Five Ways to Emulate Film

For many years I have loved the look that film gives to an image. It’s soft and elegant and the colors are so beautiful! It’s takes many years to find your editing style with lots of experiments and sometimes failures. This past year I took the Editing Course by Hannah at the Cottonwood Collective and it was so enlightening. Here are five ways to emulate film that I have found helpful.

1. The way you choose to post process or edit your images has the largest effect on how your photos will look. I recently started to use the Archetype Process Profiles and love them so far! The colors are very true to film with the softened green tones and hint of grain.
2. I use a low -or wide- aperture. I set my aperture at 2.0 or slightly higher. My camera body is the Canon Mirrorless R5 which is very tack sharp and so the white aperture gives you a softer focus and outcome.
3. Choosing good lighting is very important on how your images will appear when you are finished processing them. I like bright and even light if possible. Back lighting is my favorite and adds such beautiful bokeh.
4. Film tends to “feel” more than digital images so try to evoke feeling in your images. Soft and gentle are two words I keep in mind when I am photographing maternity or newborn imagery. Soft smiles or closed eyes can add to a gentle look. Lay your clients heads down whether is laying down on a blanket or on a spouse’s shoulders. These little touches will add a softness that naturally comes with film.
5. It’s so helpful to plan ahead. Think of your subjects and then create interesting and thoughtful poses. Even if you use only two or three of those poses it can make your work look more visually interesting and keep you feeling inspired as an artist.

Jessica is a natural light photographer who specializes in maternity and newborn portraiture. She photographs mothers in an organic and comfortable way to remember your little ones forever.