefully by sharing my results with different films and providing you with links to get quality film stocks, you will be more likly to splurge on a roll or two.

But enough of all that, you probably want to get to the long-awaited new preset. Well today it is kind of a "beta" preset I am sharing. This preset was made in a few hours just today. It all started with me going out looking at yard sales, hoping to find some film gear. After an unsuccessful jaunt, no cameras or film today, I decided to drop by my local discount grocery store. You never know what these dent and bang stores may have inside their doors, and today I was rewarded with quite a haul. I mention to the shopkeep what I was seeking and she went in the back room and brought out a box of film, which I promptly bought for 12 dollars. Digging into the box, I came out with 17 rolls of 35 mm, 6 rolls of 110 and 4 rolls of APS film. All expired and of varying amounts of Kodak, Fuji and Ferrania store-brand films. But the big surprise was two lonely boxes of Polaroid 600 sitting at the bottom of the box. I have been wanting to get some 600 film to emulate, but the cost was rather prohibitive to me. Locally I can only find expired 600 integral film for about $15. But I got 2 boxes for $12, with 27 boxes of traditional filn for free!

So in celebration, I got home, shot my emulation targets and scanned in the Polaroids with my Epson V500. This is not the method I usually use for emulation. Although my system is color calibrated, I usually test my film for emulation out at a local optics lab, getting some baseline information on color response before I start my emulation.No time for that today, I have wanted a Polaroid 600 emulation in my catalog for quite some time, and now I had the needed tools to make one. So I did a quick and dirty emulation using the tools I have at home. So this is kind of a "beta" preset, as I am going to do my normal, in-depth analysis and then emulate again. But this one should get you playing with virtual Polaroid 600 until I get to a proper emulation in a few months.

This also got me back to writing LIDF. I have been building up a series of articles and reviews the past few months, and I have enough material ready to keep up a consistent schedule for a while. So with out further ado, the download....

Damn, it's nice to see my crappy download icon again!

Anyways, enjoy the new release. More will be coming soon. And if you have been suffering from a shortage of my ramblings and creations, be sure to check out X-Equals. In particular, check out my newest article +Monochrome Mojo - Mixing in Grayscale - Part 2 of 2. This article features a new collection of presets called the X-Equals Monochrome Toolkit, featuring 27 new presets to aide you in creating monochrome images that have the essence of real darkroom prints...especially when you print on real B&W photopaper, such as offered by Mpix.

Well, its good to be back. See ya next time,

Michael

PS: If you truly love Polaroid 600, support The Impossible Project, which is trying to bring back 600-compatible integral films. They have a difficult mission, check out their site for what they need and see if you can help! Also check out Polapremium, which is an on-line retailer specializing in Polaroid films (in fact they are part of The Impossible Project) supporting them by buying some Polaroid gear will also help out the Impossible Project!

Rant: Mama, they took my Kodachrome away!

2009-06-22T08:43:00.003-05:00

If there has ever been a sad day in film photography for me, today is it. Kodak officially announced their discontinuation of the Kodachrome line of slide film after 74 years of production in one incarnation or another. The announcement comes as no surprise, due to the complexity of the emulsion and the extremely complex development process. Any film that is so difficult to develop that it is only processed in one location in the world had it's days numbered in the modern, digital world.

I have shot 15 rolls of Kodachrome 64 in the past year, with 6 more in the freezer. If you have some, or decide to buy some, I recommend you get out and shoot it soon, as Dewayne's, the only K-14 processor in the world, announced continued support only through 2010. Once they close up the K-14 line, it's all over. If you have any left, your only option will be cross processing in B&W chemistry.

Kodachrome was and is the defacto standard when it comes to archival quality slides. Although they fade rather rapidly under the light of a projector, in dark storage, they colors stay true to the day they were shot. A quick search of the US National Archives will bring you scans of Kodachromes shot in the late 1930's that look as crisp and colorful as if they were shot yesterday. That longevity will be missed.

What will furthermore be missed will be Kodachrome's magical appearance. I can't describe the nuance that is Kodachrome, it it too subtle to define in words. Only a projection from a Kodachrome slide will ever do it justice. Kodachrome is difficult to scan, expensive to process and now scarce to get. But it is a film worth the expense and hassle, and I am glad to have gotten back into film photography to enjoy Kodachromes waning days.

In Kodak's press release, they recommend two excellent replacement films for the Kodachrome lover. The first is KODAK PROFESSIONAL EKTACHROME E100G, which is a beautiful film in it's own right. Not to disparage it, it lacks the subtlety of Kodachrome. However, I will concur it is the closest option you will get in an E-6 film (also try Fuji Astia if you shoot a lot of people, as I feel it renders better skin tones than E100G.) Kodak's second recommendation is their new EKTAR 100 negative film. Which is a wonderful option, as it has it's own special nuance that no other film comes close to (I will be posting an in-depth review of the film in the coming weeks). However EKTAR poses two problems. First, it is a negative film, not a slide film. As fine grained as it is, EKTAR still cannot capture the feel of a slide. Secondly, EKTAR is special in it's own right, with a great feeling to the colors, giving me a feel of the seventies in 2009. However it does not convey the timeless Kodachrome does. In short, there is no replacement for Kodachrome.

What I hope Kodak does, is spend some R&D money and produce us a new E-6 film that will carry the Kodachrome name and emulate the feel. A lot of Kodachrome's magic is in the K-14 process itself, but if Kodak can give us a film as nuanced as EKTAR or as beautiful as PORTRA VC they can bring us an E-6 film that can capture some of the true-to-life nature of Kodachrome. Ektachrome is great, but it doesn't bring the bang like Kodachrome.

For now, go out and get some Kodachrome and shoot a roll or two. Kodak estimates current stock will last through Fall 2009, however I am going to guess it will get scarce in the next month or so. If you don't shoot fil anymore, but want a feel of Kodachrome, try my two Lighroom/ACR Presets I have on the site. Try my current Kodachrome 64 and my Kodachrome 25. They will get you close, but they won't get you there. I have two emulation test rolls shot awaiting development currently of Kodachrome 64. Once I get them back I will do a fresh emulation and a Camera Profile for the results. That will be a while however.

In the end, today feels a bit like the day the music died. My heart sunk a little when I saw the news on Twitter. But we move on. There are great films still available and will continue to be, and out digital cameras and Adobe's magical tools will provide us with the means to bring us a little closer to the magic again. To me, today is a day i will remember for quite a while. It came as no surprise, the writing was on the wall and i was stocking up to complete a personal project. The finality of it still hits home.

Have a great day,

Michael W Gray

Rockin' at X= and Other Stuff

2009-06-02T14:40:00.002-05:00

Well, it looks like its another post finally. But, its a fluff piece. I'm working on new content for LIDF, looking to broaden the horizons. To that extent I have been taking time to build up new content and laying low on the LIDF front. That is not to say that I have not been busy. I've been working on a new series of articles over at the X=blog delving deep into the Camera Profiles in Lightroom.

Part one is currently live over at Brandon's fine site. In it I cover the basics of camera profiles and how to use them. You can find it HERE. Part two will be dropping soon, so check out X= frequently to see it once it drops. In it I will be covering the process by which you can develop you own camera profiles, and how to share settings between cameras. Part three is currently in my text editor being written, and it will cover making creative profiles....such as camera profiles that simulate film, much like my presets. So get a color checker and join me over at X= for the profling fun.

As to me, I've spent much of the past two months getting back in touch with traditional film photography. Aside from a wedding and a few portrait sessions, I haven't touched my digital gear much lately. I can't say that I regret it either. Shooting film feels different and I enjoy it. In that same vein, I have developed scanning methods and a Lightroom workflow for dealing with film...I will be sharing the insights I have garnered on that from in the coming posts.

In all, please bear with me a little longer as I prepare to relaunch my efforts here on LifeInDigitalFilm. The new Cold Storage Collection is well on it's way to completion and should drop by the end of this month. I'll contact those of you who already have the 1st collection before I release it to get contact info to send you a link to your copy of the new set.

Hang around, once we're back rolling I think you will enjoy what I have cooking for you. And I'll throw in a couple presets too.

Until later,

Michael

Update: Contrary to rumors, I assure you I am still alive...

2009-05-21T15:51:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to pop in for a quick update. I have been gone from the site for a while due to some personal issues, I hope to get a new post up this weekend. I will warn you for the coming months, updates will be slower than before, most likely no more than 1 - 2 updates a week. But presets are ready to release, and the next release of cold storage will occur in late june...which will most likely be the last of the Cold Storage Collection. Purchasers of Cold Storage will get the new set free if you purchase before June 1st. After its release, both sets together will be 14.99 or separately for 9.99. Thanks to all the recent supporters who have purchased while I have been away, your help is much appreciated.

As for the WordPress migration, that is on hold for now. I have too much going on, and I wish I could devote more time to get my setup working right, I don't see that free time coming until late summer. I am not happy with the current incarnation, but I will be working with it throughout the summer. You can check out what's up with it at www.lifeindigitalfilm.net, but I am not going to post to it until it's ready, keep coming here for updates. I jumped the gun on this, and felt I could handle it, but I couldn't at the time.

Also, I will be getting some focus on the film side of everything, including scanning and integrating film into a Lightroom/Photoshop workflow. Possibly a few presets to expedite the manipulation of film scans in Lightroom. We'll see what happens.

Hopefully in the next few weeks, my personal issues will clear up and allow me a bit more energy to focus into the website. As it is a full time job and part time photography is alot, but they keep my family fed...the website comes second, but I still love writing LifeInDigitalFilm.

Thanks for your continued support,

Michael

Status: WordPress switch in Progress

2009-04-03T17:48:00.005-05:00

[EDIT: New LifeInDigitalFilm is up int test mode. Very basic WordPress theme for the moment, but it is functional. Hope to have new posts starting this weekend. Check it out:

www.lifeindigitalfilm.net

When fully ready to go, I will either redirect the current lifeindigitalfilm.com or I will keep the blogger dot com site up for a while, linking to new posts on dot net. Let me know what you think is the best idea]

Just a heads up, LifeInDigitalFilm will be switching over to WordPress as a blogging platform. This switch will give me more option and more creative control over LifeInDigitalFilm. Most likely there will be no posts until the switch is complete. During this time, LifeInDigitalFilm.com will still be operational as it is. I will update this post with additional information as necessary, and give you the link to try out the new LifeInDigitalFilm before the switch is complete.

I hope to have the switch over completed as soon as possible, hopefully within the next week. If there are any delays I will let you know. I was planning on finishing up the tutorial and release a few more presets before the switch, but I decided I was going to jump on it now.

Bear with me, this is gonna be worth it.

Michael

PS: In the mean time, if you find you enjoy my presets and wish to show some support for LifeInDigitalFilm, consider purchasing my Cold Storage Preset Collection. It is a collection of many of my presets on this site, along with 12 exclusive presets. More information can be found HERE. Your purchase helps me aquire more film for emulation and pay for processing and scanning needed for emulation analysis.

Anyone who purchases (or have already purchased) the Cold Storage Collection will recieve a free upgrade to Cold Storage Vol. 2 upon its release in Late May, along with a special pack of presets just for my early supporters. More information on this will be sent to those who have ordered the Cold Storage Collection shortly before the release of Cold Storage 2. If you have already purchased the Cold Storage Collection and are using a new E-mail address send me an E-mail to help@lifeindigitalfilm.com with your new e-mail address as well as the e-mail address used for purchase so I can update my records for when I send out the upgrade links.

LR Preset: Holga+Classic Film

2009-04-02T11:35:00.001-05:00

Today, in association with X=blog, LifeInDigitalFilm presents two film emulation presets featuring my new Holga effect. Today's download consists of my Kodak Kodachrome 25 and Kodak Panatomic X presets with the new Holga effect built right in.

When using these presets on normal dSLR images, without cropping, these presets are ready to rock. If you want the classic square cropping of a Holga with 120 film, simply change the Post-Crop Vignette Roundness from +33 to 0.

If you want to get the Holga effect in a preset of its own, hop over to X=blog. Brandon's site is the exclusive home to my Holga-effect preset. It is ready to stack ontop of any of my presets, or any other preset you want a Holga-look applied to. Refer to yesterday's tutorial on modifying presets to combine the Holga effect with any other preset into a brand new preset.

Currently the Holga effect and Holga-treated presets are only available for Lightroom. I am working on a method by which to use them in ACR, and will update when available. For now, enjoy with Lightroom.

[NOTE: I figured out a work-around to use the Holga Base preset in ACR. It is live over at X=blog. I am not going to release the Holga+Film presets for ACR due to the extra step involved to complete the effect. If you want Holga+Film effects in ACR, grad the Holga set at X=, follow the install instructions. Then get the desired film presets here and install. In ACR apply athe film preset first, then the Holga BAse, finally goto the Graduated Filter menu and add the Holga Base Gradient. This will stack the Holga Effect over the desire film preset.]

Until later,
Michael

Tutorial: Presets, In Depth - Part 3: Updating, Modifying and Combining Presets in Lightroom

2009-04-01T13:11:00.015-05:00

In a departure from the past few articles, today I am going to focus strictly on Lightroom today. The manipulations of the preset files can be accomplished in ACR as well, but for clarity’s sake I am going to focus on Lightroom. I will address ACR at a later date, or if you need help in ACR feel free to ask in the comments, and I will address you issues. The past two posts got rather long and disjointed, and I feel focusing on one application at a time will help clear the articles up and make the article easier to read.

Jumping right in…

So, you know how to install and create presets in Lightroom. Wonderful, but now you have another situation. The preset you just made is not working right. It is manually setting the basic tone controls, when you wanted it to leave them be. Now you could just save a new preset and delete the previous, but that is redundant. Lightroom gives you the option to update existing presets, changing the problematic settings. Updating a preset is useful when designing presets for others to use, allowing you to make the preset, use in on other images, and alter and update the preset as you move along. Updating allows you to revise your existing work.

Let’s learn how to do an update… go ahead and open an image in LR and apply the preset you wish to modify. If you want to make alterations to any of the sliders, do so now, as any alterations will be saved when you run the update. Once you are ready to update the preset, head over to the presets tab in the develop module.

Find the preset you wish to update and Right-Click (Control-Click on Mac), to bring up the contextual menu:

Click on “Update With Current Settings” option.

This brings up the Update Develop Preset dialog box, which is identical to the New Develop Preset Dialog.

Now enable or disable any sliders that you need to adjust. Remember, disable any tools your preset does not need to use, this will facilitate in stacking and combining presets down the road. Plus, it is just good design.

Once everything you need to have saved in the preset is selected, click the “Update” button.You have now updated your preset with the new adjustments. The same preset name is used, however when clicked, it will apply the new settings.

Another task you may want to do is modify a preset you frequently use. When using a preset designed by someone else, you will often discover that you may need to make minor adjustments to the preset to make it more suitable to your needs. You have two different options here; updating the existing preset or creating a new preset based off the original. If you choose to update, follow the steps above. I recommend that you create a new preset based off the original; you may want to use the author’s original preset still, plus it is good to keep the original around to compare to while you fine tune your new version.

This will be short and sweet, since we already know how to make a new preset. Choose an image you want to play with. Apply the original preset you wish to modify, go ahead and make the changes you desire. Now make a new preset from your current settings, if you don’t know how to do this jump over to Part 1 of this series and follow the instructions for making a new preset. The steps are identical; just make sure to give the new preset a name that connects it to the original preset, so you don’t forget.

When you do modify another designer’s preset, do not release it as your own work. Check to see how the original designer licensed their preset, follow the rules. If they did not include a license, contact them before you release your modification. Make sure they are cool with it. Then give credit where credit is due.

Finally, you will often find that you want to combine the effects of two or more presets into one, stand-alone preset. When combining presets, at least one of the presets must be properly configured, changing only the settings needed. It works best when both presets are well-made, but if a preset is poorly designed, or simply a global preset, you want to apply that to the image first. After you apply the global preset, you will apply your second preset.

In the following instructions, I will combine a Kodak Gold 100 Curve preset and a 110 Frame preset, creating a 110 Kodak Gold preset. Since the Kodak Gold 100 Curve effects more sliders and is the primary effect, we will apply it first.

After it is applied, we will add in the 110 Frame preset; adding in a pseudo-frame with vignette tools.

Now both presets are stacked; the overall color adjusted by the film preset and frame applied with the frame preset. If you create a new preset at this point; you can save the effect of both presets into a single preset. Go ahead and save it as a new preset:

Once you get the New Develop Preset Dialog, make sure to select the tools used by both presets. If you are unsure what the presets actually alter, refer to Part 1 and “read” the presets in a text editor. In my example the 110 effect is in the Post-Crop Vignette; the rest of the tools are used by the Kodak Gold 100 preset. Here is what my New Develop Preset dialog looked like before saving:

Click Save, new preset is ready…follow up with Part 4 to find out how to export your new preset to share with the world.

Here is a download of the 110 Frame and Kodak Gold 100 Curve preset with the final 110 Kodak Gold 100 preset. You can play around and make your own 110 style presets.

Tomorrow will be fun, as I have been working with Brandon over at X= on a new preset. Check out x-equals.com/blog tomorrow for a new preset release I created for his site, then come back here tomorrow for some new presets I created using the new preset from X=. The new preset is an effect preset, enhancing an image for a particular look. It is designed to stack and to be combined with other presets...especially my LIDF Film Emulations. I will have two new presets on the table here tomorrow...so after you get the new release from X=, come back and get my new creations.

Until then,

Michael

Tutorial: Presets, In Depth - Part 2: Creating Presets (and designing them to play together nicely)

2009-03-29T12:44:00.016-05:00

Alright, sorry for the delay, but making money takes precedence over the blog, and I am sure my clients see it the same way. But anyways, let’s continue our exploration of Lightroom and ACR presets.

Today we will discuss the methods by which you can create presets for Lightroom 2 and ACR. I am sure many of you already know how to do so, but I am sure some of you don’t. We will cover a basic creation process in both Lightroom and ACR, but first I would like to take a detour and discuss preset “stacking” for a few minutes. Once we understand the stacking of presets, we can make presets that play well together allowing for multiple effects to be combined.

One common complaint about presets is that you can only use one at a time. This is not entirely true, but in general seems to be the norm. Presets (in both LR and ACR) adjust the different sliders in the develop module to create the desired effect for the image created on export. If you apply one preset, then another, most usually you will end up with just the second preset applied. This is due to the fact that you only get one slider for each tool, this isn’t Photoshop and there are no layers. You only have one set of tools, and the last preset applied will always override and previous presets or manual settings. This is the reasoning behind the belief you can only use one preset at a time.

That is not to say that you cannot use well designed presets in unison with one another. When you create a preset in Lightroom, the default dialog setting will save every setting applied to the preset. This creates a preset that will over-ride every single slider in the develop module. Your brand new preset will not work with other presets, it will replace them. This is fine for an import preset you will apply to every photo you import, but is not good for general creative presetting.

When creating you image, make note of what tools you use to generate your effect. I have a text file I print out to make hard copy notes about what I alter in the process of making my presets, when filled out it shows me what sliders I adjusted and those I did not. This allows me to save my presets with only the tools needed for the desired effect. If you do not touch the Basic Tone settings, make a note of that. When it comes time to make the preset, we will exclude the Basic Tone settings from the preset. If your preset only adjusts the Tone Curve, when saving the preset, make sure that only the Tone Curve is selected to be saved in the preset. By creating presets that only adjust what is needed for the effect; you will be able to combine multiple presets to achieve your desired effects. If your preset does not require any given slider to be manipulated, you should not allow your preset to alter those tools when applied.

I will recreate my preset design form as a prettied up PDF file, and release it here on LIDF for anyone else interested in being as anal as I am about my preset design. I wasn’t always this way, as many of my early presets alter every single slider; even if they are not needed…it was bad design and it embarrasses me. I am slowly updating the older preset to fix this oversight, eventually it will be done. IF you are just starting, don’t make my mistakes.

Now that I have that covered/off-my-chest, let us move on with creating a preset. Choose yourself a photo, and go ahead and make a few adjustments. As you make adjustments, make not of what setting you are altering, as these notes will be used to ensure the stacking-compatibility discussed above. I chose a random image from a wedding I shot recently.

For this tutorial, I am going to make a preset that adjusts the Vibrance, Saturation, Clarity, Tone Curve, Split Toning and applies a strong vignette. Honestly, this preset sucks, it gives the picture a really bad look. However it is suitable for what we are going to do here. Here is a view of my develop module sidebar, showing only what is changed.

I make it a habit to start out my development process with all the tools closed. Only opening the tools I need as needed. As you can see, I did not even mess with HSL or Detail tools, so they are still closed. Once done with the image adjustments, I make my notes on which Items were adjusted in the Develop Module. We are ready to save this preset.

Now head over to the Left Sidebar and go to the Presets Tab. Click on the plus (+) icon on the Presets tab.

Once you click the plus icon, it will open the New Develop Preset dialog.

This image shows the dialog box with the normal default settings. You dialog will show the same options used in the last preset saved on your machine. If you click save now, your preset will be saved adjusting every slider in the develop module, not what we want. So, start un-checking the boxes of the tools you do not require. Here is my dialog, adjusted for my preset.

This dialog shows only the tools needed for the presetted effect selected. The Color and Vignette checks became boxes, as I only saved some of the sub-options there in (Vibrance and Saturation in Color; Lens Correction in Vignette). The Color check box’s Color Adjustment selection is used when you make changes to the HSL settings; I felt I should mention that, as it is not overtly clear.

Also, at the top of the preset dialog is a box of options, called Auto Settings:

Color images will show only Auto Tone, monochrome images will show Auto Tone and Auto Grayscale Mix. Auto Tone, when selected, caused the preset to automatically adjust the Basic Tone sliders to what Lightroom deem to be the most appropriate settings. Auto Grayscale Mix will allow Lightroom to automatically adjust the Grayscale mixer, to what it deems to be a proper grayscale mix. These tools can be handy, but can create unpredictable results in application. I never use the Auto Grayscale, but I frequently use the Auto Tone option, especially in my film emulation Auto Presets.

Now click the Create button, and your preset will appear in the Preset Folder defined at the top of the dialog.

You have made your preset, we will discuss exporting your presets for others to use later in Part 4 of this series.

So, that covers Lightroom. So we will just jump to ACR, and just cover the process to save your preset. We will assume that you already have the image adjusted.
I again have the same image adjustments made to the same image.

Click on the option icon, depicted by the arrow in the above image to open the File Settings Menu

Click on Save Settings... This will open the save setting dialog.

This dialog looks a lot like the New Preset dialog in Lightroom. Again, it selects every adjust made available to you. Follow the preset design rules, and only select the options that you need for the preset. Here is mine again.

Once everything is properly configured, click Save… This saves your preset, bringing up the save dialog.

Give it a name, and click Save. You preset is now in ACR’s preset menu, as noted in the following image:

You are done.

I should have a few good posts in a row over the next few days, so check in again soon.
Part 3 will be coming soon. Covering updating and combining presets.

Until then,

Michael

Status Update

2009-03-25T16:33:00.004-05:00

Just letting everyone know, I am still working on the preset tutorial series and I have a few presets in the oven. Just a little busy on other projects currently, even took a few days off my day job to get caught up. In the middle of 3 projects for different clients, one involving a lot of slide scanning. Playing catch up on these today and maybe tomorrow. If all my tasks get done today I will have the next article in the series up Friday, and a new preset Saturday.

Just wanted to let everyone know I haven't forgot, just a bit busy.

Thanks,

Michael

LR/ACR Preset: Fuji 400H

2009-03-23T08:05:00.000-05:00

Sorry if you were expecting a Monday Update. Felt that it really was not needed this week. Will resume next Monday. Today I felt like releasing a new preset, kind of an atonement for the delay a week ago with the hard drive failure. Tomorrow the next portion of the Presets tutorial will be up.

So today I bring you a straight emulation of Fuji 400H. Fuji's middle range speed "pro" film, it features a more subdued color palette, placing it in line with the Kodak Portra 400 NC, making it great for candid portraits. The emulation does tend to run a little dark, so it is best on bright images. I hope you find the emulation enjoyable.

Well until tomorrow,

Michael

LR/ACR PReset: Fuji 160C X-Pro

2009-03-22T11:34:00.004-05:00

Recently a friend of mine was over at my house, discussing film emulation. As he was getting ready to leave, he asked me if I had any E-6 I needed processed, as he does his own and his chemistry is getting a tad old. I said I didn't have any E-6, but if he was getting rid of the chemistry soon anyways, as he no longer shoots film, he could run some c-41 print film through the slide process. He had never done it before, but he went ahead and took four rolls of C-41 film from me to process.

Well a few days ago, he got the film back to me. Fuji 160C was one of the films he cross-processed, and it turned out to give some really wild results. Almost unusable for my purposes, but it has an edge, especially if there are no people in your image.

See, the processing looks great, interesting color-shifts, green going a touch neon; perfect for some creative landscape or artistic animal work. But is just does not work for humans, as it turns any skin tone a funky shade of yellow. I do not like the look on skin. That is not to say that you might not like it, or may find a way to make it work in an image, its just I don't think I can.

So if you see a possibility for it, download it and take it for a spin. Let me know if you can make anything out of it.

There will be more upcoming C-41 to E-6 cross processes upcoming, most less harsh than this one. Also I have some revisits upcoming, where I shoot another roll of an already emulated film and emulate it again. Be it a different expiration date, different developer or just different conditions at time of test shots. I try to emulate any roll I shoot, and if they are good enough, they will make it here. Worst case scenario, you have 5 different Tri-X presets to choose from, but choice should never be a problem.

Back soon with Part 2 of the Presets series

Until Then,

Michael

Tutorial: Presets, In Depth - Part One: Installing and Reading Presets

2009-03-20T23:05:00.018-05:00

Again, apologies to my regular visitors, and all of you who already know the information I am about to regurgitate. There will be a new preset release soon, as in tomorrow, so please bear with me. If you are new to Lightroom, then go ahead and read on.

Okay, so you just downloaded some new presets, and you can’t wait to take them for a spin. First you will need to import them into your application of choice, be it Lightroom or ACR. We will walk through the process for both applications. Then I will show you how you can look inside a preset and see what it does, without even running it in your application.
So first, place your preset files (Extensions of .lrtemplate for Lightroom, .xmp for Photoshop) into a folder on your desktop. Name it whatever you want, as it is just holding the files for now. If you downloaded an archive, such as the .zip files I use here, make sure you unpack the archive before moving on.

First we will look at the method for Lightroom. Simply fire up Lightroom and get into the Develop module. Once the module loads, look to the left panel, and scroll down to the Preset tab, if you don’t already see it. Make sure to expand the tab if it has not already been opened by clicking on the small triangle on the left.

You should now see a folder entitled Lightroom Presets, which are the presets included with Lightroom itself. Beneath it is a folder entitled User Presets, bring your cursor next to it and right-click. Up pops the contextual menu with the options of “New Folder” and “Import”.

Click on “Import…” Once the dialog box opens, point the explorer to the desktop and open your folder you made earlier. Inside, highlight the .lrtemplate file you wish to import.

Then click “Import” and your new preset will be installed in the User Presets folder.

Now your preset is installed and ready for use. However you will rapidly make your User Presets folder a catastrophic mess. So you need to organize a bit. Let's go ahaead and make a new folder.

To make a new folder, right click again by the User Presets folder and choose “New Folder”.

Name it whatever you choose.

This will create the new folder in the presets menu.

You can then drag the imported preset to the new folder or right-click next to it and import another preset into the new folder.

Pay attention to how you organize your presets in Lightroom, as they are a pain to sort after you have amassed a large amount. This is since Adobe only allows 1 level of folders in the presets menu. Hopefully in future releases Adobe may endow us with nested folders, and if they do it will drastically improve organization of presets.

Installing presets in Adobe Camera Raw nowhere near as elegant or user friendly, however it is quick and effective. In fact, to install the presets, you do not even have to open Photoshop, let alone ACR. To install presets into ACR, it is easiest to do it via your operating system. So open up Finder in Mac or Explorer in Windows, and point it to the following path (I believe Vista should be the same as Windows 7, but I am not sure. Vista users try it both ways):

Macintosh: /Users/UserName/Library/Application Support/Adobe/CameraRawFolder/Settings

Windows: C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Application Data\Adobe\CameraRaw\Settings

Windows 7: C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\CameraRaw\Settings

Please insert your user name for your system into the respective path where you see UserName. If your system is installed normally, this path will place you right into ACR’s preset folder. Here is a screen from my system:

Now all you have to do is copy the .xmp presets for ACR right into this folder.

Close the folder and start Photoshop. Open a RAW file to bring up ACR.

Once ACR opens, click on the presets tab.

Almost magically your presets are ready to go, no other work needed. I strongly recommend only keeping presets you frequently use installed in ACR, as there is no method by which to sort them.

This is not to say that this is the only way to install presets in either program, but they are the most straight-forward in my opinion. Likely most all of you already know how to do this, but I felt that I should cover it anyways. Now onto a topic some people I know are not aware of… how to see what a preset does without loading it into Lightroom, or “Reading” a preset.

To read a preset, simply open the .lrtemplate file in any text editor. In Windows, you can just open Notepad and drag the .lrtemplate onto the empty Notepad window. This will open the preset in plain text. Although it can appear to be intimidating at first, take some time and look it over. You will start to see correlations between the text and the sliders in Lightroom. (Click the image below to view larger):

If you look at a presets text dump, I am sure you will start to see the correlations from the text file to Lightroom. A preset automatically configures your Develop Module tools for you, that is all they do. By looking at the text dump of any preset, you can see exactly what it will manipulate in Lightroom before you use it allowing you to know what to expect. It just takes a little time to get used to a tools internal name in the preset compared to the label on the slider in Lightroom. With a few reads and comparisons to the Develop Module you will get a quick understanding. You may not look at a preset’s text dump often or at all, but when you are away from your Lightroom computer, like at work, taking a peek inside a preset can tell you a lot, especially when you get familiar with Lightroom.

Also, it is possible to convert Lightroom presets to ACR. I have a tutorial up on X-Equals that explains the method to accomplishing that. Jump on over. Also, the presets I installed during this process were from Brandon's excellent collection of presets that can also be found on the X-Equals blog, click to be transported to his list of great presets. Don't forget to check out my article on sharpening in Lightroom over there too!

Hopefully this might help someone. If not, I just wasted a lot of my time writing, well not too much time. But again, I felt I needed to cover these tasks if I am to move firther into discussing presets in Lightroom and ACR.

Back again soon,

Michael

Tutorial: Presets, In Depth – Introduction

2009-03-19T09:00:00.003-05:00

Right off the bat, I would like to apologize for the following posts. Many of you will already know everything I am going to get into with this article (and the next part in the series). I have always assumed that if someone found my blog and presets that they already knew quite a bit about presets; what they actually are, how to make them, change them and use them to their fullest extent. However, I have received many questions from people who have just gotten into Lightroom who are not entirely clear on what presets are. Even though many people, more talented than I, have covered this topic, I felt maybe I should devote some time to the subject. Please bear with me if you know all this already (anyways it more content and more practice writing).

So, for everyone still with me, let us dig on in. Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw are both amazing, powerful tools that allow you to manipulate, interpret and create images. When using RAW files, the tools provided to you in the Develop Module allow a level of control over your images that is almost insane. The Develop Module offers you over 60 sliders to enhance your image, each affecting the image in different ways. That is not even counting the local adjustment tools or the tone curve! The sheer amount of tools provided and the power of each one allow you to interpret the RAW data provided by your camera in amazing ways, and can be a bit overwhelming.

The manners in which all of these tools are configured make your “recipe” for your image. When working with the sliders, it can take quite some time to achieve the effects you desire. However if you have to adjust every image in your shoot, making them look similar, it can become quite tedious. You have the option to copy and paste these settings from image to image, which may work fine for a single project. However you may find yourself referring back to that same “recipe” time and time again. Having to go to that original image each time and copy its settings would become quite the burden.

To remedy this situation, Adobe endowed both Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw with a system to save these image “recipes” and to apply them to any image in just one click. This system is called Presets and the act of making them has been coined “presetting”. Countless individuals have made it a personal hobby to create these presets and share them with the world; others have set out to make finely-tuned presets that they offer for sale. These Presets allow others to apply the same processing that the creator made to their own images, greatly improving their workflow.

Presets can be used many ways. Some people simply choose an image; choose a preset, click and BAM! They have their image. While this works for a great many, and is great to discover what a preset does, it is usually not the best method to produce you final image. Presets should be used as a starting point. You choose the preset you wish to apply to your image, apply it and then proceed to further process your image. You may tweak the colors, white balance, tone curve and so forth. You should always sharpen and reduce noise yourself, when needed. That is not to say that your image won’t look great without further work; I have seen many 1-click images I found stunning, but you should always give your images the benefit of deeper study. You may decide that the image is perfect as soon as you click that preset, but more often than not, you will see where a little attention can make a good image great.

So over the coming days, not necessarily every day, I will continue this series. Now that you know what a Preset is, in general, we can move forward in discovering how you can use, modify and create your own presets. Once you get all this information, you will see what the true power of presets is, the ability to save you time and repetition. Hopefully this may lift some of the stigma presets carry, that they are lazy and counter-productive to creativity. Yes, you can do what any preset does without using a preset; it will just cost you time. When you have 100 photos to adjust, time tends to works against you.

So, a quick syllabus to let you see what will be forthcoming in this series:

Part 1: Installing and Reading Presets – I will run you through the installation process for both Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw and then show you how to open you presets in a text editor, so you can see exactly what is adjusted when you use a preset.

Part 2: Creating Presets – A short instructional on the steps involved in creating a preset from a developed image. Covering the process of creating the preset and configuring it to adjust only what needs to be adjusted in an effort to produce presets that can be used together, also known as “stacking”.

Part 3: Customizing Presets – Sometimes, you have a preset you use frequently, but you often have to make some adjustments to the images afterwards. If you find yourself making the same alterations time and again, then you need to modify that preset to fit your needs. I will run through the steps required to alter an existing preset, tailoring it to your needs.

Part 4: Preset Tips – In the final chapter, I will delve further into some tips and techniques you can use to enhance your workflow with presets, be they your own creation or those of others. I will also discuss how to make “Preset Sets” that you can install and uninstall as needed, to keep your preset panel clean.

So stay tuned, I will release a few presets during the run of the series, so it won’t all be dry reading. I will be back tomorrow, don’t know if I will be bringing presets of words, but I will have something for you.

Until then,
Michael

PS: I have a new tutorial up over at X-Equals delving deeper into the sharpening tools in Lightroom. Part 1 is up today focusing on sharpening in the Develop Module. Hop over to X-Equals to check it out. Part 2 on export sharpening is forthcoming.

LR/ACR Preset: Rollei IR

2009-03-18T08:59:00.000-05:00

Today I present another of my inaccurate representations of an infrared film. Although, it is actually a normal emulation of a regular panchromatic black and white film that claims to be an infrared film. Rollei IR has en extended red range that pushes well into the infrared spectrum, however the emulsion is still technically panchromatic, and when shot without a IR filter, the film can be shot as a regular 400 speed black and white film. The effect of the infrared light is overpowered by visible light when shot without a filter, and it has a look similar to Tri-X, albeit with different color responses.

So, this emulation was based off a sample roll shot as regular film, not infrared. Therefore the response show little in the way of IR effects. I felt this was the best way to handle this film, as I still have no access to IR RAW files. Enjoy the preset.

That it all for today, back again tomorrow,

Michael

LR/ACR Preset: Forte Fortepan 100

2009-03-17T08:30:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the delay in new content, sometimes the unexpected occurs and you don't have a back-up plan. Good news is, I am back up and running. $50 bucks bought a new hard drive, and after 3 nights of fighting to get WinXP SP3 up and running, I gave up and instead dropped on the Windows 7 beta on my main machine. Turned out to be the best thing I have done in a while. If this is the sign of what Microsoft has planned for Windows, I may not migrate to Mac after all. I have always preferred to run a Linux or BSD machine as my main machine, but how 7 feels, I think I can actually stand to run Windows again...but I will let you know what I really think in a month or two, after the system has time to get bogged down. That is where Windows traditionally fails, I am hoping 7 shows to be more reliable in the long run.

Anyways, I have one of the presets I rescued from the crash for you today. Today I continue the collection of Forte films that I started releasing a week ago. Today I preset to you Forte Fortepan 100. I hope you enjoy it.

Sorry I don't have anything else today, I am still trying to get ramped back up on making more content for LIDF, and I had some other obligations to fulfill also. I have a guest post coming up on X-Equals soon on the topic of sharpening in Lightroom. Keep checking Brandon's site for that, as it should be up later this week.

Until tomorrow,

Michael

Recovery and New Post

2009-03-12T22:42:00.003-05:00

I currently have my system back up and I am catching up on a backlog of photowork and guest blog posts. LIDF will resume this Sunday/Monday. New presets are coming. Maybe even Saturday night if all goes well.

Be back soon,

Michael

LIDF Update

2009-03-10T20:51:00.002-05:00

Just to let everyone know, I recovered my finished presets from my failed drive. I get my new hard drive Wednesday and will be installing after I get off work. If all goes well, regular posting will resume on Thursday.

Monday Update: A Week Best Forgotten

2009-03-09T12:17:00.006-05:00

So, again I come off another week feeling like I was a punching bag in a boxing gym. I never succeeded in getting back ahead with my releases on the blog, had to replace my film scanner and now my primary photo computer has a failing hard disk. Not getting ahead whatsoever. Thank goodness I started these Monday updates...give me the rest of the day to find a way to get caught back up and hopefully save the presets I lost in my data crash. Hopefully after running through a repair program my presets will be intact. If not, I still have the draft versions of them on my Linux machine, which I can pull off and finish them back up again. Hopefully I will again have something for tomorrow.

Here are the releases made this week:

Tuesday: Fuji 160C
Wednesday: Fuji 160S
Friday: Foma Fomapan Classic
Sunday: Forte Fortepan 400

Had a review of the great, inexpensive canvas products from ZaZa Gallery on Thursday. Definitely check out the review and their site is you are looking to get some gallery wraps made. Great quality at a reasonable price, make them your first stop when shopping around for prices. And if you need to uprez an image for a canvas wrap project, read Dennis Hays' write up on Genuine Fractals 6 over at X-Equals.

Saturday I made a post with a couple reminders...Vote on a winning image at the Flickr Prestting Lightroom group's photocontest. Please drop by and vote.
And drop by X-Equals to learn more about Dripbook, a great new online portfolio service.

And now I am going to continue in my epic struggle against failing hardware and hope that I can produce more content for tomorrow. Hopefully I can get my next article for X-Equals done soon too. Need to get my screenshots and then I will have an article all about sharpening in Lightroom ready to go. Just need a working Lightroom computer. This Linux machine is fine for everything but photos...no Adobe love for Linux.

Hopefully see you tomorrow,

Michael

UPDATE: My local Hard disk is trashed, and I was unable to recover my finished presets. As it is, it should be Wednesday before I can get a new drive, and Thursday before I can finish off a preset from the WIP presets that were last saved to my server the night before. In other words, no new releases until then. I don't know what I am going to cover the next few days, as I have no Lightroom/Photoshop PC at the moment, but releases will resume by the end of this week. And so it is written in stone, this week is best left forgotten.

LR/ACR Preset: Forte Fortepan 400

2009-03-08T22:17:00.002-05:00

A quick release for tonight. I have had a hard drive failure on my production PC, bringing almost everything to a grinding halt. I luckily had an rsync update from my PC to my Linux RAID server on site, so I only lost the last day's worth of work, but that equates to 5 finished presets, 2 articles, and 2 articles for other blogs. Not a good day.

So here is one of the few finished presets I was able to scavenge, Fortepan 400.

Sorry I can't write more tonight, gotta get back to work trying to stabilize my system and prevent further data loss. Hopefully I can scavenge today's work before my hard drive totally becomes useless. Be back as soon as possible, hopefully tomorrow.

Until then (and wish me luck)

Michael

Miscellaneous: Stuff

2009-03-07T17:01:00.002-06:00

Sorry for the late post, I have been distracted by yet another project, that has put off the article I was working on for today. Anyways, that will see the light of day soon, and since it is late I though I would just stop in to say hi!

In case you are involved in the Flickr Presetting Lightroom group, we are now voting on images that were submitted to the photo contest. If you partake in the group, please consider joining in on the voting. If you have not been by yet, come on over and join in on a great community for Lightroom. We are hoping to have more contests/challenges in the future, so keep checking in.

If you are a pro photographer or aspiring to be one, you most likely have a digital portfolio. If you do you may want to consider looking into Dripbook. They offer a great service that could be very beneficial if you maintain various contact points for your portfolio. More information on this service is available ovar at X-Equals.

I am having quite the experience with my new Plustek OpticFilm 7200 Film Scanner. Priced for those on a budget, it is quite lacking in features, however I am getting excellent results from it. I will be doing a full review and guide to getting good results from this high-res scanner that won't break your budget. Although I will miss my old Coolscan LS-2000, I won't miss the money I save on this over the Nikon Coolscan 5000 ED. I can deal with lower quality for my personal film shots. I can pay to get great scans on a frame if I really need it...such as I do for all the shots on test rolls of film.

Other than that, don't forget to get my Cold Storage Collection if you haven't done so already. Proceeds from the sales contribute to my costs incurred whilst developing these presets. Your generosity will keep this site moving forward.

Well, not I am going to get to work in preparing more material for this site, hopefully finally get ahead of the game again. Also, I am in the process of writing an article for X-Equals about sharpening your images in Lightroom. It will go fairly in depth, keep an eye out for it sometime in the next week or so.

Well until the next post,

Michael

LR/ACR Preset: Foma Fomapan Classic

2009-03-06T10:00:00.000-06:00

Well, Friday seems like a good day for a new preset. Thank goodness it's the weekend now, as I have three days in which to get my current load of presets completed. I'm running low on ready stock and need to get my current batch done. But that's not what you are here for now, is it?

Today I bring you an emulation of another fine film from Foma. Today's release is on their "low-speed" Fomapan 100 Classic. It is similar to Fomapan Creative in many ways, with a slightly different tone profile and a finer grain.

I hope you find the emulation enjoyable. I will be back tomorrow with more content of some sort, most likely not a preset, but something more informative (as I have to get more presets ready to roll).

Until then,

Michael

Review: ZaZa Gallery Stretched Canvas

2009-03-05T10:00:00.008-06:00

Recently, whilst twittering on Twitter, I met up with a fellow that goes by the moniker @photocanvas who has gotten into the business of producing gallery wraps. When I checked out his site, ZaZa Gallery, I was blown away at the prices I found listed. 8x10 canvas-wraps for $25 and 20x30 for $99. I was curious, but a bit set off by the low price.

In my experience, I have found that while inexpensive is great, there is usually a discernible lowering of quality. With this in mind, I still wanted to give ZaZa Gallery a go, as I have been wanted a canvas wrap for my wall, and I have always been too cheap to get one.

So I chose a picture of my wife and son, chosen so this could double as a Valentine's present. The shot was taken with my Canon XTi and I uprezzed the converted RAW with Genuine Fractals 5 (a step behind, as always). When I was processing the image in Lightroom I hit it with my Kodak Portra 160NC preset from my Cold Storage Collection. I wanted to see how the more subtle colors would come across on canvas, as most prints I have seen tend to be rather saturated. So after I got the image done, I uploaded to ZaZa Gallery.

Within a week I recieved my canvas via FedEx Ground, and upon opening the box was promptly blown away with the quality, especially when I factor in the price.

Immediately I saw that my Kodak-inspired colors were dead-on. I did not ask for any special handling of the image, so it was great to see that Hugh (the real name of @photocanvas) knew what I was wanting from the original image and did nothing to alter the colors of my image. Next, I noticed the wrap itself, where he had perfectly mirrored the border of my image, and stretched the canvas right on that mirrored border. Finished it off with nice, tight corners. I was truly impressed. ZaZA Gallery's production quality is great, and the Epson inks brought out true color on the nice, white canvas.

Speaking of the Epson inks, the printer used produces great, sharp, detailed images. I was expecting to see a lesser DPI utilized for my 11x14 canvas, as I have seen done with other enlargements. It was not so. The level of detail retained was amazing, especially whe I peered deeper into the reflection on my wife's sunglasses...I realized that I was in the portrait myself.

I was surprised to find myself printed in fairly good detail, with indidual twigs on the trees around me still visible. To an extend that is a testimony to modern digital cameras, but again, this is a lot of detail for a heavily textured surface. It was great.

Needless to say I am impressed with the quality of ZaZa Gallery's work, and look forward to utilizing them again when I get ready to order my next canvas wrap. They utilize archival inks and coatings, to ensure a long image life...I can't quite test that, but I'll let you know in 90 years or so.

The only thing I found lacking about their service is a minor pittance. A backing and hanging wire would have been a great addtition, but for what they charge it is no big deal to drive down to my local framing shop to do it myself.

So next time you are looking to get some gallery wraps made, drop by their site and check them out. If you have any questions all their contact info is on the site, or you can simply follow Hugh on Twitter @photocanvas. If you do order, let him know you found him through LifeInDigitalFilm.

While on this topic, I mentioned earlier that I had uprezzed this image utilizing onOne Software's Genuine Fractals 5. Yesterday, Dennis Hayes (of Photo News Today) had a guest spot on X-Equals blog, in which he went in-depth with Genuine Fractals 6. Drop by and give it a read if you like to go big with your images....remember, at 300 dpi 11x14 is as big as it gets at 10 megapixels. Genuine Fractals lets you go big and make new pixels that look real, as if you shot your image with a 20 megapixel camera with no noticeable loss of quality. Check it out over at Brandon Oelling's X-Equals blog.

Well that is all for today, back tomorrow with something else.

Until then,

Michael

LR/ACR Preset: Fuji 160S

2009-03-04T10:00:00.001-06:00

Another day, another Fuji-looking preset. Today I bring you Fuji 160S, the subdued color sibling to yesterday's Fuji 160C. While still quite vibrant, the color is more subtle than 160C, however it still can bring some pop to an image. This film was designer for use in portraiture, and thus it handles skin tones beautifully. A nice film, which I found I quite enjoyed, as I have a liking to the more subtle tones of portrait films.

As it is quite a busy day, I am going to leave it at that. Come back tomorrow, when I will have some honest-to-goodness blog writing done...or if all else fails another preset from the B&W vault.

Until then,

Michael

LR/ACR Preset: Fuji 160C

2009-03-03T10:00:00.004-06:00

Alright, back on schedule. Releasing one of two quality Fuji presets today, tomorrow another follows. Today I bring you my interpretation of Fuji 160C, one of Fuji's professional line films, this one designed for general use, with a heavy leaning towards strong saturation. The film produces great, saturated colors, but not too far over the top. Great for all kinds of uses, but maybe a bit rich in the orange channel for portraiture. But that is what Fuji 160S is for.

160C features a fine grain and Fuji's "4th color layer" which supposedly allows for richer colors with less grain. Either way it is a great film with a lot of versatility.

Come back tomorrow for the next film preset in my Fuji set, 160S. The subdued portrait film.

Until then,

Michael

Monday Update: Some weeks are better than others....

2009-03-02T17:19:00.002-06:00

In short, my week sucked. I had absolutely no time to work on LifeInDigitalFilm whatsoever, my real job and photo work saw to that. Luckily, I though things might go wrong, so I prepped enough material to get through the week with out posting, to get me through the weekend. That didn't work out as hoped, as I had no content on Saturday, but I still made a post, so my current streak is still intact.

So, if you haven't been by in a while, this week was pretty uneventful here. The only upside was that I got four new presets out the door.

Tuesday : Fuji Fujicolor Press 800
Thursday : Maco PO
Friday : Maco IR
Sunday : Foma Fomapan Classic

Saturday was a wash, as all I got up was an excuse for not posting, however on Wednesday I did get a couple words out as I covered a few topics that I felt I needed to address, read more on that HERE.

I was planning on doing more today, but again I am time limited, but all my current commitments have been met, so I have some time to dedicate to LifeInDigitalFilm in the coming days. The next two days will see some new presets released, and later in the week I will have a review of the canvas print service from Zaza Gallery and a little tutorial piece I have been working on. Hopefully I can find some time to get some details hammered out on my upcoming switch to WordPress and let you know when those changes will arrive.

Also, be sure to check out X-Equals, as Brandon has some great information over there. This week he threw down his review of Alien Skin's Bokeh and gave an introduction to Dripbook, a new spin on online portfolios.

Well, I will be back tomorrow with another new preset for you to play with.

Until then,

Michael

LR/ACR Preset: Foma Fomapan Creative

2009-03-01T21:14:00.004-06:00

Well, it has been a hectic week for me, but I guess I have avoided not posting. It is Sunday night and I am finally getting a release out. Sorry for the lack of contents yesterday, but I had my nose to the grindstone taking care of business. Now that is done and I am back. It may take a few days for me to get back to early posts, but I will get it back.

Tonight I bring to you another black and white simulation. Tonight's preset is an emulation of Foma's Fomapan Creative, a nominally rated 200 speed film, functional from ISO 100-800 depending on processing. This roll was exposed at ISO 200 and developed in D-76 Stock soulution for 6 minutes at 20C.

This is a really sweet film, with great tone and wonderful grain. I really like it a lot, enough that I am considering utilizing it for a lot of work I normally do with Tri-X. I have not been overly impressed with many of the modern-classic films (those utilizing the traditional cubic silver), but this one relaly got me. I love the tones it produces.

I hope you find this preset enjoyable. I will be back agaoin tomorrow, with my Monday update and some new links for you to follow. Tuesday shall bring another preset, and further in the week I have a few reviews for some software and services, including a great canvas print service, along with more presets.

I hope to have a Wordpress migration in the next month, have some gears moving with some great people right now...I will update further when things firm up a bit more. But good things are coming. I am also working on my own guide to simulating film in Lightroom and ACR, which I will release as an e-book this summer. It is coming along well thus far, and I will update further when I have more information on that as well.

In the mean time, keep using my presets, and let me know what you think of them. Don't forget to get your copy of the Cold Storage Collection to help me keep getting new films to emulate. On average every $10 purchase/donation will pay for 1-2 new emulations. So if you haven't grabbed a copy yet, be sure to do so...it keeps the site alive. AND anyone who purchases a copy of Cold Storage will get a FREE upgrade to the 2nd edition that will be coming this summer..it is my way of thanking all the early supporters. To pull the trigger on the deal, look to the right sidebar for the purchase buttons or click here to read more from the orignal post for CS.

Thanks again for all the support!

Until tomorrow,

Michael

Update: Off for the weekend

2009-02-28T12:48:00.003-06:00

Just wanted to let you all know that there will be no real post for today or tomorrow. I didn't want to just leave you all hanging, so I figured that I would let you know. I am in the middle of a fairly massive job for a client, so I don't have time this weekend to devote to the blog. I will be back by Monday, and should be back on schedule with daily posts early each day.

If I do get some time before hand, I will try to get a post up on Sunday, but it does not look favorable at the moment.

Thank you all for dropping by and giving me some time to take care of real-world issues, LIDF will be back in swing soon. I hate taking time off from this project, but there is no other option this weekend. It would have been longer, but I knew I had a busy week coming up so I got my daily posts for the past week done last weekend. I just hoped the I would have been done with the project by this weekend, but alas, that was not to be.

Back soon,

Michael

LR/ACR Preset: Maco IR

2009-02-27T08:50:00.002-06:00

Today I bring you another attempt at simulating an infrared film. It is a fairly difficult task that cannot be done anywhere near as accurately as a normal B&W film. So when using my IR presets, keep in mind that you are not creating anything near what the actual film would create. I think I have the general feel of the film captured, however it is impossible for me to create a preset that can take a standard RAW file and give it an IR look.

However, if anyone has access to a IR-converted DSLR, and could send me some RAW files to test with, I should be able to work up a proper IR preset for use with IR modified camera RAW files. If you do, please contact me at michael@lifeindigitalfilm.com

Anyways, today I give to the world preset in the style of Maco IR. I can't really call it an emulation, but it has similar tonality and reacts to colors in a way that makes it kinda look IR. I hope you enjoy it and can find a use for it.

Don't forget to show LifeInDigitalFilm some love. Buy the Cold Storage collection, or even just donate a couple bucks. Every little bit puts more film in my hands, resulting in more presets. Find the buttons on the right side of the page.

A lot has been going on for LIDF lately, I have a few items in the works, so keep dropping by. New things are coming, I just can't say when yet.

Also, today is essentially the last day to make an entry into the Flickr Presetting Lightroom photo contest. Not alot of enteries, and there is a copy of HDRSoft's Photomatix Pro and 3 copies of my Cold Storage collection up for grabs. To enter you need to post an image to the group, with a title, preset used, and why it was used. the contest collection is small, so the odds of winning are pretty good. Jump over there to join in.

Until then,

Michael

LR/ACR Preset: Maco PO

2009-02-26T08:47:00.003-06:00

Now to follow up my Maco Cube preset from this past weekend, I now give you my version of Maco PO, their Orthopanchromatic film. Being an Orthopanchromatic film, it has a very subdued response to red, but does not render it black as an Orthochromatic film would. Being said, that is all I can say I find special about this film. It is still a good, solid film, but nothing makes it stand out to me, especailly when compared to Fuji Neopan 100 Arcos, another Orthopan film.

I hope you enjoy it

Back again tomorrow, in the mean time don't forget my Cold Storage collection. If you enjoy my presets and wish to support their further development, the $9.99 usd purchase price goes towards costs for the website and to aquire new film and processing to prepare the film for emulation. The process for making these presets is fairly involved and does require an outlay of cash on my part...your support helps offset these costs. For more information on how I make my emulations click HERE.

Until tomorrow,

Michael

Random Items: ACR presets and Customizing LIDF Presets for Your Needs

2009-02-25T08:23:00.002-06:00

So lately I have been fielding some questions via e-mail and reading some great criticism on other blogs. All in all, I feel the response to my presets has been amazing, but in the interest of always improving, I want to say a few thing that may help clear up some common issues.

Issue 1: Over Aggressive Tone Curves

Alright, I admit some of my tone curves can be harsh when used on high contrast images. I have noticed this and I am currently revising some of the worst offenders to help alleviate the problem. Frankly, it is hard to duplicate the effect of film, as each batch is different, and every frame can differ based on condition in which the photograph was taken. If you notice your image is breaking (excessive posterization in shadows, strange artifacts, etc) I recommend you take a look at the tone curve and make a few adjustments.

If the tone curve is steep, with deep shadows and bright highlights, you may want to pull the curve back on either side, flattening out the image. You may also want to adjust the Point Curve option in the Tone Curve window down a step: from Strong to Medium, Medium to Linear. These alterations may improve your image. The primary concern in my emulation preset is the color settings, with the tone curve coming in second. Try to fix any problems using the tone curve, it may help you out more if/when you take the image into Photoshop.

If you find yourself frequently altering the tone curve of a particular preset, you may want to consider permanently altering the preset to your needs. After making your corrections, right click the preset name and select Update. Hit okay afterward, now you have made the preset your own. If you find that you get better results, email me about your alterations...you may be the extra set of eyes that helps me improve my emulation. Contact emails are on the left side of the blog.

Issue 2: Adobe Camera Raw Presets

For a while, every preset I make has an ACR preset included in the release. The ACR presets are located inside a folder in the archive entitled "ACR Presets". Every film emulation preset on LIDF now has ACR counterparts to the Lightroom presets. Most of my style presets also have ACR counterparts.

To install the ACR presets all you have to do is copy them to the corret folder for ACR to access them. They folders are as follows:

Macintosh: /Users/UserName/Library/Application Support/Adobe/CameraRawFolder/Settings
Windows: C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Application Data\Adobe\CameraRaw\Settings

Simply replace your current user name into the folder structure where you see UserName. These folder paths lead you right to where you need to copy the .xmp files found in the ACR Presets folder. Once you have them copied over, the next time you open ACR the presets will be available in the Preset tab in ACR (Which is the button furthest to the left under the histogram).

Alot of people were not aware how to install these presets, and if you are interested in converting Lightroom presets yourself, please refer to my post over on X-Equals. It walks you through the process, and gives more indepth direction on installing presets into ACR.

Issue 3: Non RAW Images

If you have been to LIDF lately you may have seen the poll on the top left side of the blog asking if I should make presets for raster images in Lightroom. Overwhelmingly the answer was no, but I saw enough intrest in raster images that I made a decision. I am going to start woking on Photoshop actions to accomplish much the same effect as my presets. This will likely be a way off, and the releases nowhere near as frequent as my Presets, but I plan on doing it.

I decided to forgo presetting for jpegs, as I found the results less than adequate, and I feel Photoshop is the place to make these pixelpushing changes anyways. Take away the power of RAW data and Lightroom is rendered fairly inept for my emulation purposes.

Keep an eye open, they will be coming.

Issue 4: Using My Presets

Finally, if you are using my presets and getting great results, let me know. I want to see and hear about successes. In the same right let me know about problems you encounter, feedback will help these presets improve.

If you use my presets on your own personal blog, drop me an email or a tweet on Twitter, and let me know. I love to see others work with my tools and I will happily send everyone who views this site to you to see what you have done. I enjoy showcasing those who use m presets.

If you are on Flickr and post images processed with my presets, you don't even have to email me. Just tag you image with "LifeInDigitalFilm" or "LIDF" along with the emulation used in the description, I will find them as once a week I troll Flick looking for examples of my presets in use. If you have a number of images using my presets, I will showcase your Flickr stream just as I would a photoblog.

Maybe it is vanity, but I enjoy seeing my work paying off. Also I can see any inadequacies I did not encounter whilst testing the presets out myself. Again seeing them used can help me further refine and improve my presets.

Well thats it for today, another preset is coming tomorrow!

Until then,

Michael

LR/ACR Preset: Fuji Fujicolor Press 800

2009-02-24T09:00:00.003-06:00

Alright, here is a preset I had mentioned I have been working on for a little while. Today I release my version of Fuji's Fujicolor Press 800 film, which was design to be a high-speed film primarily for media use in adverse lighting conditions. The emulsion is rather grainy, but grabs sharp, clear images. This was one of the first Fuji film emulsions that utilized their 4th color layer, leading to vibrant images even under bad lighting without sacrificing shutter speed.

A warning up front, my presets are primarily designed from me physically shooting a roll of film and then further analysis. Sometimes this can lead to unique effects from roll to roll. I feel this is a case of that, the blues in this roll and emulation are really washed out, as you can see in the image above. I could correct this, and make the blues look more "correct" however that would be an inaccurate emulation of this roll. I emulate actual film, not the average look of the film. As I shoot more, there will be new emulations of every film I have done so far. It is the way I am choosing to do this project...there is no end all be all emulation for any film, each batch of film created will differ in appearance and reaction from batch to batch...therefore my emulations retain the quirks of each individual roll and each processing method used.

To compensate for the washed out blues, I recommend that you first slowly lower the Blue channel Luminosity, bringing some more depth to the color. If that is not enough, increase the Blue Saturation slowly until you get what you are looking for. Only do this if you really nee to do the blues, as most other colors look accurate compared to other samples of the film I have encountered. Enjoy the preset.

That is all for today, quick post just to make the release. Enjoy your day, and if you have any beautiful photos that you have just process with my or anyone else's preset, please consider entering it in the Presetting Lightroom contest on Flickr. Just a few days left to enter!

Until Tomorrow,

Michael

Monday Update: In Other Words, Nothing New Today...

2009-02-23T08:00:00.003-06:00

Well, it is Monday, My busiest day of the week in the "real" world, so I am going to continue with my Monday Update reviews. Don't expect new contents often on Mondays, but something may sneak in from time to time.

Well, although it was difficult to do, I succeeded in getting a new post out every day again this week. However, I did not get any new articles out as I had hoped to...that just rolled into a new project. More on that when the time comes.

Still working on my new WordPress redesign for LifeInDigitalFilm. I am not going to migrate until I have everything ready to rock, so it should still be a while. When it happens you will know.

It was a good week for presets this past week, with a series of releases. The big focus on presets this week was on the Agfa RSX II family of slide film. I hope you all enjoyed it, as I was not planning on releasing them all at once, but lack of creativity preculded me from writing actual content, so they all got rolled out way too fast. A day by day breakdown....

Tuesday: Rollei Ortho
Wednesday: Agfa RSX 100
Thursday: Agfa RSX 200
Friday: Agfa RSX 50
Sunday: Maco Cube

Only article written was Saturday's rant about me and why I still shoot film. That is not counting shooting it to emulate it, but to explain why I have 50 rolls of file in the freezer waiting to be shot and another 15 waiting to be developed, while 3 rolls currently reside inside three different cameras. All being used whilst my DSLR rests in it's camera bag. To read on my retro-photo life click HERE.

This week I started a new mini-feature in my release posts... As I have encountered photoblogs using my presets, I have been featuring them on LifeInDigitalFilm. Sometimes it's good to see other people use my presets, actually it is always good, since I see my own photos too often and only can use my personal snap-shots to demo my presets...I don't like using client or project photos for this purpose. So here are the phot-blogs featured this past week on LIDF.

Wednesday: 365photosin2009 - Julie McLeod

A fun photoblog, depicteing Julie's progress through her 365 photo challenge. Every photo has to meet a theme that is listed on the blog, and every photo is a different theme. Quite a challenge and it is fun to see how she meets the themes with her photos. She had frequently used LIDF presets in her project and I ask you to take a look.

Thursday: Beau A.C. Harbin Photography Blog - Beau A.C. Harbin - Twitter: @bacharbin

Beau has a knock for creative composition and processing, and most of his images include a small snippet of text describing the image itself, so you can understand it in the context of how it was shot and processed. He has used LIDF presets occasionally on his images, most recently on a stunning HDR image of a bridge over the Chittenango Falls. His images will take you somewhere, if only for a moment.

Friday: Phototerium & The Photog Formula - Nate Lawson - Twitter: @nate_lawson

Phototerium is simply an amazing presentation. It is the home to Nate Lawson's 365 photo project, and he is putting up some simply stunning images. And as if that was not enough, he has frequently been posting the outtakes and seconds to his other blog, The Photog Formula. He has been on a kick of late using alot of LIDF presets in his work...Hop over, have a look, get some inspiration for finding the art in an everyday moment.

Saturday: profiPhotos - Markus Griebling - Twitter: @profiphotos

While not a photoblog in the same sense of the previous three, Markus' profiPhotos is an excellent resource for Lightroom tips. He recently posted a video on creating High Dynamic Range (HDR) images in Lightroom via HDRSoft's Photomatix Pro, check it out if HDR is an interest of yours or may someday be.

Markus is also a fellow Admin over at the Presetting Lightroom group on Flickr. Both of us want to invite you to join in on the conversation and to join in on the current photo contest. Less than a week to enter a phot for a chance to win HDRSoft's Photomatix Pro or a copy of my Cold Storage Collection. Join in the contest HERE.

Bonus Blog: x-equals blog - Brandon Oelling - Twitter: @xequals

Finally, even though I did not make mention of this site in the past week, please hop over to the X-Equals blog, in fact you should make this a frequent stop. Brandon brings you some of the best tip, trick and presets for Lightroom and also features alot of information on workflow, file-maintenance and often does in-depth features on some great photographers.

Recently Brandon put the spotlight on Tom Hoops, who is a great portrait photographer. The article is an interesting and informative read, giving insight into the mind of a great photographer.

In all Brandon's site is a great resource for Lightroom users and photographers in general. Take some time and visit his site. You might even find a few articles n me in his archives.

Well that is all for today, a rather quick post, given it's length. That's what recaps are good for, making you look prolific whilst not having to produce any new content. Come back tomorrow for a new color preset.

Until then,

Michael

LR/ACR Preset: Maco Cube

2009-02-22T12:46:00.004-06:00

Alright, it is Sunday here in Mid-America, and I have nothing better to do that bring you my newest film emulation preset. Today is a rendition of Maco Cube, from Maco of Germany, the manufacturer of the Rollei films. Maco Cube is a 400 speed (nominally rated) Black & White film emulsion. The manufacturer claims an ISO latitude from 100 to 6400 with the same film, depending on development process used, with a fine grain across the ISO spectrum. They claim to accomplish this by utilizing three emulsioon layers with chemicall different silver crystals, that react at different speeds, allowing for fine grain and high speed. I did not test it at any other speed thusfar except for 400, as the deevloper I have on hand currently is D-76 and the only speed rating on the datasheet for D-76 was 400 [10 minutes @ 20C].

I find that it does have a fairly fine grain, but that is of no difference currently in Lightroom as there is no tool allowing for inclusion of grain (please Adobe...V3? Please?) I got the general color response reasonably accurate and I find the emulation to be reasonably close to Maco Cube @ 400 in D-76, for what it is worth. Enjoy.

As I mentioned yesterday, please join Flickr Presetting Lightroom group and enter into out photocontest. We have less than a week to go and less than 20 entries, those are pretty good odds to win a copy of HDRSoft's Photomatix Pro, with it's new Lightroom Plug-in. Also you have a shot at getting my Cold Storage Collection, three copies are up for grabs. Presetting Lightroom has more than just the competition too, we have a collection of now over 200 free presets that you can get to from our community discussion board. Come on by and enter!

And if you think you have a good shot at winning, you might want to check out the video from profiPhotos, coverin the use of HDRSoft's Photomatic Pro with Lightroom! Follow over to it HERE!

And if you got some mad tax-return money burning a hole in your pocket, and you like the presets I make, please consider grabbing a copy of Cold Storage and get the 12 exclusive presets along with every preset released on LIDF up to the end of Janurary 2009. $9.99 to go to film and processing to keep the emulations coming and improving! Thanks!

Until tomorrow,

Michael

Rants: Shoot Film! (and other stuff)

2009-02-21T19:42:00.003-06:00

[Photo Info: Kodak Portra 160 NC, Minolta Maxxum 7000, Minotla Maxxum 50mm f/1.7]

Okay, I still have not written an actual article, and I don't want to release a preset tonight as I have released quite a few this week...I will have a new black and white preset up tomorrow however. I did want to take a few minutes though to say s few things that dropped into my mind today.

So, today I opened my freezer and saw rolls of film that I have shot over the past year, awaiting development. The picture above is one of the frames snapped on the rolls I had developed. I also had my roll of Fuji Press Film 800 I bought a while back developed finally, so an emulation is a week or so away, but I digress. As I dropped the film off at Wal-Mart, as I told them "develop only, no prints" I got a look of confusion from the clerk at the counter. Almost like, why are you even shooting film if you don't want prints. I didn't say anything, it just jump started my brain.

On the drive back over to my mother-in-laws house to pick up my wife, I was asking myself "Self, why did buying a fancy new DSLR lead your right back into the world of film photography?" Now I know the answer for the one roll of Press Film, I am going to emulate this film for LIDF so I can get a look similar to this film on any of my digital shots. That did not explain the other three rolls I just got processed. It had me wondering, and I came upon my answer, shooting film makes me a more disciplined photographer. Shooting film also keeps me firmly in touch with the past and makes me appreciate the advances in the field of photography. Plus, shooting film seems organic, like a natural determined act. That makes no sense, but its how I feel.

I think it is refreshing to get out with a film camera and a roll or two of film. I know I only have 24/36 photos to take, and that each one has a defined cash value. I think about my shots, I don't take 20 frames of the same subject to find the right one later, I take time to find the correct shot and take it....then I move along. I am not saying there is anything wrong with taking a long series of photos to get the right shot, but it forces you to think more when those same 20 shots esentially end your shooting for the day.

I love the feeling of opening the envelope and seeing my photos for the first time. I still can't develop C-41, so i can't say pull the negative out of the spool, but it is the same feeling. This is the first time my eyes have seen these images. On my DSLR, I can see everyimage instantly, there is no wondering. When you have that perfect shot, you smile and move on, you are out shooting after all. With film, the second your mirror blocks out your viewfinder, that is the last time you will see anything approximating that image until you open the envelope. And when you are sitting in your car in the parking lot and see that you got the perfect shot, you rejoice...celebrate even. The time removed from the act of shooting allows you this luxury. You can enjoy the beauty of your shot for the first time and breath it in. Your LCD does not go black, reminding you to get shooting again. This is Zen.

Then when you look at the images, the color and tone, the feel of film is different. Which that is what LIDF is all about, bringing that feeling to digital. But it is only inspired by the original film. Making your perfect shot look like it was taken on Velvia is not the same as actually capturing it on Velvia. Both feelings are great, but there is just something about the old-fashioned way...Not saying that using my presets is not also great...but it is not the same. But it may soon be the only way to live that moment with your favorite film.

Please, take some time and shoot a roll of film if you have not done so lately. Get back in touch with the past. You don't even have to have a great SLR, a good point and shoot film camera works great...hell, even a disposable will remind you what it felt like before. If you have never shot film, give it a chance. Take a film camera out for a day, maybe even learn to develop the film yourself. It is really fulfilling, but that is just me.

Well that ends my rant, on to some items I want to cover before I log off for the night.

First I would like to ask you to take a jump over to profiPhotos. Markus just posted a new video tutorial today on making HDR images using HDRSoft's Photomatix Pro plugin with Lightroom. It is very informative, as is his entire site. If you love Lightroom, this is a definite must visit. Just make sure to give him a visit!

Speaking of both Markus and Photomatix, I want to remind you that there is only one week left in the Presetting Lightroom photocontest on Flickr. Markus and I both adminstrate the group, and have been trying to kick up the activity level there. We have a photocontest running currently with HDRSoft's Photomatix Pro as the grand prize and three copies of my Cold Storage collection floating around for the top 3 finishers. There are not many entrants thusfar and the odds are pretty good to take home some type of prize. So please, come by and enter one of you preset processed photos...and by all means, feel free to enter a photo of your's processed with a LifeInDigitalFilm preset, I have no supporters entered in the contest so far. Follow the link HERE TO ENTER!

So that is it for the evening, come back for a new preset tomorrow.

Until then,
Michael

LR/ACR Preset: Agfa RSX II 50

2009-02-20T16:01:00.004-06:00

Ah, it is Friday, my work week is over. Hopefully I can get some articles written...I can hope. But anyways, I did not even try to write an article for today, I decided to complete my trio of RSX II presets. Today I present my Agfa RSX II 50 preset. It completes the set, and is the best looking one on the vast majority of my images. Enjoy.

More and more photographers are using my LifeInDigitalFilm presets, and as I discover them I am going to keep sharing them with you. Today I would like to ask you to drop by Nate Lawson's photoblog Phototerium. Today he posted an interesting photo entitled "Learning Curve" utilizing my Adox CHS 50 preset. When I look at his image I have to say it screams art...look at it close, you will see what I mean. If you like his work, please follow him on Twitter @nate_lawson.

So, with that I am going to get back to my text editor and get to work on some articles I hope to eventaully complete and get up on LIDF. Also I am going to spend some time getting my WordPress theme worked on, and iron out some bugs in my "sandboxed" version of the new LIDF. Hoping to get it live in the next month or so.

Back tomorrow!

Michael

LR/ACR Preset: Agfa RSX II 200

2009-02-19T20:24:00.003-06:00

Well I hoped to have an article up for today, however the article expanded well beyond the scope I desired for a post on LIDF. The article is on getting the most of of the LIDF film presets, but I decided I am going to work on it more and roll it into a PDF file that I will post here on the site once I get it completed. A manual of sorts to help people get started with my presets.

As for today, my post is running late..as will tomorrows..but I should get back to early releases over the weekend. I am going ahead and releasing the next preset based off my recent experiments with some expired Agfa RSX II. Today's flavor is the ISO 200 version that I got finished last night. Similar to the ISO 100, but with some shifting of color in the reds and in general a much higher key presentation of the photo.

Please download and use, see if you like it. If so please let me know. If not let me know also. If there is any film you want to see emulated, let me know...I'll do what I can. But for now enjoy today's release.

And another shout out to another great photoblogger out there putting my presets to use. I ask you to hop over and take a peek at Beau A.C. Harbin's blog. He has a stream of great photographs, one of the newest being and HDR image treated with my Fuji Velvia 50 preset from the Cold Storage collection. The image is unique and stunning. Please drop by and take a gander, click HERE. If you enjoy creative images you will enjoy his blog.

Speaking of the Fuji Velvia 50 preset, it can only be found in the Cold Storage collection, which can be purchased in the upper right side of the blog. If you need more information, please refer to the blog post for it HERE. I hope to have a dedicated page to the collection soon, with more information for those of you who are not sure...but for 9.99 it's an easy sale for anyone who wants to help LifeInDigitalFilm keep growing. There are so many different film stocks with so many ways to process it that we can keep the emulations going for quite some time, as long as there is a way or me to pay for film and processing.

Anyways that is all for today, hopefully things smooth out over the weekend and I am back to early posts every day...I almost missed today's post!

Until then,

Michael

LR/ACR Preset: Agfa RSX II 100

2009-02-18T08:30:00.002-06:00

So, I am suffering from writers block and having an issue finishing off the article I planned for today. So instead of beating my head into the wall, I am going to let it slide another day and release my new preset a bit earlier.

Recently I received a small collection of older film. In that small collection, I received 9 rolls of Agfa RSX II film, 3 of each speed. This emulation is of the 100 speed that I shot and got developed at my local photo lab. I plan on shooting another roll and cross-processing it and shooting the final roll when I get started devloping E-6. So I shot a roll of 50, 100 and 200 and sent them all off at the same time. This is the first one I completed.

RSX II was designed as a low-contrast, neutral color film. It may have been where I got it developed, or just the fact it is expired, but the colors were fairly neutral but did run a bit toward red. Also, it is more contrasty than what I expected, but that could also be due to a slight underexposure in my test frames shot for emulation.

Please try it out and see what you think.

Before I log out for the morning, I would like to point you over to an interesting 365 photoblog I have stubled across. Julie McLeod has been working on her 365 Photos in 2009 blog, aiming for 365 photos, most of which shot in accordance with a list of themes. I find the concept fun, but I don't think I could ever to it with the style she has done so far. Also a few of her images have used my presets and I really loving seeing them in action. She is a very talented photographer with a great eye for wonderful images, so do me a favor and hop over to her blog and leave some kind comments. Click Here to make the hop 365photosin2009

Anyway, that is all for today, wish I had an article for you, but I'm sure most of you would rather have the presets. And if you ever have any questions about my presets feel free to reach me at help@lifeindigitalfilm.com, I check the mail in the account once a day in the evening and will try to get back to you as soon as possible.

Thanks,

Micahel

LR/ACR Preset: Rollei Ortho

2009-02-17T09:45:00.001-06:00

Time for another quick post, busy work week so far, but I am not going to let LIDF slip. So here is my newest Black & White preset, simulating Rollei Ortho processed in Rollei Low Speed Developer, for enhanced tone and contrast.

This seems to be a very versatile film, and I need to shoot it again and develop in Rollei High Speed developer. Anyways, I gotta run, not enough time to do a write up, but please enjoy the preset.

Be back tomorrow, hopefully have some time to get up the article I have been working on.

Until then,
Michael

Monday Update: New release at PresetsHeaven

2009-02-16T08:32:00.005-06:00

Over the weekend, Pierre over at PresetsHeaven released another package of my presets. If you hop over there you can grab theLIDF Fuji & Ilford B&W Collection, containing all the Ilford and Fuji Black & White Film Emulations I have released on LifeInDigitalFilm over the past few months. If you have been grabbing them here as I release them you have most everything in the set, however there is a PresetsHeaven exclusive preset hiding in the download that you can only get over there.

The exclusive preset is an emulation of an expired roll of Fuji Neopan 100 Acros that passed its prime in 2005. Acros is my favorite B&W film, and you can only get my emulations of it at either PresetsHeaven for the expired version or In my cold Storage Collection for a fresh version of the film. Pierre was kind enough to make sample images for me, and as I am not at home, I cannot post one for you to view. So hop on over there and grab the exclusive preset HERE.

The past week has been my most active week on LifeInDigitalFilm so far. Had a few releases and a few articles, so if you haven't been by in a while, take a few minutes to get caught up. Flashing back to last Monday I released an article about using Snapshots in Lightroom, allowing you to have multiple incarnations of the same file, without cluttering up your catalog with redundant images. An added feature of using snapshots is that you can write the metadata to the RAW file, and if you open that same file in Adobe Camera Raw, your snapshots will be saved in the presets tab inside ACR, allowing you access to all your modifications in ACR. Jump back to that article HERE.

Tuesday I released an article coving making monochrome images with Lightroom. It is a general overview, but I threw in a few tips on using my B&W presets for those of you who use them a lot. Check it out HERE.

Yesterday, I posted a list of my favorite Flickr groups, letting you see where I go to see what is going on in the photo world. If you are a member of Flickr you should really check them out HERE.

The rest of the week was filled with preset releases:

Wednesday: Classic Film Classic Pan 200 (also had a featurette about Twitter)

Thursday: Daguerreotype (my attempt to simulate the historic photography process)

Friday: Classic Film Classic Pan 400

Sautrady: Kodak Ektachrome 100VS

So I have to say it was a rather productive week. Trying to keep it up, which is why there is a review post today.

Also of note, don't forget to join Presetting Lightroom on Flickr and get in on the photo contest there. One copy of HDRsoft's Photomatix Pro with the Lightroom plug-in is up for grabs. Click HERE to hop over to the group and join and get in on the contest. You have until Feb 28 to make your entry. Don't forget to persue the preset collection there, over 200 free presets to grab and use!

Also, I want to thank everyone who has purchase LIDF Cold Storage. Should be getting my hosting soon, and then any funds made from the collection will be used to aquire and process more film to be emulated. As long as people keep buying the package, I will be able to keep getting more film and processing it in many different ways. Every purchase pushes LifeInDigitalFilm just a little bit further towards becoming the ultimate source for simulating film. If you haven't already, sonsider purchasing Cold Storage and get the 12 exclusive presets avilable therein, including the Kodak Porta 160 NC and VC presets! More info HERE.

On the note of LIDF keeping the emulations coming, I have a poll up on the site asking if I should bother adapting my presets for use on JPEG and TIFF files. So far the response has been overwhelming for keeping my presets RAW only. If you need support for JPEG images, make sure to speak up, because as it stands now it would be a waste of my time to develop JPEG versions.

Finally, just wanted to let you know I just got 3 rolls of Agfa RSX II back from the lab with scans. Had a roll each of 50, 100 and 200 speed. Aquired the film from a local photographer who has made the switch to digital, so it was kept cold even though it has expired. Been working on simulating them over the weekend, so hopefully they should be ready for release sometime this week.

Stay tuned,
Michael

Flickr: Groups

2009-02-15T08:00:00.002-06:00

Alright, it is Sunday morning here in the middle of Missouri, not much going on; I've came off a fairly productive week here on LifeInDigitalFilm and my LifeInRealWorld has been going pretty good of late also. So I figured I would take it easy today and just point you toward some of the Flickr groups I frequent, even if I don't partake in the discussions much at most of them.

Okay, so I am a serial lurker. I like to read what others have to say, only interjecting my opinion when I feel it is absolutely needed. Before I got back into photography, I was solidly in the tech scene and spend hours a day scouring the thread over at Slashdot and Digg. As I slowly fell back into photography I migrated my daily thread searching from those two sites to a few photo-related forums. The best of which I have found is the discussions inside multiple groups in Flickr. So, I am going to list off a few here that I love, and read daily.

Presetting Lightroom :

Rightoff the bat I will get this group out of the way. It is one in which I admin and I have been pushing it pretty hard here on LIDF. I push it hard because it is a growing group, with a great vibe, focused on Lightroom and using presets to your advantage therein. There is a number of skilled preset designers in the group and an even larger number of people affluent in Lightroom. If you run into problems with presets, using or designing, come on over. I ask anyone who frequents LIDF to hop over and join up and join in.

While I have you on the subject of the Presetting Lightoom group, I wanted to push our photo-contest we have going on. Our contest is simple, process a photo in Lightroom using a preset...Name the preset and why you used it. You have until February 28 to enter, at that point entries cease and voting begins. Voting on the winners will be done by the group its self. Currently we have a few prizes up for grabs, and new ones will be posted in the group. As of now we have a copy of my Cold Storage collection for the top 3 photos and a copy of HDR Soft's Photomatix w/ Lightroom Plug-in for the overall winner. You have just under two weeks to get involved, the more entries the more prizes we might be able to line up for this and future photo competitions in the group.

Now back to my Flickr list....Next up

Adobe Lightroom:

A group devoted to Adobe Lightroom, obviously. Also one of the best resources to get a Lightroom problem resolved. Most problems you encounter can be solved simply by searching the group discussions. If it is not answered in the discussions or the groups FAQ pages, then feel free to post your question. With the size of the group and their general level of knowledge, you will not go long without an answer.

It is a very active group, and quite a few members names you will notice from across the rest of the Lightroom world on the internet.

This Week In Photography:

The official Flickr group of the TWIP podcast. A very diverse and knowledgable group, with many active members. Awesome group to go to for general phtography issues, and the grouop often has some very lively discussions. In all the group is not too connected to the TWIP show or blog and is very accessible even if you don't listen to TWIP.

TWIP Critique:

Another TWIP group, however do not go here asking general questions. Bring a photo you want critiqued, and the others will bring on the honesty. Be prepared for honest critiques, you will get multiple opinions and you will learn from your own work in a way that forces you to look at you own work critically.

Some really awsome people over there; bbusschots and kentgoldings are some names that really stand out as consistant participants with good advice. You will really know you are doing good when you get kind words from BruceHP!

Do It Yourself Black & White:

Although this may not interest you unless you are into film (I am obviously); this group is an exellent resource when you decide to step back into the darkroom. Alot of knowledge here, and I utilized this group a lot when I decided I was walking back into the darkroom after 10 years outside of it.

Well I hope this list gives you some places that you may desire to visit, albeit just a few. If you are on these groups, look for me by my Flickr ID of grayimaging. I will be through each group at least once a day to catch up, and I am on Presetting Lightroom quite a few times a day since I admin there. I will periodicall update the list, and once I get my Wordpress site up I will have a dedicated Fliker list up.

Please do consider entering in the Presetting Lightroom group photo contest. We have some gret entries already, but not many. Enter soon at the entries will be locked on Feb 28th and voting commences. Right now if you enter you will come off with a really good shot of winning a prize. I mean, there are 3 copies of my own preset collection up for grabs...but don't let that stop you from buying your own copy of Cold Storage! (((please...)))

Later,
Michael

LR/ACR Preset: Kodak Ektachrome 100VS

2009-02-14T13:12:00.002-06:00

Another day, another preset. And today is Valentines Day, so I am releasing a special release of one of the most popular emulations from my original Slide Film Collection. Kodak Ektachrome 100VS was the one emulation in that pack that I received the most compliments on, so recently I went out and bought two fresh rolls of E100VS and set out to make a new version, using my new emulation procedure.

Six hours went into this preset, starting with the analysis and general development to get it close, finishing with 3 more hours this morning fine tuning it. I hope everyone enjoys this as much as my first attempt.

For those of you still using my original MikeyG!s Color Slide Film Collection, those presets are still fine, however they are not as accurate as those being released on LifeInDigitalFilm currently. While developing my Kodak B&W collection I developed as more through and accurate way to simulate film, and that method is being utilized in this preset. (More Information on my development process can be found at the Flickr Presetting Lightroom Group) If the old emulation still works for you, wonderful! I just ask you give this newer one a shot, as I feel it is much more accurate in it's depiction of the capabilities of this film stock.

Also, this can be a finicky preset under certain circumstances, so I highly recommend reading the readme.txt file in the download archive. You may find it of help, however I don't feel like getting technical on the blog today.

This preset was not free for me to make. I used 2 rolls of E100VS and Lab processing to get the final results. Between film costs and development costs this emulation cost about $25 USD to develop. I can back that off to about $12-$15 when I consider that about half of each roll got shot on personal projects, however ther was still a definable expense to do so. I would like to thank those who have purchased the Cold Storage preset collection for helping finance my site and emulations. For every 1 purchase made, I make enough to be able to purcahse and develop a roll of B&W film (lower since I do my own devloping). For every 3 purchases made I can develop 2 Color (C-41 or E-6) emulations (as I am currently still sending this out to a lab until I get better at color development). The purchases are also helping to purchase hosting for the blog, which will be migrated as soon as I finish getting my Wordpress theme the way I want it.

If you have not done so already, please consider buying the collection for $9.99 USD. There are links at the top right side of the blog, or click the following link for more information on the 12 exclusive presets available within: Cold Storage. Also included in that preset is a version of this same E100VS that I had Cross-Processed at the lab a while back.

Thank you,

Michael

Will be back tomorrow, I am getting better at these regular posts!

LR/ACR Preset: Classic Film Classic-Pan 400

2009-02-13T10:25:00.001-06:00

Short post today. It's Friday, so I have a lot to get done today, and no time to do it before the weekend. Releasing the Classic Film Classic-Pan 400 preset today. It has a brighter tone that the 200 speed. A good film, home developed by me in D-76 for 9 minutes at 60C. Enjoy the emulation.

I hope to have another post this evening, if not I will have an article up for you to read sometime tomorrow. Really trying to have daily content.

Until then,

Michael

LR/ACR Preset: Daguerreotype

2009-02-12T09:30:00.004-06:00

LR/ACR Preset: Daguerreotype, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

Here is one from my experimental preset collection. Been working on it for a bit, as I have no access to an actual Daguerreotype, or means to create one, I was doing this with only the aide of pictures of Daguerreotypes. Not opportune. Well I don't feel I completely nailed the look, however I don't think it can properly be done in Lightroom currently. This preset gets everything looking right, but it needs aged. I feel that this is a good jumping off point for making a simulated Daguerreotype.

My biggest recommendation is to adjust the Contrast, Recovery and Fill to get the balance you are looking for. Don't forget to use some negative clarity to get that soft look on portraits. Also try getting prints of these images made on metallic paper, such as Adorama offers.

Hope you enjoy this one off project. Back to proper film emulations with my next release this weekend. In the mean time, I will beat a dead horse a bit. If you haven't done so, please get the Cold Storage collection that I have for sale here on the site. When you purchase you get a complete archive of my presets up until January and 12 new, exclusive presets. As an added bonus, I am creating new presets that will be exclusively sent to those who purchase the Cold Storage collection. Just another reason to support LIDF. Look on rightside bar to purchase or click here for more info.

Thanks,

Michael

LR/ACR Preset: Classic Film Classic-Pan 200

2009-02-11T15:40:00.004-06:00

LR/ACR Preset: Classic Film Classic-Pan 200, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

Now for the next preset in LifeInDigitalFilm's ever growing collection. Classic Film is a German Film manufacturer/reseller. Currently they have two emulsions on the market, that I am aware of, Classic-Pan 200 and Classic-Pan 400. The manufacturer calims that the films a designed to be reminiscent of the older Kodak films, such as Double Super-XX and Plus-X.

The roll shot for emulation was processed myself in stock D-76 @ 20C for 8 minutes, as per DigitalTruth. I discovered after development that the two different ISO speeds are fairly different, so once again, there will be both a 200 and 400 speed preset. 400 coming soon, get 200 speed now.

I hope you enjoy it, I got a backstock of presets built back up, so release should consistantly be 2-3 a week for a while. Come back for more!

Twitter Resources:

Have to ask you, do you use Twitter? I do, as you can see from my Twitter feed on the right side of the blog. It is a great way to keep in touch and share ideas. For photographers of all levels Twitter is an excellent networking tool. I have amassed a collection of qulity people that I follow, who on a regular basis share good photography tips, resources and links. If you have a question, often Twitter is a great place to get and answer, or opinion, oridea, or solution. It is quick, simple and to the point. Definately join if you have not dones so, and if you have allow me to make some recommendations on people I think you should follow.

LIDF's Twitter Follow List:

@mwgray - This is me, you should follow me.
@xequals - The man over at the X-Equals blog, Brandon offers great tips and links.
@profiphotos - Fellow curator of Flicker PresettingLR group,runs a great blog, too!
@auer1816 - Brian from the blog Epic Edits , always has some good info.
@pairadocsdesign - An interesteing photographer, fun to read, great Flickr stream.
@whoisariston - Another good photog, frequent tweeter, good links and info. Great site too!

I will be listing other great follows for Twitter periodically. These are some of the people I depend on to keep me up to date and thinking photography. Sometimes sources of inspiration. If you do Twitter, check these tweeples out.

Well until next time,
Michael

Tutorial: Monochrome Magic in Lightroom (ACR too!)

2009-02-10T22:09:00.003-06:00

Small Stroll 2, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

Okay, so as you can tell, I enjoy my black and white photography. The majority of my presets were B&W at first. To that extent I have spent quite some time making monochrome images in Lightroom. So now I will share what I have learned. This is not a step-by-step tutorial and I will be assuming you are familiar with all you develop tools in Lightroom (or ACR...the tools are pretty much the same).

1] Color Mixer

To me, the most important tool in a monochrome conversion is the Grayscale Mixer. In this panel you adjust the intensity of each color channel represented in the black and white image. A slider to the far left renders the color channel very dark, all the way to the right, very bright. You want to manipulate these sliders to get the right look for your image.

Of particular interest for photos with people in them are the Red, Orange and Yellow channels. These three color channels control the skin tone of people, regardless of skin color. The orange channel wields the most control over skin tone, adjusting the overall tone. Red comes in second most influential, effecting blushing and blemishes. Yellow really only effects highlights. Balance these three to get the desired skin tone.

As far as the other colors are concerned, simply adjust them as needed to complete the look. Always adjust slowly and incrementally, allowing yourself time to view the changes. Avoid over adjusting, as it will lead to unbalanced image tone and possible artifacts in the image.

If you are using my film presets, try to avoid adjusting any color slider more than absolutely needed, as any alterations to the color mixer change the tone and therefore change the effect. I recommend only altering the orange channel to save skin tone whenever possible. You shouldn't have to adjust much as I spend extra time making sure skin tones look good.

2] Tone Curve and Contrast

Contrast is of the utmost importance in monochrome images. Too much and the picture gets muddied up, too little and the image gets too thin. You are looking for a happy medium with both dark blacks, bright whites in the image and smooth transitions between them. You have two tools at your disposal for this, the Contrast slider and the Tone Curve.

The Contrast slider adjusts the contrast in the image globally, and is the easiest method by which to adjust contrast. However it is a bit simplistic, not allowing for fine control over the image.

Where you really tweak the contrast is the Tone Curve. Before making alterations to the curve itself, look below it for the Point Curve. It will be set to one of the following; Linear, Medium Contrast or Strong Contrast. Select between the three setting looking for the one tht gets you closest to what you are looking for. It won't be dead on normally, but one of the three will give you a good starting point.

After adjusting the Point Curve, start manipulating the curve itself. You have two options here, to adjust the region sliders or to drag the curve to where you like it. The region sliders refer to different areas of the tone curve graph. Across the bottom of the graph you see a bar with three adjustment points with four sections varying in shade. The far left is the shadow ( darkest parts of the image), middle-left is the darks, middle right is the lights and far right is the highlights (brightest parts of the image). If the highlights are too bright or blown out, you can drag the highlight slider to the left or click & hold on the tone curve line on the right side of the graph and drag it slowly down. If you move the line you will notice the slider automatically moving; I much prefer dragging the curve myself as opposed to manipulating the sliders, but move it the way you like.

Tweak the tone curve until it fits. You will notice when dragging the line Lightroom imposes some limits on how far you can move it. Try to avoid laying right on Lightroom imposed boundaries, it crates bad images in my opinion. You can lay the shadow and brightness to that edge to get absolute black and absolute whites when needed.

When using my film presets, I do not recommend adjusting the Tone Curve any further that altering the Point Curve setting. Doing so changes the desired response for the film being emulated. Changing the Point Curve is fine as it changes the size of the curve, not the basic shape. Feel free to use the Contrast slider with my presets as it will allow contrast changes whilst staying inside the confines of the simulated film' tone curve.

3] Local Adjustments (Brushes and Gradients)

Bring back some of the old darkroom magic with local adjustments in Lightroom. Dodging and Burning are time honored techniques in the darkroom and are easily simulated in Lightroom. Say the image is too dark in parts leading to loss of focus on the subject. This was the case in the photo at the top of the post. My son's shadow merged with his pants after I applied my Neopan Acros preset. So I simply clicked on the adjustment brush, selected the shadow and increased its exposure, lightening the shadow to differentiate it from his pants.

You can bright and darken by this method. You can locally adjust contrast and brightness. Most importantly to me you can locally adjust clarity. Most of my film presets crank up clarity to get the sharp look of film, however this may not be desirable in photos of people. If this is the case, locally select the face and drag the clarity down. This will reduce the detail level in the face, allowing you to soften their look to make it more appealing. You can even bring clarity down into the negative range to create a soft focus effect, blurring out fine detail whilst retaining normal detail. In other words, fade away wrinkles, freckles and so forth...plus negative clarity makes skin glow, and you can make it look almost surreal.

Local adjustments with the adjustment brush allow you to really fine tune your monochrome image, but do not forget to use graduated filters when you need them. Drop a grad filter across a bright sky and bring the exposure down a bit to bring out detail and balance your image. Play around with you local tools, as they let you bring back the old darkroom techniques that were used to create prints. As any old school B&W photog will tell you, making the picture on film is only part of the process, putting it on paper is the rest. Dodging and burning to bring added depth to a print, sometime even from a flat negative.

4] Image Details (Sharpness, NR and Vignettes)

Don't forget about sharpening and noise reduction either. It is often easy to forget to do so when working in monochrome. Sharpen you image for you desired output, be it screen or print. Sharpening ca also be used to accentuate noise in the image, which is desirable if you are emulating a high-speed film such as Neopan 1600. Work the noise reduction sliders to either smooth out the image or allow more grain to shine through. These tools allow you to give your image that classic film look about as good as you can in Lightroom. Hopefully one day they add a grain control also.

Although I am not big into vignettes, the look great in monochrome. Play around with getting those corners darker, sometimes it unlocks a feeling in an image that you do not get otherwise.

5] Toning

Finally if you want to tone your monochrome image, play with split toning. You can choose either the highlight or shadow split tone and give it an orangish-red to create a sepia image. You can even set the highlight and shadow to different hues and saturation levels and adjust the balance slider to get a nicely balance duo-tone image. Play around, try sepia, blue and green tints. Toning is another way to really kick up an image.

Obviously these are just a few of the tools at you disposal to create beautiful monochrome images, however these are the area I work the most with and I figure I would share it with everyone. Sorry there were no screen shots, but this is a fairly long post and I wanted to get it up before I went to sleep. If you are familiar with Lightroom you get what I was saying. In the same right these tools are also in Adobe Camera Raw, so those of you with just Photoshop are not left out either.

These steps work if you are making a monochrome from scratch or utilizing my presets or those of others. Just take some time and explore each of these areas in Lightroom deeper and you will be making great black and white images in no time.

Oh, a new preset up tomorrow!

Until then,

Michael

Tutorial: Snapshots (The Lightroom Version Control System)

2009-02-09T21:39:00.005-06:00

When I shot a wedding about six months ago, I came to the startling realization that I had some major flaws in my photographic workflow. It was my first job of significant size, about 2000 images shot during the day. When I brought it into Lightroom, it was not too bad; I went in and flagged my photos, fixed bad crops, made the normal adjustments and exported for my proof prints. Not so bad. Fun even.

Then my print orders started coming in. This one in black and white in 5x7 and again in color, make it look like film, in 8x10. Spread this out across about 300 photos, the next think I knew I had about 1000 different virtual copies running about, in different crops with different processing. After that job, I decided I need to figure out how to organize a bit better.

I started playing around some, and in the process of developing my presets, I discovered the wonder of Lightroom Snapshots. Snapshots let you save a version of the file, with all processing intact to use later on. You can save multiple revisions of the same file into a handy menu located just above the History panel in the left develop pane. You can save a B&W version, color version, different crop sizes, different vignettes and keep it all contained in the original file in Lightroom. No virtual copies needed.

Now I'll walk you through the snapshot process.

So we have the image up. Look for the arrow on the left side of the screen showing you the Snapshot pane. This is where the action goes on. Now, we will assume you have been processing you image and you have your final color version ready. So you are going to make a snapshot of the full frame image.

Just click on the plus icon on the Snapshot panel.

After you click on the plus icon, a white data box appears where you give the snapshot a name. The name you give is attached to the snapshot and embedded in the files entry in you LR catalog.

Now make another version of the same image. I am taking it B&W, cropping it to a 5x7 and adding a vignette.

With that applied, I repeat the steps to make a snapshot.

Now you can see 3 snapshots. one for the Color Original, one for import, and one for the B&W 5x7. Just by simply clicking on any of these snapshots load up all the adjustments to provide you with the image that you have saved. There is no limit I have ran into for snapshots and I often have over ten different versions of each image.

An added bonus, if you write the metadata to the RAW files from within Lightroom, all the snapshots will be saved in either the DNG or a sidecar XMP file. The snapshots are then portable and can be used in another copy of Lightroom or even Adobe Camera Raw. You will find the snapshots in the presets tab in ACR.

I know this is a rather rough run-down on the process of using snapshots, but give it a try. It is nice to have eight different revisions of an image at your fingertips without having excessive virtual copies running amok in your catalog. As I said, snapshots are Lightroom's own Version Control System.

Keep Shooting,

Michael

P.S. Cold Storage Presets Collection....you know the rest.

LR/ACR Preset: Rollei Retro

2009-02-08T11:08:00.002-06:00

LR/ACR Preset: Rollei Retro, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

Finally I am making with a new film emulation preset. I hope everyone enjoyed the style preset I released a few days ago, but now back on to the meat and potatoes.

This fine Sunday morning I bring to you LIDF's interpretation of Rollei Retro. Apparently, when this film was introduced, it was relabeled Agfa APX. However, when I developed this roll, the frame border stated MACO as the manufacturer. I don't know for sure what the real truth is behind the origin of this film, but I do notice a slight difference in color response. That may just be the effects of age and a different development process (the Agfa APX preset I made was developed at a local; shop, most likely in d-76; I developed the roll of Rollei Retro at home with 1:3 Rodinal for 15 min @ 24 C).

I hope that this and my other presets find a home in your workflow, be it for fun or professional work. I enjoy making them. If you enjoy using them, as much as I loathe to ask, would you please consider buying my Cold Storage Archive. It can be ordered in the right hand corner of the blog or you can click HERE for more information. Help me keep providing these tools to you. [I will keep begging until I have my hosting paid for, then I will lay off].

Anyways, everyone have a great day/night and hope your coming work week is good to you.

Until next time,
Michael

News: LIDF Update and Guest Blog Post

2009-02-06T09:16:00.002-06:00

Just wanted to drop a note today. First, there will be a new film emulation preset posted this weekend. I had an overly busy week this week and fell behind on my emulation process. Back up and running and releases will ensue.

Next, wanted to update you on the Cold Storage set fundraiser. So far I have made 9 sales, and I thank those of you who have purchased it so far. I am just under half way to the cost of a year's service with the hosting company I want to use. So if you are thinking about it, please click on the box to your right to purchase the set. After I get the hosting purchased I will let you know, and then any more funds generated will go towards purchases of more film to emulate and toward the cost to develop said film for emulation. Come on, if you like what you get from this site, please consider supporting it's growth. As it grows I will be able to provide even more tools for getting that classic film look.

As to the redesign, I am working on a much better setup done in WordPress. Have it on a testbed Linux server in my home, and it is building up pretty good. at the rate I am getting funds from the Cold Storage project, I should have the new design ready to roll out as soon as I setup with my new host. I hope that the redesign improves on the look and usability of LifeInDigitalFilm.

Also working on some new projects. As I have already branched off into Adobe Camera Raw presets, I have started dealing ore with doing the same thing in Photoshop. I am working on a few Photoshop actions to get film effects, and a couple actions to give a conving grain for proper film types. Hopefully then if you process a file in LR with a film preset you can then hop into Photoshop to add a realistic grain. Stay tuned for that, no ETA yet, but it is coming.

Finally, I have been doing some work with Brandon from X-Equals. I have already had one guest spot on his blog so far, and a new one is posted today. Click on over to his great site to read about my personal approach to Lightroom and Photoshop in my business work-flow. Hop over and read it, if you haven't done so already. If you have never spent time on X=blog, stay a while and read some articles...you will learn something new. Go there soon...click HERE.

Well I'll be back in the next 48 hours to release my newest preset...

Until Then,
Michael

LR/ACR Preset: Fades

2009-02-04T16:12:00.002-06:00

LR/ACR Preset: Fades, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

Tonight I am deviating from standard operating procedure. Tonight's preset is a style preset, not emulating anything but an effect. In my fades set, you get three basic effect presets that fade the colors in your image. the Vintage and Aged presets give a color cast to your photo. Classic just kills saturation and kicks up Luminance. There are no auto versions, no curve, just basic.

I've been busy this week and have not had time to polish up any film emulations. These presets were cooked up for a discussion in the Flickr Presetting Lightroom group, where we were trying to emulate the style of a photographer with a preset. I failed at my intended goal, however this is the result. I like the finished preset, so I am releasing it to keep my promise of two new presets a week.

As always, there is a Lightroom and ACR preset for each.

As always, enjoy them, back to film emulation this weekend. Watch for my newest emulation then.

Until then,
Michael

LR/ACR Preset: Fuji Velvia Cross Processed [PresettingLR Exclusive]

2009-02-01T12:41:00.001-06:00

Just For the Presetting Lightroom Flickr Group, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

A few days ago I released a preset only for the people in the Presetting Lightroom community over at Flickr. Just in case you were not aware of it, the Presetting Lightroom group is an excellent resource for great presets and a good place to look for help when you run into Lightroom issues. Please come on over and join us.

You can find my Fuji Velvia Cross-Processed preset in the discussions on the group. Look around, you'll find it...just look for the picture I am showing you above.

Click to head on over....[Presetting Lightroom group on Flickr]

Again I implore you to consider grabbing my preset collection, I know it's not manly to beg, but I really need to get this blog self-sustaining. I have options as far as hosting goes, as much as I would like to get the site hosted on it's own, but I do need money to keep getting film, paying for development chemistry an the other expenses incurred in the process of these emulations.

The purchase links are in the upper right hand side of the blog.

Until next time,

Michael

LR/ACR Preset: Fuji Sensia 100

2009-01-30T18:57:00.002-06:00

LR/ACR Preset: Fuji Sensia 100, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

Well, it is that time again...time for LIDF's next free preset. Tonight I bring you my version of Fuji's Sensia 100 slide film. It comes across to me as a very balanced slide film, not overly saturated, but has enough pop to bring it. To me it seems very similar to Provia, albeit with limited range.

When using this preset, do not be afraid to crank up recovery or tone down the black levels. The curve that simulates the films response is rather unforgiving, and will black out shadows and blow out highlights. I think this may be the same reason that the tonal range of the film seems smaller than that of Provia.

Just a reminder again to consider dropping a ten spot and grabbing my Cold Storage preset collection. I have buttons at the top of the blog on the right sidebar if you would be so kind to support LifeInDigitalFilm. To those of you who already have, thanks for the support. It is much appreciated. For more info see the post here.

And I have been asked why the set is called "Cold Storage". Carry over photogs from the film days get it, but some of you newer ones were scratching your collective heads. Simply put, to keep film fresh, keep it cold. Most keep it in a refrigerator or freezer. This keeps the emulsion from oxidizing and the colors from shifting. Cold stored film keeps its tone and color much longer than at room temp, and pro film left at room temp rapidly becomes consumer film. Cold storage keeps film fresh, and I like to think so does my emulations.

Until next time,
Michael

LR/ACR Preset: Rollei R3

2009-01-27T16:09:00.004-06:00

LR/ACR Preset: Rollei R3, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

Now for my next free preset. Tonight we bring to you a German gift. By way of MACO Photographic's Rollei R3. Distributed by Rollei, the film comes in all formats, and uses a classic cubic silver halide emulsion. Depending on the developer used the manufacture claims an ISO latitude from ISO 32 to ISO 32,000. The film has moderate resolution and good tonality. Grain is similar to that of Ilford HP5+.

Preset developed using Rollei R3 film shot at ISO 200 and developed in regular D-76 soup. Will retry this film again using the recommended developer when money allows.

On another note, I would like to point out a great group on Flickr. I have spend some time there discussing Lightroom presets and sharing my work. Presetting Lightroom is a community of preset users and developers that share their work and help each other out. We have a compilation of over 180 presets free for download made by many of our members, see the download banner off to the left sidebar to jump right to that.

Currently at Presetting Lightroom we have started a photography contest for the coming month of February. Look for it in the thread and submit an image...just make sure you used a preset. Currently we have three prizes up for grabs, 3 copies of my Cold Storage Presets Collection for Lightroom and ACR. Please come join us over at Flickr's Presetting Lightroom group.

On the note of my Cold Storage Preset Collection, please consider purchasing it if you enjoy my presets. You will get 12 exclusive presets that you can only get in the Cold Storage package, and you get to help me continue to develop the film emulating presets you love.

For those who have purchased my collection, THANK YOU!!! For those thinking about it, and even those who are not, ask yourself if you get good results from my presets. If so, consider that most software that does a similar service costs well over ten times the price I ask. And they won't do custom emulations if you have a film/developer combo you desire and don't keep giving you more free presets to discover more classic film stocks. So think about it a bit.

Cart It

Buy It

Thanks,
Michael

LIDF Cold Storage Collection - 46 Film simulations - 12 Exclusive - $9.99

2009-01-25T23:58:00.020-06:00

For a while now LifeInDigitalFilm has been the place to get Lightroom presets to emulate film. Recently I also added Adobe Camera Raw presets to the collection. Well as you have read over the past couple posts, I am not happy with the Blogger platform and I am ready to move on. I need to purchase hosting. I am not well-to-do, I live paycheck to paycheck, and I do my photography for money on the side. Hopefully one day it will be more, but for now I still have a day-job. I really cannot afford to outright buy hosting for my site, and pay for the expenses I incur developing these presets is getting immense. [Keep in mind, I have to track down old, sometimes rare film, shoot it and develop it to carry out a quality emulation] Something had to give, either the blog or my budget.

So I though of an alternative. I have bundled together every preset I have released on LifeInDigitalFilm since it's inception. From Kodak BW CN up to Ilford SFX, every release is there in both LR and ACR format. The only exceptions are my original B&W, print, and slide film collections, which were designed back in the summer before I developed my current procedure by which I develop presets.

I am calling this Set LifeInDigitalFilm: Cold Storage Preset Collection Vol. 1

The set is available for $9.99 for a direct download of the zip file containing all 34 film emulating presets I have release so far. So why pay for free stuff? First, think of it as a donation, no different than giving some money to your local public broadcasting station to ensure their excellent programming, a donation that gets you a DVD or maybe some tickets to an opera. Well for your donation you get every film preset on my site in one download. Second, do you really think I would ask for ten bucks just to give you what you can get for free? Hell no! I have created 12 new LR/ACR presets that are exclusive to the Cold Storage collection and only available to those willing to give ten bucks to help me offset the cost of this crazy endeavor of mine.

So a total of 46 film stocks emulated (actually 44, Polaroid 669 had 3 different presets), and each film stock has 3 presets; regular, auto and curve. That comes out to 138 presets for either Lightroom or ACR; they are both in the download!

Please consider supporting the site, I am not doing this to make spending money, I'm doing this to prevent me from choosing this blog or my dinner. Money is too tight for me to carry this on my own, and with your help we can keep it going.

Is this site worth $10 dollars to you? Does $10 sound better than $199.00 or $299.00 USD for some film emulating Photoshop plug-in? The plug-ins might do a better job at it than my presets do, I don't think so, but they might. If my free presets let you enjoy film emulation with out doubling down for expensive plug-ins, is it worth it to pay $9.99 for Cold Storage Collection? Or even worth tossing me a $5.00 donation? If you have enjoyed my work, please consider purchasing the Cold Storage collection.. it is the only way to get the following emulations.

FUJI NEOPAN 100 ACROS

FUJI PROVIA 100F - Cross Processed

FUJI VELVIA 100

FUJI VELVIA 100F

FUJI VELVIA 50

KODAK EKTACHROME 100VS - Cross Proccesed

Kodak Gold 200 - Cross Processed

Kodak Panatomic X - Expired in 1977

Kodak Panatomic X - Expired in 1986

Kodak Portra 160 NC

Kodak Portra 160 VC

Kodak Portra 160 VC - Bleach Bypass

And so you know what it look like before conversion SOOC

Hopefully the samples have enticed you, if so, you can find the order buttons on the upper right hand side of the page. Click add to cart, then click on the cart to order.

Or do it here.

Purchase Cold Storage Presets Vol.1:

Click on Cart to Complete:

Thank you for your support,
Michael W. Gray

LR/ACR Preset: Ilford SFX

2009-01-24T09:48:00.005-06:00

LR/ACR Preset: Ilford SFX, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

Today I complete my run of Ilford films for the time being. Today I bring you Iford's SFX, one of the few remaining IR films. This film was actually discontinued, however Ilford is not making Limited productions of it, one batch a year.

As always, my emulation of IR films is designed to be used on regular raw files. I have not tested this preset with a IR raw file, as much I I would like to, I just don't have any IR RAW files. I have a few IR JPGS, and the results were alright with them, however, I don't preset on JPGS often and I was not overly impressed with the results.

On another note, I will be taking a few days off from the blog, hoping to expedite my migration over to WordPress. There will be no presets during that time, maybe an article or two, but no big releases. When I resume, I plan on releasing two presets a week, with other content on non release days. This really does not change the frequency too much, I have release 33 releases in 13 weeks, which is about 2-3 a week. I plan on new presets coming out on Tuesdays and Fridays (make note: I am in USA). Hopefully I will have my new preset out on this coming Tuesday, but if not, watch for it on Friday.

I hope this year brings much more content to LifeInDigitalFilm, and I really hope the upcoming switch to WordPress improves the quality of the site. I look forward to being here doing this for a while.

Michael

LR/ACR Preset: Ilford XPS 2

2009-01-23T14:42:00.004-06:00

LR/ACR Preset: Ilford XPS 2, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

Next stop on the Ilford train is XP2 Super. Ilford color processing black and white. Designed to be developed in regular C-41 chemicals at any mini lab. A decent film, much like Kodak's BW CN in many ways. Not exactly my cup of tea, but a good film for B&W shots when you don't have your chemical lab running.

Enjoy,
Michael

GoogleFail: Google Sites Unresponsive

2009-01-22T17:20:00.004-06:00

Ok, so tonight I was tweeted about my downloads not working. I had just made an upload, and tested the download, so it through me off. So I check on another PC and found out that indeed NONE of my download links were working. Google Sites had failed me. I guess I can't expect much, it is free (although I paid for the Google Apps suite and domain hosting...but anyway). But considering how disillusioned I already was with Blogger/Blogspot content management and hosting in comparision to WordPress content management....

So tonight I started to migrate away. Now all my downloads are hosted on Amazon S3. Brandon of X-equals, gave me a tip to check out this article on using S3 for file hosting. So I made that switch. Now I pay a little for alot of reliability. Thanks go out to both X-equals and Nettuts.com.

I am ferverently working on a good WordPress template on my private server, and migrating all current content to my new WordPress setup. As soon as I get some good hosting (aka get some money to buy hosting) I will bring the new version live. Hopefully it shant be long. I can't handle Blogger much longer.

Also, I have removed the link for my download page. I am not going to use Google sites at all. I will get a new download page set up over this weekend.

Michael

LR/ACR Preset: Ilford Ortho+

2009-01-22T16:57:00.003-06:00

LR/ACR Preset: Ilford Ortho+, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

Next in my Ilford series is Ilford's orthochromatic, continuous tone copy film, Ilford Ortho+. Emulation made possible by my friend Jason Dhenning by capturing my Color Check card on a sheet of Ortho+ with his 8x10 camera.

Suffering from a migraine currently so I am not going to expand any further, save to say one thing. When using this, or my Kodak Copy Film preset, you can really manipulate the channel mixer. Normally I only recommend adjusting the Orange channel is skin looks bad, but on this preset you can go about +/- 10 units without completely blowing the emulation. I try to keep my total amount of adjustment to 15 cumulative units or less (does that make sense?) and I feel the emulation holds up.

Get it HERE.

Until next time,
Michael

LR/ACR Preset: Ilford Pan F+

2009-01-21T17:33:00.003-06:00

LR/ACR Preset: Ilford Pan F+, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

Tonight is the first in my short series of Ilford films. Tonight I bring you the slow but sharp, fine grained Ilford Pan F+. Watch your black clipping and contrast using this preset, as a little too much can really black out shadow highlights.

As always, both Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw preset files are included.

Get it HERE

As side notes, I will be redesigning LifeInDigitalFilm over the next few months. I will be moving the blog from Blogspot hosting to another hosting provider when I finally get my business website up. When I do make the hosting switch I will be migrating LIDF to WordPress, which I wish I would have used when I started this mess. The change should allow me to provide a better experience, and the web hosting will allow me to have actual information pages for each film I emulate. So if in the future I have lapses in posts over a day or two, know that I am working on making the site better, not blowing it off.

Also, today I converted a really great preset to ACR. It is x=warm+storm preset, and it throws a really great effect on your image. I ran it on a wedding catalog I have and I had great results. Check it out at x-equals.com/blog. You may have already seen it up at PresetsHeaven, if you have still run over to x-equals, Brandon has included the ACR version of his preset for your enjoyment.

Well, until next time,

Michael

LR/ACR Presets: Polaroid 54 & 55

2009-01-20T21:21:00.005-06:00

LR/ACR Presets: Polaroid 54 & 55, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

Another collection of presets for you all to enjoy tonight. Mixing two worlds of photography up, with Polaroid 54 and 55. They are both instant and black and white films. Polaroid 54 was an ISO 100 pull-apart film, whilst 55 was an ISO 50 pull-apart print with a ISO 35 pull-apart negative, which happened to be reusable.

Both films have went the way of Polaroid...dead.

Get them below-

Polaroid 54 is HERE
Polaroid 55 is HERE

I hope you enjoy them. Project Ilford will start soon. 3 presets in a row.

Until next time,
Michael

LR/ACR Preset: Kodak Kodachrome 25

2009-01-19T19:52:00.006-06:00

LR/ACR Preset: Kodak Kodachrome 25, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

Sorry for the few day delay in updates, got more than a few projects in the fire at the moment. I have had this preset complete for quite sometime now, as observant presetters may notice. Tonight is Kodak Kodachrome 25, which I used in my 100 style preset last week as the Koda preset.

It is an emulation of Kodachrome 25, which, in almost every sample I had possesses a very different color curve than its ISO 64 counterpart. That is not a bad thing, as it gives me more to preset. It tends to pound greens a tad harder, while taking it easy on the blues.

Get it HERE.

Also I would like to let you know that my Convert LR preset to ACR article has been published by Brandon over at x=blog. I completely rewrote the article and even made screenshots [which I never do here :^P (I never use emoticons either { ...or nested comments })]. I feel the post at x= is far superior to my roughly written process I posted a few days ago. Please check it out HERE.

If you have not seen the x=blog, please do so. It is a veritable treasure trove of great photography, processing, computer, and business tips.

LR Style Preset: 110 Prints

2009-01-15T21:17:00.003-06:00

LR Style Preset: 110 Prints, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

In a departure from my usual film emulation fare, I decided to branch out and make a print emulating preset. I call it my 110 Print Presets. The set contains an overexposed preset, and two film styled presets. One based off Kodak Gold, called 110 Gold in both standard and auto. Also has 110 Koda, which is based off of Kodachrome 25, again in auto and standard.

I know that not just 110 3.5x5's were made with rounded corners...135 format was printed like this as well back in the day. However my family photos that look like this all have 110 negatives in the shoe box with them, so to me the look is distinctly 110.

I will recommend that if you send out for prints using this preset, to look for a photo finisher offering the Kodak Silk paper. Adorama offers this particular finish in 3.5x5 for the complete classic look. Just adjust the post crop midpoint to 50 in the Vignette menu, which eliminates the white border, leaving the rounded corners.

You can get the preset HERE.

Until next time,
Michael

Tutorial: How to convert LR presets to ACR

2009-01-14T11:33:00.001-06:00

[This article has been rewritten and published at x=blog 01192009]

I recently stumbled upon a method by which you can import Lightroom develop presets into Adobe Camera RAW for use with Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. I’m sure someone has written this up before, but I have never seen it, as I discovered this by chance. In retrospect this seems overly obvious and many of you may know how to do this already, but if not read on.

As a die-hard Lightroom addict I personally never had the need to deal with Adobe Camera RAW. All my trips into Photoshop were initiated from the context menu inside Lightroom. However, I recently finished touching up a RAW file for a colleague and I wanted to have my edits saved with the file. Knowing she does not use Lightroom, as she is an Apple fan running Aperture, I needed to save the Lightroom edits to be rendered in Photoshop. I exported my edited file as a DNG she could open in ACR, then I hopped into Photoshop and opened said file. As I suspected all my edits were intact, they should be as ACR and Lightroom use the same RAW engine. Life was good.

However, looking at my fully edited file in ACR I realized that I could save these develop settings as a preset in ACR, opening the presets I design to a whole new audience. If you follow the steps below, you too will be able to convert any preset you use into an ACR preset.

1. Open Lightroom, and edit any RAW file in your catalog by applying the preset that you wish to convert over to ACR.

2. Once image is satisfactory, right-click (Windows) to bring up the context menu. Choose “Export” in the menu and then the “Export…” option. This brings up the export menu. Setup the export for “Files on Disk”. Choose your export location, set naming for custom name and give the file the name of the preset you are exporting. Most importantly, in the File Setting section, change the format to DNG. This will rewrap your RAW file into DNG and include any modifications currently done to the image (the applied preset).

3. You can now close Lightroom. Open up Photoshop (or Elements), and open the DNG file you just made. ACR will pop up showing your exported file with all edits intact. Take this time to run through ACR’s options and make sure everything looks right. If so, move on to the next step.

4. Now look at the ACR window. To the right, just under the histogram is the buttons controlling ACR adjustment features. Look for the one on the far right with the three sliders depicted on it. Clicking this leads to the Presets menu. Now simply click the small icon in the right corner of that window, it has 3 lines and a small arrow. It opens a menu, in which you will choose “Save Settings”.

5. This will open a dialog with all the controllable options for the preset, and is much like what you see in Lightroom when making or editing presets. Place a check by every option you want the preset to adjust. Uncheck any boxes you want the preset to leave alone. If you check “Apply auto tone adjustments” or “Apply auto grayscale mix” then the preset will override any of your Lightroom edits in those areas. I would not use it unless you know what you are doing.

6. Once done, click on “Save”. Then you are offered a Save dialog box with the filename of the DNG in the window. If you named your DNG for your preset, just click “Save”, if not change the filename and click save. Your preset is saved to the presets dialog in ACR. Open another RAW file and test it.
Now you can use your favorite Lightroom presets inside of Photoshop, or make a preset for a friend with Photoshop but no Lightroom. Let them see what they are missing.

Another benefit I have found to exporting my Lightroom preset to ACR is that I can store them on a USB drive and use them on anyone’s machine. You can copy your ACR .xmp files from this path:

C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Application Data\Adobe\CameraRaw\Settings

Copy the .xmp files to your USB drive. You can them manually apply any preset off the drive. Just click on the menu icon in the presets tab, choose “Load settings…” and point the file browser to your usb drive. Click and go.

I hope this helps anyone who was curious as to how to carry out this process. Hope it helps you and your workflow.

Until next time,
Michael

Adobe Camera RAW Presets!

2009-01-13T23:26:00.002-06:00

Today I released my Ilford HP4+ preset, and the download contained both presets for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop Camera RAW plug-in. This evening I went through every download on this site, with few exceptions, and added my new ACR presets to every download.

The only downloads not updated are MikeyG!s Color Slide Film Vol. 1, MikeyG!s Color Print Film Vol. 1, and MikeyG!s B&W film Vol. 1. I chose not to update those packages as of now due to the size of each package, and the fact that the methods I used for emulation then has changed so drastically. If I have spare time, I will update those 3 with Curve presets and ACR presets, but for now I am leaving them be.

Every other download on this site is now updated. You can tell for sure, look at the post header. If it say LR/ACR then the download has both inside.

I hope that this change opens more people up to my presets. Many more people have Photoshop than Lightroom, and many others have Photoshop and Aperture. This change now opens these presets to Photoshop and Photoshop Elements.

Until Next Time,
Michael

LR/ACR Preset: Ilford FP4+

2009-01-13T17:26:00.004-06:00

LR/ACR Preset Ilford FP4+ , originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

And now for something moderately different:

Today I am presenting my version of Ilford's mid-speed B&W film FP4+. What is different today is that it is not just a Lightroom preset. Inside the zip file is a folder called "ACR Presets" containing .xmp files for Adobe Camera RAW.

To install .xmp presets simply drop them into the following folder in Windows...(no clue with Mac)

[C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Application Data\Adobe\CameraRaw\Settings]

When you open a file with ACR, look on the right side of screen. Below the histogram and above the slider are icons for different RAW controls. The furthest button to the right shows 3 sliders as its icon. Click it to reveal the list of presets installed. Then simply click the preset of choice to apply it. Then teak the image in ACR before you open it into Photoshop.

From now on I will be including an ACR preset with my Lightroom presets. On slow days where I have no new presets, I will update the old releases with their ACR counterparts.

I hope this adds more value to your download and opens up my film emulations to a wider audience. My preset will now be usable on Lightroom and Photoshop [I believe PS Elements also uses ACR, if so it will work on it too...let me know.]

Anyway, FP4+ is a very good, mid-speed film produced by Ilford. I really like it a lot for portraiture, I feel it gives very good skin tones on a variety of skin. I use it quite a bit, and for a 100 ISO range film (125), it is quite good (not quite Fuji Neopan 100 Arcos).

Get it HERE.

Until next time,
Michael

Lightroom Film Emulation Preset Tips

2009-01-12T11:40:00.004-06:00

Tour of Missouri - 5, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

As I had mentioned yesterday a lot of people seem to think that these presets of mine are expected to produce film like results with one click. Although you can get excellent results from these presets with a single click, you will not properly emulate any film without some additional work. Hopefully this will guide you a bit further into using my presets for emulating the look of a film.

1: Know Lightroom's Limitations

Okay this is right out the barn door, know what Lightroom can and cannot do. You can not emulate grain in any way, shape or form currently. Outside of shooting at a high ISO to get noise, you will have to add grain in Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, or GIMP. I have tried to simulate the look of grain with noise reduction turned off and sharpening cranked up...it does not work. If you need grain add it in your pixel editor.

Lightroom can manipulate any RGB image, however, it will not be able to utilize all its power on a rasterized image. If you need to edit a non-RAW picture, make sure that it is at it's highest quality. At least a 16-bit uncompressed TIFF or PSD. If it is a scan, get the highest color bit-depth and the highest resolution feasible, the more information Lightroom has to work with, the better. Whenever possible use RAW. I develop these presets assuming that they will be utilized for RAW processing. Apply them before you hop into Photoshop with an image.

Lightroom uses a unique colorspace based of Prophoto RGB. Know this when exporting. There will be color compression. Always proof your exported images. If you are doing pixel manipulations in Photoshop, I feel you should export as a PSD at highest bit-depth in the Pro-Photo colorspace. Or, you can export the file as a DNG with all your edits saved, and open that DNG in Photoshop ACR. (hint: if you use ACR alot you can save the develop settings embedded in the DNG in ACR and utilize any preset in ACR that way. Kind of making ACR versions of any preset. I will be getting to that eventually.)

The more you know about Lightroom, the better you will be able to use my, or anyone else's presets. Read tutorials, grab a book. As NBC says "The More You Know...."

2: Watch those skin tones!

In color slide presets, often you will get horrid skin tone, especially on Caucasian skin. If they appear too red or orange, go to the color mixer and lower the Orange channel saturation until the skin tone looks correct. If you only drop the saturation until the skin looks good, it will improve the photo and alter the color response being simulated only slightly. Beware, doing this with a lot of fall colors in frame, as they will be effected. The less change required the better. If it still does not look right, hit orange luminance next, and last red saturation. Try to avoid messing with red as much as possible, especially since it is a primary color and changes will effect the simulation quite a bit.

3: Dig for artifacts.

Primarily when working with black and white presets, keep an eye out for strange halation effects and odd toning in your subject, essentially "breaking" the image. If you notice either, lower or raise the offending color channel and see if it will alleviate the problem (refer back to the original color image). If that does not fix the problem, adjust the sharpening first (you can always sharpen in Photoshop), and then look at your contrast. Sometimes excessive contrast will cause images to "break".

4: Know what the film should look like.

If you shoot or have shot the film you know what to expect, making it easier to duplicate the look. Presets are made to give you a good starting point, and I develop these to simulate color reaction and tone curve as accurately as possible. However, film reacts differently in the real world, so know what you are looking for. If you never shot a particular film you can always google the film you wish to emulate and search flickr for images made with said film. Compare your conversion to these and make adjustments as needed. This is the best way to simulate film, if you know what you are trying to achieve, its easier to get there...the preset just started you in the direction. Keep in mind, exposure has MASSIVE effect on film, and different exposure will react differently. Two different frames of Tri-X will look different, even of the same subject, as exposure changes. Lightroom can not ever simulate the nuance of chemical reactions.

5: White balance keeps your whites whiter and brights brighter!

Use your selective white balance creatively! The white balance will change everything in an image. Experiment and find what you like, use it to warm and cool color. White balance can completely alter the toning of a monochrome image. Push it around to get what you need. If you are trying to copy the look of another photo, white balance is your best first step.

6: Split toning can cast your colors.

If your sample photo you are emulating has a slight color cast, figure out what shade it is and run down to the split toning in your develop tab and pop that color into both the highlight and shadow tones. Then set each tone to a level of saturation, I usually hit the highlight around 10 and the shadow around 20, then play with the balance until you get what you like. You can also create a duotone monochromatic image like this.

Some of my preset will have the split tone used to get a cast with the first click. Adjust the toning to suit your needs.

7: Watch your contrast and black clipping.

Any image you preset can be improved by adjusting the contrast and black clipping. Each image is different, and needs a unique approach. Even an Auto preset can get it way off. For what its worth, alter any of the Basic sliders until you get what you want. Or develop the image as it is imported until you get an exposure you like, then apply a Curve preset, applying only the color tones and curve.

8: The devil is in the details.

Don't forget to look at the clarity, sharpening and noise reduction for an image. If a picture does not look right, often increasing clarity, adjusting sharpening and cutting noise reduction (especially luminance) can give it a quick make over.

That is it for now, so go and play around. Presets do not make the image, you do. Also, do not feel compelled to have to duplicate a film's look. Often a single preset click can improve an image and you think it looks great...if that's the case leave it as is. You can always say it was inspired by Kodachrome 25 (such as picture above).

Read the readme.txt files included in zip files. I often have hints specifically for that preset. Often the hints are generic and good for any preset, other times the hints apply only to the particular preset.

My presets are to help you out when you want a film look from digital. I can not encourage you enough to go out and shoot film. It causes you to look at photography differently. I carry two film bodies every day, a Minolta 7000 and a Yashica Manual SLR. I shoot them as often as I do my Canon EOS digitals. If you have to go get a five dollar point and shoot film camera, get it and a good quality film and head out for a day. A fixed focus 28 mm point and shoots loaded with Portra VC can take great pictures on a slim budget, and force yoy to only consider your composition.

Hope this helps a bit, more hints in the future.

Until next time,

Michael

Note: All sample photos I post with releases ARE 1-click applications. I do no further editing. Just click the preset, export to jpg and post to flickr.I felt I needed to clarify that, I did not want people thinking that my samples were further processed, they are there to show the presets action.

LR/ACR Preset: Agfa Scala

2009-01-11T14:06:00.004-06:00

LR Preset Agfa Scala, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

[Adobe Camera RAW preset added 01132009]

Today is Agfa Scala Slide Film's turn for my attempt at emulation. A unique film, with many similarities to it's print counterpart, APX. But instead of primarily being used for negatives, this film was marketed for use as a slide film (although you could develop it either was, as with most B&W films).

Get it HERE.

Hopefully later today or tomorrow I hope to have a post up about getting better results with these presets. I am working on it now. I have gotten a lot of feedback back about people not getting desired results, only to find out that they were simply clicking the preset and calling it done. It might work that way, but not always, you still have to do a bit more post to nail a films look. Each photo is different, and needs a slightly different approach, my presets just give you a start on the path.

If you like how they look straight-up, great! A lot of people seem to, but other really think that these will nail a film's look 100% with one click. Not even Alien Skin Exposure 2 or Nik Silver Efex Pro can truly duplicate the look of a film. You still have to follow them up in Photoshop to get a good simulation.

If you are die hard about making your digital images look exactly like film, with little to no extra post processing, shoot film. If you want to make your shots look like film, and are willing to finesse Lightroom, then I will have some tips up later for you. My presets get you started, but they will never make it look perfect. Although I still feel the 1-click results are still good, and still close. Just not a 100% copy of the film.

Hopefully will get it out later today or tomorrow.

Michael

PS: If you have any specific questions about how to use these presets, email me - michael@lifeindigitalfilm.com , I will answer as soon as possible.

LR/ACR Preset: Polaroid 669

2009-01-10T20:22:00.004-06:00

LR Preset: Polaroid 669, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

[Adobe Camera RAW presets added 01132009]

Bonus Preset day! Today you can also enjoy my new Polaroid 669 preset, in 3 flavors, plain, warm and cold. The zip include the standard color-balanced preset, a warm toned preset, and a cool toned preset. The color casting was achieved via my normal method of split-toning. For a much more different approach try X=blog's version of Polaroid HERE also.

I assume you all know about 669 film, and if you don't, give it a Google. It's my bonus preset for the day, so I am making this short.

Get it HERE.

Until Next Time,
Michael

LR/ACR Presets: Adox Films [(CHS 50,100,100PL) (CMS 20)]

2009-01-10T14:25:00.005-06:00

LR Presets: Adox Films [(CHS 50,100,100PL) (CMS 20)], originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

[Adobe Camera RAW presets added 01132009]

This afternoon I am releasing 4 different film emulation presets, all for Adox films. Adox uses a traditional 1950's era emulsion, high in silver contents and low in speed. 100 is their highest speed in the CHS line due to the chemistry in the emulsion.

Check out their film:
Adox film on Sale at Freestyle
Adox film website

Now for the downloads:
Adox CHS 50 >>> HERE
Adox CHS 100 >>> HERE
Adox CHS 100 PL >>> HERE
Adox CMS 20 >>> HERE

Enjoy,
Michael

PS:

I am looking for more film samples, and if you shoot film and have access to a MacBeth style color card, next time you have a spare frame, find good light and snap a picture of your color card. Get a good, HQ scan of the image, and email it or a link to me at michael@lifeindigitalfilm.com . The image of the colorchecker is the 1st step in my emulations and if anyone can help thank you. I need images for film I have not emulated and film I have, as I will update them after I get my first release cycle done. Please attach the Manufacturer, Name, ISO and development process (push, pull, c-41 in e-6 xpro) for color film. Add detailed devlopment info for B&W films, such as the devloper used, dev time, and any other step you choose to include. I hope to add different developers to my B&W presets, as currently they are all assuming d-76.

Thank You

LR/ACR Preset: Kodak Kodachrome 64

2009-01-08T21:24:00.004-06:00

LR Preset: Kodak Kodachrome 64, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

[Adobe Camera RAW preset added 01132009]

Finally I am back up and online, sorry for the extended absence, but I got a good belated Christmas gift for all of you. My Kodak Kodachrome 64 emulation.

Be warned, this is not as straightforward as most of my other presets. If you are of the school of thought that a preset is the last thing you do to an image, this may not be for you. This preset really needs attention after the preset has been applied. It is a little finicky in the contrast/brightness areas. I have not found an image yet that I did not have to adjust one or the other. Mind you, this will get a good approximation of the colors, saturation and response curve of the film, but you will have to pay attention to the brightness and contrast.

Also, if you use my Auto-toning presets, the Kodachrome Auto tends to overexpose, unless your original exposure was dead-on. Much like the actual film, you must have a good exposure when using Auto. Alternatively, just bring down the exposure, it will improve the image if it appears washed out.

This preset can require a bit more work to finesse out a good image, however I feel the results are great when you find the sweet spot. I could have spent much more time tweaking this preset, but I like the results...it just requires a little extra after the preset has been applied.

Also, if you read the readme.txt file in the zip, I have instructions on how to use the split-toning feature to simulate the discoloration of the 60's era and 70's era stock. Just in case you are interested.

So grab the file HERE. [man, I really need to get a download icon....]

Until next time[ hopefully much sooner tha last time],
Micahel

LR/ACR Preset: Ilford HP5+

2008-12-21T22:09:00.004-06:00

LR Preset Ilford HP5+, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

[Adobe Camera RAW preset added 01132009]

Well the weekend is over, got to get up and work 3 days before vacation starts. Yay! So I finally found time for another post, and tonights menu consists of Ilford HP5+.

HP5+ is Ilford's answer to Kodak Tri-X. A very versatile film with plenty of exposure latitude.

Get it HERE.

Wish I had more to say, but I have only shot it once, and it was for developing this preset. I think I will be sticking to Tri-X, but there is nothing wrong with this film, and I would probably prefer it for formal portraiture.

If you like Ilford film, check back in. I have quite a few ready to release in the coming days.

Until next time,
Micahel

LR/ACR Preset: Fuji Neopan 400

2008-12-17T21:36:00.005-06:00

LR Preset: Fuji Neopan 400, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

[Adobe Camera RAW preset added 01132009]

Wow, this is what, 3 nights in a row that I get a release out. I must be sick....oh wait...I am. Plus I am still sick and it is my birthday. Too nasty to go out and shoot here in mid-Missouri, and all the rest of my photo editing work is too important (i.e. customer's work) to do while hopped up on Nyquil. Sometimes things look really good 45 minutes after taking a dose, not so much the next day. But, I digress.

Tonight's menu features another fine Fuji film. Another of my B&W presets, this is the sister preset to my Fuji Neopan 1600 from two nights ago. Both were processed at the same time, but I split up the release to bring a little color to a rather dreary day yesterday.

So tonight I give the world my version of Fuji Neopan 400.

Get it HERE.

Until Next Time,
Michael

LR/ACR Preset: Fuji Velvia

2008-12-16T21:29:00.004-06:00

LR Preset: Fuji Velvia, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

[Adobe Camera RAW preset added 01132009]

Tonight is a night for vibrant colors. In a departure from my usual black and white far, I am presenting the next in my line of color film presets. Tonight I present to the world my Fuji Velvia Preset.

Velvia really pushes color saturation, and is great for anything, except skin tones. You can tell the difference in the sample above, with my original raw image on the left, converted to jpeg. On the right is the same file, with no other processing than my Velvia Preset.

There is more information on the film in the zipfile readme, but I figure if you know what Velvia is, you most likely don't need me to retype it here.

Anyways, I'm fighting a pretty bad cold, and tomorrow is my birthday, so I am feeling petty miserable. I figured letting this out would make me feel a little better.

Grab it HERE.

Until next time,
Michael

And to those who found this release hidden in yesterday's post; nothing has changed except the readme and the name of the zipfile.

LR/ACR Preset: Agfa APX

2008-12-15T20:32:00.008-06:00

LR Preset: Agfa APX, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

[Adobe Camera RAW presets added 01132009]

Well, time for another preset. This time it is Agfa APX, another "dead" film that I could not get a real roll for my preset development. So this is a best guess emulation, based off the published response curves and physical prints.

I don't have much to say about the film, as I have never used it, and there is not much information on it to accumulate a short report on it. I hope you enjoy it anyways.

Get it HERE.

As recurrent visitors can tell, I have been tweaking the blog itself quite a bit recently. Trying to find a good, black background theme to use, that is easy to read. Also will soon be adding a downloads section, where you can go to see samples, descriptions and download for all the presets.

Hopefully I will have this project done around new years, until then please forgive the random changes.

Until next time,
Michael

Thinking about it, and should I just use webpages for the film preset download pages, or should I use a wiki for the pages, so others can contribute samples of the origianl film and presetted photos, and help complete better profiles on the film stocks themselves. Email me or drop a comment and let me know which method seems better.

LR/ACR Preset: Fuji Neopan 1600

2008-12-13T22:34:00.004-06:00

LR Preset: Fuji Neopan 1600, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

[Adobe Camera RAW presets added 01132009]

Finally I have a NEW preset available. Took me long enough. If you just discovered this blog, welcome. I hope you have enjoyed the presets release so far. Well on to tonight's ordeal.

A while back I asked for some suggestions for film preset releases. Stu requested some Fuji Neopan, so tonight I am releasing the first of that stock, Fuji Neopan 1600.

I am breaking my rules a bit here, but I am posting the 1600 and 400 speeds as separate preset collections. In the development process I found there to be a slight tonal difference between the two. So ISO 400 Neopan will be referred to as Fuji Neopan, and the 1600 variety is the one here, called Fuji Neopan 1600.

I like the actual film very much for its versatility and grain. This particular preset is good for high ISO images from DSLRs, as the noise in the image can be lightly cleaned up in Lightroom using the NR tools, and the remaining visible noise will show up as grain fairly true to the film.

Oh, get the preset HERE.

Now for bed,
Michael

PS: If you hadn't seen, I now have the domain www.lifeindigitalfilm.com. I think its sounds a lot better.

LR Preset Collection: Kodak B&W Vol. 1

2008-12-11T22:09:00.006-06:00

So once again I have had a lapse in new posts. Unfortunately it always gets that way this time of year. Upside, I get almost 2 weeks vacation after Christmas, so I will have more time for my fledgling photography business and more time to give to my blog. I refuse to promise a regular release schedule until I can get past Christmas.

However, although I have no new preset to release tonight, I am officially releasing my Kodak preset you all have been using. I have grouped up 9 of the Kodak presets from here, and 3 Presets from my 1st B&W set. I added my "curve" preset to the 3 re-released presets.

Other than the re-releases, If you have gotten all my downloads here so far then you have all this. But if you are just finding the site now, all my Kodak B&W films I have release to date are in this set.

As I go along, Ilford will get a set like this, along with Fuji, Rollei/Maco, and then a set of other film stocks. But for now Kodak is the set I have most complete so here it is:

Included Film Emulations (3 presets per film stock)

MikeyG!s Kodak BW CN Preset
MikeyG!s Kodak Copy Film Preset
MikeyG!s Kodak HIE Preset
MikeyG!s Kodak Panatomic X Preset
MikeyG!s Kodak Plus-X Preset
MikeyG!s Kodak Portra BW Preset
MikeyG!s Kodak T-Max Preset
MikeyG!s Kodak Technical Pan Preset
MikeyG!s Kodak Tri-X Preset
MikeyG!s Kodak T-Max 100 Preset *
MikeyG!s Kodak T-Max 400 Preset *
MikeyG!s Kodak Tri-X 400 Preset *

*- these are the re-released preset. All others are here on this blog and have sample pictures posted.

Get the file HERE

The collection has also been released by Pierre at PresetsHeaven. I ask you all to check out his site daily, as he produces some great presets and also distributes presets created by other talented individuals.

PS: (12/13/2008; 0703 CDT) I just discovered that I had goofed in my Panatomic X release, I accidentally placed my Plus-X Auto and Curve presets in with the PanX standard preset. This effects both the original PanX release and the Kodak Collection. I will fix the issue later today when I get back home. Sorry for the screw-up.

(12/13/2008; 1103 CDT) The corrected collection zip file is HERE. This link is hosted by LIDF, however please get it from PresetsHeaven and support Pierre.

Until Next Time,

Michael

LR/ACR Preset: Konica IR

2008-12-01T19:42:00.004-06:00

LR Preset: Konica IR, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

[Adobe Camera RAW presets added 01132009]

Well I promised a preset earlier today so now it is time to deliver. Tonight's develop preset for Lightroom is Konica IR film.

Another dead film, discontinued in 2004, Konica IR was not a true IR film, only reaching barely in to the IR spectrum. However the film was excellent for portraits and landscapes due to it's shimmery highlights.

Get it Here.

Also I have gotten a few film preset requests so far from Flickr and Twitter. Once again if there is anything you want me to try and make for you, feel free to leave the request in the comment field of any of my posts, twittering me @mwgray, or e-mailing me @ [grayimaging]@[gmail].[com] (remove brackets).

Until Next Time,
Michael

Requests for film Stock Emulation

2008-12-01T12:03:00.001-06:00

Hey everybody, just figured I would ask for a little help. As it stands I have quite a queue of film to emulate ahead of me, but I have reached the point where just slogging through the list of film is getting a bit old. So I was wondering if any of you are looking for a particular film to be emulated. If so just let me know what you are looking for in the comments below this post. I have a few requests so far that I am working on, but it would be nice to know when I am working on a preset that there is someone waiting for it.

Should have a new release later tonight, just wanted to get this request to everyone out.

Until later,

Michael

LR/ACR Preset: Ilford Delta

2008-11-28T22:32:00.006-06:00

LR Preset: Ilford Delta, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

[Adobe Camera RAW presets added 01132009]

Wow, another week passes and I am just now releasing a new preset. It has been a hectic week, but I have a weeks worth of presets ready to roll now, so hopefully it will get better.

Tonight I present to you my interpretation of Ilford's Delta film. It is very similar to T-max and Fuji Neopan Acros. It is an excellent film in my opinion, better than T-max, but not quite as beautiful as Fuji's. But that is my opinion. Very good for images with high contrast.

I hope you all enjoy this preset and that you are all doing well.

Oh, get it HERE.

Until next time,
Michael

Another Side Project

2008-11-28T14:25:00.003-06:00

Sorry for the lack of updates, but Thanksgiving here in the US has been messing me up as far as my scheduling goes. But today I had a little time so I put together a wiki for an idea I had pop up a while back.

Today I started a wiki for designing, editing and refining presets as a community. The idea is to have a community online where people can work on presets together, hopefully making much better presets as changes get provided back to the community. It is an experiment, and may not work, but I wanted to try. Usually many people together will make a better product, but not always. Hopefully we will see if it works...if it does it may become a good source for quality presets.

I started the wiki over at wikidot, so if you want to take part you will have to join wikidot and then join the wiki.

Find it Here.

As I said, hopefully this will take off, but if not I am only out a few hours of work.

Until later,
Michael

PS: More presets coming soon.

LR/ACR Presets: Kodak Panatomic X, Kodak Gold 100 and 200

2008-11-23T20:46:00.009-06:00

LR Preset: Kodak Panatomic X, Kodak Gold 100 and 200, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

[Adobe Camera RAW presets added 01132009]

Sorry for the extended drought of my film emulating presets. I am back after a fairly long stretch of "real" work, and I have presets!

Tonight I release my interpretation of Kodak Panatomic X B&W film. It has been discontinued for quite some time, and I was only able to get a hold of a few samples, and no real film for me to shoot. That is to be expected from a film that was discontinued almost 30 years ago. I feel the emulation is as close as I can get with Lightroom as it stands. There is some nuance with the smoothness of the tone that I noticed in the original film that is impossible to even correctly approximate. I tried for the past two weeks to get the tone nailed, but I could not do it. I feel the overall look is right, and a perfectly exposed image will convert wonderfully. If Lightroom has to work to correct exposure expect the tone to not be so smooth. I can't explain why it works like this, but it does.

While the Panatomic preset is not perfect, I am still proud of it and hope you all enjoy it. You can get it HERE.

Also, as a bonus for you patience, I am also releasing my interpretation of Kodak Gold 100 and 200. I am not a big fan of Gold film, but it is one of the most commonly shot films in existence. Surely someone likes the look. There is an individual release for both 100 ISO and 200 ISO, this is due to a slight difference in the tone curve that is evident in brightly lit photographs. Not much else to say on these, which is why they are "bonus" presets.

Kodak Gold 100 is HERE.
Kodak Gold 200 is HERE.

Thank you to all who visit my site, and my apologies for the extended delay in releases.

Until Next Time,
Michael

Updating.....

2008-11-18T17:20:00.003-06:00

Well, it's been a little while with no updates. I have been overly busy with work the past week and have not had time to do proper work ups on my presets. I don't want to just post one for download with a picture. I like to give a little info and my thoughts on each one. Lately time has been a little tight, but it should ease up as the week progresses.

Also, my stock of preset releases was getting slim. I have a list of presets to do, currently 50+ that I have enough info and samples to work with. However one's ready to release were getting slim. In the next few days I will be releasing more, hopefully one a day again, but I may back off to one every other day, and fill off days with other material I would like to cover here. Either way, I plan on daily updates, ongoing, starting this weekend. I hope to get at least two more update out this week.

Upcoming presets:

B&W:
Ilford Delta
Ilford FP4+
Ilford HP5+
Ilford Ortho+
Ilford Pan F+
Ilford XPS 2
Ilford SFX
Konica IR
Adox CHS 50
Kodak Panatomic X

Color:
Kodak Gold 100
Kodak Gold 200

Lately my releases have been just emulating film stock, since it has been focusing on B&W. Most of the tone and contrast is very similar between different speeds from my observation, ISO primarily effects grain and contrast, both easily altered to get desired look. On my first B&W release I attempted to differentiate by speed, but I was primarily mucking with sharpening and noise reduction to artificially enhance camera noise. I decided that that is a bad idea and that grain is better reproduced in Photoshop, at least until Adobe decides to give me grain control in Lightroom!

However I am going to handle color films differently. I I can decide that I see no discernible difference in color and tone between ISO's, then I will release just the emulsion, just like my current B&W's. However, if there is a difference in color, tone and curve between different speeds, then I will release a version for each ISO. This is what will occur when I release my Kodak Gold Presets.

I hope you all have been enjoying my work so far, I assure you that more is to come. I work my day job for a major package delivery service and my days are getting longer as we head into the holiday season, not to mention more photography jobs coming into Christmas. It caught up with me this week and I plan to change my blogging and preset release habits to work them into this schedule.

Well until later,

Micahel

LR/ACR Preset: Kodak HIE

2008-11-13T16:27:00.004-06:00

LR Preset: Kodak HIE, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

[Adobe Camera RAW presets added 01132009]

Sorry for the missed day all...I had to take it off, it was my first day in a very long time in which I developed my own film. Processed a roll of my favorite, Fuji Neopan 100 Acros. But anyways, that was the cause of the delay...photography.

But today I preset to you my humble interpretation of Kodak HIE infrared film. This particular film stock is no longer produced (production ceased in 2007) and the last rolls of stock are selling at quite high prices on eBay. I'm too cheap to pay $40 usd on a roll of film, no matter how spectacular, so this was as close as I could get with out real negatives in my hand to compare to.

Anyways, many people were up in arms of the cancellation of this film, so I guess it was special to many people out there. So have at it and hopefully it may get near-IR results.

Get it HERE.

I will recommend that you adjust the red and magenta channels give or take 20 clicks on the slider to find the best look for the image. I kept the reds conservative to get better overall appearance, but many photos need those channels kicked to the right a notch to get better IR effect.

Well until next time,

Michael

LR/ACR Preset: Kodak T-Max

2008-11-11T18:57:00.004-06:00

LR Preset: Kodak T-Max, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

[Adobe Camera RAW presets added 01132009]

So, my internet connection is back up. It was down all day and I thought I wasn't going to get tonight's release done. Trying to release 5-6 per week, and I have plenty of emulsions to emulate, so they should keep coming for a while. But anyways...

Tonight I bring to the world my rendition of Kodak T-Max. In the interest of honesty, I am not a fan of T-Max. At least not with my experience with the film. I always found it to be lacking in tone and character. But there is a whole world full of people who know more about photography than I who love this film. So even though not a film I love I emulated it anyways, I have shot enough to know somewhat what I was looking for, and hopefully this preset is sufficient.

Get it HERE.

This almost draws my Kodak B&W collection to a close, only have HIE infrared to go (which obviously cannot be emulated without a real IR converted camera, which I don't have access to.) I hope you have found these presets useful.

Also, when you post pictures processed with my presets onto Flickr, if you remember, please tag the photo "lifeindigitalfilm" and with the preset name. I would love to see your work using my presets. By no means do you have to, but I would appreciate it. And to those of you who already have, thank you.

Once again, leave feedback on the presets after you use them. Tell me what you think, what I should improve or do differently. I truly want these presets to be a viable choice for photographer who want the film look without having to get Exposure 2 or DxO Film Pack. The more feedback I get, the more I have to work from when I am ready to revise the presets.

I plan on also re-releasing all my previous presets as ACR settings. So far I am getting good results with the emulations processed with ACR. It's pretty straight-forward, just copy all the LR setting over to ACR, but it is alot of work. So, I will only release ACR presets after I complete each LR pack, not after each preset.

Until Next Time,
Michael W. Gray

LR/ACR Preset: Kodak Plus-X

2008-11-10T19:13:00.004-06:00

Sample - Kodak Plus-X, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

Sorry for the time away, but I have been feeling a little under the weather. Good news is that I have some more presets ready, which I will be releasing over the next couple days.

Today I present my interpretation of Kodak Plus-X black and white film. Plus-X is another classic film, it received a revamp back in the 2002, merging the Plus-X family into one emulsion, PX125 (which is still available today). The grain is finer than that of Tri-X and tones are smoother and more subdued than T-max.

You can get it HERE.

When using the preset, any preset by me (or anyone else for that matter) remember to play around with those sliders some. As long as you don't touch the color mixer on my presets you should retain the general tone and/or color of the film. Throw in vignettes, sharpen the hell out of the images, drop the contrast, whatever makes it look right to you.

Try the different versions of each preset. Take the standard preset and tweak it to your needs, when you find a look you like, right click on the preset and update it with your new settings. Work the picture up in color and toss the curve preset on it, it will leave all you basic tone adjustments alone. Or let Lightroom do the work and hit the Auto preset. Experiment. If you have any question regarding the use of my presets just ask in the comments under the applicable preset. I will give you an answer as soon as I get a chance.

Well until next time, my friends

Michael W. Gray

PS make sure you check out the sites to the right, such as PresetsHeaven & TWIP.

LR/ACR Preset: Kodak Tri-X

2008-11-07T23:41:00.004-06:00

LR Preset: Kodak Tri-X, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

[Adobe Camera RAW presets added 01132009]

So I have already released this film emulation once in MikeyG!s B&W Film Presets Vol 1. However after getting out my old negs and prints I decided that I had to have been a bit off. After studying the actual film, simulation programs and the tech papers I feel that this is a more accurate representation of the film. This version alters all colors on the grayscale mixer, not just primaries. To me it seems that by working the entire spectrum I am getting much smoother tones, more reminiscent of real Tri-X.

Grab it HERE.

This is a tricky preset to release, especially since this is the de facto king of B&W to many photographers out there. I pray that the world can accept this preset in all its flaws. I may get close, maybe even closer in the future, but I can never emulate any film 100%. The only way to nail the Tri-X look or any other film look is to shoot the film.

Which, although soapboxing here, brings me to a thought I need to bring up. Since I have started my film emulation presets I have gotten alot of good feedback, but I need to address 2 questions/comments that I have gotten in some volume:

1) Why bother? (film is dead)

I bother because film is the heart and soul of photography. There can be a certain sterility to digital images that was rarely seen on good old analog film. That warmth that film provided in tone, contrast and density made photography. If we can put some of that feeling back into our digital work, especially when its needed, it can only improve an image.

2) Why bother? (if you want it to look like film, shoot film)

I do shoot film. Quite a bit. But I find myself with a digital in hand more often than not. I grew up on film, and will shoot film as long as I can (just got some Ilford 400 hp5+ for the weekend). But for clients photos I almost always use digital, unless they request film. Film is my look, and I want it in my work. It may not be 100% accurate, but 90% approximation of the film I want is better than 100% of what I don't want. Quite frankly film is expensive, and I couldn't afford to shoot a wedding on film and make money. I can't get 10 pictures each of 30 poses in an hour with film, and turn a profit on it. Digital + Simulation gives me what I need with little extra overhead, aside from the work developing my presets or money spent on Exposure 2.

From the response in general I have received, from the download numbers I have seen, people like the film presets. I will keep on making and revising these to get ever closer to the impossible 100%. People are using my presets and enjoying my presets. Most importantly I am using my presets, they are making my workflow easier, and others can benefit from my efforts.

Sorry for the rant,
Michael

LR/ACR Preset: Kodak Copy Film

2008-11-06T21:24:00.007-06:00

Kodak Copy Film Sample, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

[Adobe Camera RAW presets added 01132009]

So after a bit of a battle with a cold, I'm back with my newest release. Today I bring an emulation of Kodak Copy Film. This was a film design primarily to reproduce continuous tone images, however was often used to make original images themselves.

I never got to personally play with this film, however the samples I studied in the emulation process impressed me. So I preset it to you HERE.

In the sample above, look closely in the image for the changes, they are very subtle. Maybe not the best image for a sample, but its already made, so I will leave it as it is. It is much more clear if you click on it and jump over to Flickr.

I hope you enjoy the preset. As always a readme text file is in the archive with more information on the film and my hints on how to tweak the preset for best results.

Also, unlike most of my other presets, this one does not adjust clarity. I felt being as it was a reproduction film that it would not be appropriate to induce clarity, so if the image looks soft, crank clarity up.

Until next time,
Michael W. Gray

PS: If you are on twitter and into photography please register yourself at the Twitterectory, a good resource for finding other in the same hobby/profession. If you already have, thanks...and follow me @mwgray!

19 Black & White and 9 Color Print Film Emulating Presets

2008-11-04T15:58:00.006-06:00

[NOTE: The presets contained in the following archives are no longer supported. I have developed a new analysis and emulation process, which has supassed the methodology by which I developed these releases. Many of these film stocks have been re-emulated via my new technique and released on LIDF. Use these presets if you choose, just warning you that the newer ones are more accurate and usually better. -Michael]

Pierre over at PresetsHeaven just helped me out quite a bit. I got alot of video work to get done tonight for one of my clients, so I don't think I will have a new release ready today. Just a few moments ago I got a tweet from Pierre informing me he had posted one of my older preset packages today.

This is good for me, because then I am still coming through with more presets (just ones that were released on flickr groups previously), and I can get this other work done with out my daily update. Also its good for me because his site gets so much more exposure than my pittance of a blog, meaning my presets move out further into the wild.

Today Pierre released MikeyG!s Color Print Film Presets Vol 1. To get it click the link to the left and head over to his page. It offers you 9 different film styles (7 different films, with 3 different interpretations of Fuji Reala), each with a standard preset and an autotoning preset.

Also featured on his page a while back is MikeyG!s Black and White Film Presets Vol 1. It has 18 different B&W film stocks, each with a standard and autotone version.

I feel that I did a pretty good job on these, however I have learned so much about how to coax Lightroom in the two weeks since I got these packages done. Case in point the Reala presets that push the film...they don't look right. But I admit that, and I feel that I am better able to produce the desired effects now and will re-release every preset in these packs as I get time.

As always, let me know what you think of my work. If you are on twitter get me @mwgray or find me on flickr as grayimaging. You can also reach me at grayimaging
* -at- * gmail * -dot- * com.

Hosted by LIDF:
B&W Film Preset Vol 1
Print Film Preset Vol 1

LR/ACR Preset: Kodak Portra BW

2008-11-03T20:59:00.007-06:00

Kodak Portra BW Preset Sample, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

[Adobe Camera RAW presets added 01132009]

Presenting my next film. Nothing fancy this time, just another discontinued Kodak film. Portra BW was part of Kodaks original Portra line, and was discontinued with the recent revamp of the Portra line. Portra BW was replace with Kodak BW CN.

Not much to say about this film. Used it once, not overly impressed, but that could have been as much due to my lack of photography skills. But anyways I wanted to rescue it's tones from death.

Get it HERE.