Film Effects

Because (most) digital camera sensors capture color information, creating a digital black and white photo is to some extent an act of creative anachronism—some would even say nostalgia. It’s therefore not surprising that digital monochromatic imagery is often made after a study of film imagery; creative choices are often presented in the context of the film comparison.

For example, do vintage grainy photographs taken on the streets or in coffee houses using high speed black and white film during the 1960s appeal to you? Then see if you can replicate this very distinctive look using digital tools.

Using Photoshop, the goal of reproducing the intentionally retro look of almost any old-time film stock can clearly be achieved. Some film effects are not hard to create; others take quite a bit of effort, planning, and many steps in Photoshop.

Beyond Photoshop itself, there are a number of third-party Photoshop filters that offer an array of film effects out of the box, including software from DxO, On1, and Topaz (see pages 150–167). One of the best of these, Silver Efex Pro, lets you choose from an extensive menu of film types for your simulation after you’ve first selected a basic monochromatic conversion strategy. Film effects are grouped depending upon their sensitivity (ISO) and you can choose whichever effect you think works best with your photo.

City Dreams—I wanted to give this “noir” image of the streets of San Francisco a gritty look. I converted the color photo to monochrome with Silver Efex Pro using a neutral conversion filter. Next, I chose a high ISO film effect to add grain and contrast to the photo. I finished the image off with a split toning effect (see pages 202–205).

Nikon D300, 60mm, 3 seconds at f/10 and ISO 100, tripod mounted; processed to monochrome using Photoshop and Silver Efex Pro.

Wrapped Cars—The bridge from Benicia to Martinez across the California’s Sacramento River just to the east of the straights of Carquinez is part of a new trail system that circumnavigates the San Francisco Bay area.

On the footpath across the bridge, I noticed that I had a bird’s eye view into the car lots where new cars that had been shipped from Asia were stored before distribution to dealers. I found the wrapping of the cars visually humorous, and framed this composition to have a single car moving in one direction against the apparent “traffic” all going the other way.

In post-production it seemed to me that this image would be a good candidate for adding a simulated film effect. To accomplish this, I used Analog Efex Pro, a plug-in that is part of the Nik Collection by DxO.

Nikon D850, 300mm, 1/800 of a second at f/9 and ISO 200, hand held; processed in ACR and converted to black and white using a Photoshop adjustment layer; Kodak Tri-X film simulation and border added using Silver Efex; additional film simulation added using the Black & White 5 preset in Analog Efex at 50% opacity.