Old Film Effect, Lomo effects....


fevernova

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Aug 12, 2003
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Alright, I admit it, I've always been really bad at Post Processing work. To me, Photoshop is a real b*tch to work with and I've tried Lightroom 3 beta as well.

Been reading up alot online over the weeks but the more I read, the more confused I get. Apparently, there's isn't any fixed way to tweak photos huh? Its always up to one to adjust the hue, saturation, contrast and levels to your own liking.

I've not been having much luck trying to get photos to have that old grainy vintage film look/lomo look....

Don't laugh, but I spent 3 hours tampering with a couple of photo editing programs to get what I got below....Still not really satisfied, any suggestions as to what I can use?

And I'm still confused with layers in PS...Why can't we just add the effects onto the picture itself?

k21rv8.jpg

dxerde.jpg
 

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Both photoshop and lightroom are great tools. Why do you find PS a bitch? It's easy once you've learned how to use it. And you can apply the adjustmens directly to the picture and not use layers and masking. Do it and you'll understand why adjustment layers are almost always preferred.
 

You can do adjustments on the image itself, just that nobody recommends it because of the limitations it brings. A layer is just like a transparency sheet lying over the image. Any effects done on that layer remains on that layer and not on the original image, in case you want to undo/refine your work. For example, you have a curves layer and a hue layer. If you change your hue from say yellow to blue and then decide the curves needs some adjustment, you can go straight to the curves layer and fine tune it. If you had done curves and hues on the original image, you'll have to undo to the original state and then redo everything. Layers is a rather simple concept, I know some tutorials or books tend to give examples where there are multiple layers, just try to get the hang of it.

There are also plug-ins you can buy that involves nothing more than adjusting slide bars, but if you can do it on the cheap, why not. PS is like learning maths, practise practise practise. 3 hrs today, 1 hr next time then 15mins flat. Don't worry, you'll get there. We look at pictures here, not photoshop skill.
 

Both photoshop and lightroom are great tools. Why do you find PS a bitch? It's easy once you've learned how to use it. And you can apply the adjustmens directly to the picture and not use layers and masking. Do it and you'll understand why adjustment layers are almost always preferred.

You can do adjustments on the image itself, just that nobody recommends it because of the limitations it brings. A layer is just like a transparency sheet lying over the image. Any effects done on that layer remains on that layer and not on the original image, in case you want to undo/refine your work. For example, you have a curves layer and a hue layer. If you change your hue from say yellow to blue and then decide the curves needs some adjustment, you can go straight to the curves layer and fine tune it. If you had done curves and hues on the original image, you'll have to undo to the original state and then redo everything. Layers is a rather simple concept, I know some tutorials or books tend to give examples where there are multiple layers, just try to get the hang of it.

There are also plug-ins you can buy that involves nothing more than adjusting slide bars, but if you can do it on the cheap, why not. PS is like learning maths, practise practise practise. 3 hrs today, 1 hr next time then 15mins flat. Don't worry, you'll get there. We look at pictures here, not photoshop skill.


Thanks for the input! Took me that long because I kept screwing up with the layering process...:angry:
Gotta keep practicing....
 

are u friggin crazy? you've already achieved the effect!
 

I'm guessing youre going for a sort of cross processed look like this?

with me usually its just play with the curves...
get to them through:
1.jpg


then play with the red, green and blue parts of the curve. those are roughly the settings i use, play around to suit each image, the finally play with the complete rgb curve to adjust the contrast and lightness of the tones in the image.. end up with something like:

5.jpg


i hope that helped.. haha
 

I'm guessing youre going for a sort of cross processed look like this?

with me usually its just play with the curves...
get to them through:
1.jpg


then play with the red, green and blue parts of the curve. those are roughly the settings i use, play around to suit each image, the finally play with the complete rgb curve to adjust the contrast and lightness of the tones in the image.. end up with something like:

5.jpg


i hope that helped.. haha

Yeah! That's what I was talking about!
start-woman.jpg


The Huey looking photos....Its got that greenish cast. I've tried tweaking the curves but always end up wrong. Its green but too green.
 

Yeah! That's what I was talking about!
start-woman.jpg


The Huey looking photos....Its got that greenish cast. I've tried tweaking the curves but always end up wrong. Its green but too green.

try the cross processing and then just add a layer on top of solid green and turn the opacity right down just so it gives it a bit of a tint..

heres one i just did..

GJ5A0007.jpg


not perfect but tweak the settings a bit and i'm sure you'll get what youre looking for
 

try the cross processing and then just add a layer on top of solid green and turn the opacity right down just so it gives it a bit of a tint..

heres one i just did..

GJ5A0007.jpg


not perfect but tweak the settings a bit and i'm sure you'll get what youre looking for

Thanks! I'm using photoshop elements 7.0 btw. Not CS2 or CS3 like some of you guys since its pretty damn expensive to buy the software and elements came free with my comp...:bsmilie: Unless I get it the chionged way....:sweat:
 

Haha, nice read here. Fancy using digital to create old-looking, imperfect photos? Just use those old cameras and imperfect stuff.
 

Haha, nice read here. Fancy using digital to create old-looking, imperfect photos? Just use those old cameras and imperfect stuff.

yeah, skip the photoshop post processiong altogether! just buy any 35mm slide films and pop them into any film cam, x-process it and there you go!
 

yeah, skip the photoshop post processiong altogether! just buy any 35mm slide films and pop them into any film cam, x-process it and there you go!

Tempted to get a film body to do that but digital is cheaper in the long run....:bsmilie: I'm cheapskate....
 

Tempted to get a film body to do that but digital is cheaper in the long run....:bsmilie: I'm cheapskate....

you can get a lomo film cam @ 100+ or 2nd hand total lesser than $200 if you really like lomo.
 

you can get a lomo film cam @ 100+ or 2nd hand total lesser than $200 if you really like lomo.

film is a bitch though.


i mean no doubt its fun... i absolutely love processing my own rolls...
but digital is just that much quicker ;p haha
 

film is a bitch though.


i mean no doubt its fun... i absolutely love processing my own rolls...
but digital is just that much quicker ;p haha

haha but certain "feel" films tend to bring out more "instantly" than spending time to pp a digital ones..
 

you can get a lomo film cam @ 100+ or 2nd hand total lesser than $200 if you really like lomo.

I do have a Holga that's in medium format and till now, I've not developed the roll of film in it yet....


haha but certain "feel" films tend to bring out more "instantly" than spending time to pp a digital ones..

Yeah, its more natural...
 

haha but certain "feel" films tend to bring out more "instantly" than spending time to pp a digital ones..


And not to forget, getting the unexpected (e.g. finger on the edge, dust particles and handshakes).


I can only relate using digital as visiting the brothel (quickly done, fast, immediate effect) while using film is like making love with my wife (slow, patience, unexpected, undemanding, compromising, careful with every steps).


Each to its own.
 

And not to forget, getting the unexpected (e.g. finger on the edge, dust particles and handshakes).


I can only relate using digital as visiting the brothel (quickly done, fast, immediate effect) while using film is like making love with my wife (slow, patience, unexpected, undemanding, compromising, careful with every steps).


Each to its own.

:bsmilie::bsmilie:
 

Anyone heard of the Digital Harinezumi 2?? Its a digital toy cam that does lomo like shots in digital...Seems like a good addition to what I have now and I can probably skip post processing altogether....No matter how i see it, its just hard to achieve a natural lomo/vintage film look with DSLR because one has to "think" before shooting to get those results whereas in lomo, its kinda like a random process. Out of the films you've developed, some turn out great, some turn out bad, the element of surprise is always there so is randomness....