Simulating Film Effects With Curves

[Chris of Arabia]

I've just come across this blog by Petteri Sulonen (http://www.prime-junta.net/pont/How_to/100_Curves_and_Films/_Curves_and_films.html) and thought some of you might be interested. Whilst it's not obvious, on Page 10 you can find a downloadable zip file containing the curves to use straight away. Part way through the article there's also a tables of suggested values for simulating a number of well known B+W films using the Channel Mixer as well. As they always say with these things, your mileage may vary. Off to try something out myself now.

Edit: A quick look says the cross process and Velvia curves look very appealing. I'm not quite so sure about the Provia or Portra curves, though they are rather more subtle.

[Battou]

I'll have to take a look into this when I get home. This could possibly be of value to us Film shooters as well helping overcome the shortcommings of our scanner hardware.

[Matt Needham]

I think there is a lot of good learning to be had in studying and understanding why we find the visual aspects of particular films appealing, and I've often encouraged people to learn about characteristic curves. But I'm hating page 9.

The fact that Velvia and E6 processing, for instance, don't allow us to alter the visual aspects of the materials very much doesn't make it any more real or "honest". The manipulation has still occurred it's just a matter of where and when. With digital the photographer controls the look in the processing they choose, and with Velvia Fujifilm controls the look when they manufacture the materials. Or if the digital photographer is using the built in, processing pre-sets, then it's Canon or Nikon, Pentax, Sony, Adobe, Whoever's Wild & Crazy Actions, etc... controlling the manipulation.

High contrast and warm, extra saturated colors have always appealed to the human eye, and have been used in image making for far longer than color film has been around. Making a digital photo look like Velvia doesn't make it any more fake than the existence of paintings with high contrast, and warm, extra saturated colors would make Velvia photos fake.

[Chris of Arabia]

Well I've given the cross-process preset a go, slightly modified, and came up with Late in the Day (http://www.thephotobeat.com/forum/showthread.php?p=36515#post36515)

It's got a texture layered over it but the colour shift is very much down to that preset. It's much more usable than the built in PS cross-process preset.