Film photography. There’s something about it that continuously fascinates the likes of hipsters, purists and all those in between. Whether it’s the artistic delicacy of developing, burning, washing and nurturing a piece of work that entices you the most, or the pleasure of running around with a cool and vintaged camera thinking all the hipsters on Instagram will drool with jealousy, one thing we can be sure of is that film is popular, and a growing trend.

That being said, film can be time-consuming, confusing and expensive. Knowing whether you’ve purchased the correct ISO for your film or if you’ve loaded the camera correctly can be a tall order for beginners, let alone the entirety of the process that follows. I will happily admit that film was never my strong suit. The hours I spent alone in a darkroom begging that I’d correctly consulted my test strip were plentiful, especially when it was being wasted on a shoddy version of the desired image I had in mind. Film takes time, effort and facilities… but there is a way around it.

The film takeover has inspired several apps and programs to implement features that should help achieve the ‘film-look’. Whilst these apps can save you time, they can be extremely limiting. Having the ability to finely tune images to exact specification is a necessity if you want to take your photography seriously, which is why I recommend the following program.

*This tutorial is directed to those looking to achieve B/W film, but the process is very similar for those who wish to capture colour instead

Lightroom

I love Lightroom. I know many will say that Photoshop is far superior, but for working with colours, texturing and effects, Lightroom is by far my favourite. If you don’t own any of the Adobe’s software, consider trying the express versions on mobile devices. They provide a great introduction to the world of photo enhancement and editing. If you do want to splash some cash, Adobe offers a series of bundles aimed at students and photographers. Lightroom happens to be my favourite medium for creating false film, and the method for doing so is quite simple. 

1. Import images you want to use
2. Create a folder for them (being organised is a good habit)
3. Select the ‘Edit’ tab on the chosen photo
4. Click ‘Profile’ and select ‘Monochrome’
5. Make all your adjustments, then scroll to ‘Effects’
6. Adjust your grain between 60-100%

A notable point would be to stay realistic. The temptation to crank grain to 100% may grant you with a vintage overload, but over-editing is a massive trap to fall into. I didn’t really touch clarity and dehaze, but texture was something I altered, such as for the following image:

If you’ve never worked with film, I would suggest using a reference image when editing. A quick google search of “black and white film grain” should help, but at the end of the day, it’s your masterpiece and no one else’s

I won’t finish by saying that you need Lightroom to achieve a similar effect, because you don’t. Any editing software that allows you to add grain will help you achieve a somewhat similar outcome. I would state that prior to writing this blog, I had assumed both Instagram and iPhone’s camera effects would have had a grain effect. Neither did, which did disappoint me quite a bit. Elitism seems to have taken hold of the wallets of consumers and shaken out the ability to edit photos intricately. Even with Apple’s marketing slogan “Shot on iPhone”, the difficulty in making a simple edit is quite an annoyance, forcing those who have the funds to purchase other software. Hopefully, this feature gets added in a further update, but until then we can only wait.