How I Create Dreamy, Film Like Digital Photos Part 2
by Amanda on July 22, 2009
So you know how I shoot the photographs, now onto the post processing or the ‘photoshopping’. This is a topic I am asked about all the time and the truth of it is that no two photographs are processed the same way. There is no one formula that I use. Also note that I am no photoshop expert and there are many things that I am still learning about it’s capabilities.
I do share these ideas on a condition however. Yes, there is always a catch! I would like to see some of you try this out on your own photographs as I would love to see your results.
The first thing I recommend to you is to buy the book, The Photoshop CS3 Book for Digital Photographers. Scott Kelby is a master of photoshop and I have learned a lot about using it through his books. I also have this one which is more about the photography. Apart from reading books, I am self taught when it comes to using post processing software. It takes a lot of playing around and using different tools to see what they can do.
I am going to show you a simple way to edit photos. This is not very in depth to start you off, so don’t get too scared.
Here is the original photo.
The first thing I always do when I open up my photos is to sharpen. If you are shooting with a DSLR you will need to sharpen your photos. Another great source of information about using photoshop is Ken Rockwell’s site. He gives some great tips on sharpening. I use the ’smart sharpen’ tool in PS as I find it is quite subtle but does the job.
Smart sharpened
After I sharpen, I will use the levels and curves tools to adjust my shot. As I said, playing around with these tools to find the look you want is how I suggest you do it. I cannot give you a stock standard set of values and co-ordinates because each photograph is different.
Altered with Levels and Curves
Quite often I find that the saturation levels in digital photographs are much higher than I like them to be, so I will play with the Saturation of individual colour channels. I quite often will bring down the yellows and reds or pump them up, depending on the look I’m going for. The kind of film I like (e.g. Kodak Portra 160NC and 400NC) has low saturated colours and therefore this is the look I go for in digital shots. Muted tones and colours are key but need to be subtle. You don’t want to drown your pictures of all colour, because colour is what makes them beautiful! I also play with the Colour Balance. I may move the slider towards the blue and away from the yellow to get a more film like tone to my pictures.
Slight changes made with Saturation
The colour balance changes are very subtle
One little trick I do like to use is Fill Layer. This can give your photo an overall colour wash, so to speak.
Image-> New Fill Layer-> Solid Colour->Mode->Soft Light->Opacity ->40-60% (depending on what look you want)->pick a colour!
With a pink fill colour
With a yellow fill colour
Now, your other options are to use fabulous actions by some very clever people. I adore the actions of people like Leah, Wynona and Cindy and Lauren (the fabulous Seth has some on their site too). Check out the Cinnamon Rose action group on flickr.
Here are some samples of what happens when I run their actions over the top.
Leah’s Honey action
Cindy and Lauren’s Tourmaline action
Cindy and Lauren’s Daydream action
Usually I don’t use the action exactly as it is, I may change the opacity or saturation on it. I may also go back after I’ve run the action and play with the levels or curves again. Actions make it very easy for you to get an instant look you are after and they can all be bought for reasonable prices. I have just purchased Cindy and Lauren’s latest *Ish actions and I love them.
Remember that film is very different to digital and the one thing I think that sets film apart from digital is the texture and I’m talking about the texture within the photo. Film simply still looks different to digital. It’s a bit more raw and honest. I still prefer the look of film, which is why I often try to emulate it in my digital photographs.
Adding ‘texture’ with “grain” and “vignetting” in PS also helps.
Obviously this post could go on forever, but these are just a few examples of things I do to get that soft, dreamy look in my photos. I hope it has been of some use to you. Please give some of these ideas a go and if you do, I would love to see the results. Please comment with a link to your photos! I would love to share some of them here in a later post.
p.s. Vicki, I haven’t forgotten you! Vicky asked how I get the blurred background in my pictures. That I could write a whole other post on, and I think I will, but for now, simply it’s all about lenses and depth of field. If you have a compact cam, set your camera on ‘macro’-the flower setting and then point your camera up close at something like a flower. Focus on the flower and your background should become blurred. However, I will write another post in more detail on that later.
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25 Responses to “How I Create Dreamy, Film Like Digital Photos Part 2”
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[...] Part 2: Onto the post processing! [...]
Great post, Amanda! I can’t wait to try your tips. I’ve heard of actions, but I have no idea how to actually use them.
Thanks Karen!
Ooh, I probably should have explained that hehe
Once you have the action file downloaded, you find all your photoshop files on your hard drive. Click through until you find the presets folder and within that folder should be an actions folder. Put the actions folder in there.
Then in PS, you should see an Actions tab on the right over near the layers palette.
Click the little arrow which then allows you to load the action. It should then just sit in the palette. You click on the action and then hit play and it will run itself.
It would be much easier to explain with diagrams!
http://www.pbase.com/wvphoto/image/55948520
This is great information, Amanda! Thanks for the links and book suggestions, too. Also, your tip about blurred photos was helpful, too. ;) I need to print this page off now!
oh gosh, this is so incredibly helpful! i bought a nikon d40 last year and have been wondering how to take better photos and to edit them. i literally just learned how to use actions last night in a photoshop class. this post made me so excited! i can’t wait to play around with the images in photoshop. thanks so much for writing this.
I agree, these are so helpful. I took a Photoshop course, which was brilliant and totally invaluable but I didn’t get any of this. I’ve just been looking for a book too so this is helpful. The only problem is, my photography is so bad to begin with – and Photoshop can’t rescue that….Thanks so much for sharing.
how generous of you to share this, must’ve taken lots of time to put together :) beautiful.
I just found your blog and I’ve been reading through it for the past hour or so (even the old posts!) I love it! Keep inspiring us! :)
Yay. Yay. Yay. Thank you for sharing. And in turn I promise to share once I have taken some photos are your suggested time frame and then edited them as you suggest also.
Will let you know when I’ve given it a whirl. x
Do you shoot in raw or jpeg? Your pictures are beautiful. Thanks for the tips!
I’m so glad, Lauren.
Lynne, it just takes practice. Just shoot as much as you can, you can only get better. :)
Thanks Sandra. :)
Riz, haha it hasn’t been around THAT long, well this version anyway. My old one has 5 years worth of posts.
Chantelle, I can’t wait to see them!
Lisa, I shoot in JPEG for this sort of stuff but when I’ve done weddings and if I do portrait shoots, I will shoot raw. I need to shoot raw more.
yesterday i went into my garden to experiment with your technique. you are so right about the lighting. playing with the channels makes all the difference! i really like my photos to look yellowy, so here’s what i produced with your help:
http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs161.snc1/6011_535215686484_17303733_31867199_1757223_n.jpg
http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs161.snc1/6011_535215701454_17303733_31867202_7127761_n.jpg
http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs161.snc1/6011_535215691474_17303733_31867200_6066628_n.jpg
http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs161.snc1/6011_535215706444_17303733_31867203_7840937_n.jpg
http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs161.snc1/6011_535215696464_17303733_31867201_7309068_n.jpg
Wow just came across your blog and it is fantastic!
It is so lovely to see someone willing to give tips and advice!
I was wondering if you knew how to make a bokeh with a digital camera?
A bit like the following?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lauriesachs/3153262159/
It would be great if you could help!
I am really into photography but I know I dont have the knowledge or the skills yet to take it as far as I would like.
Thanks!
Beth x
Just found your blog and love it, this post is especially helpful thankyou for sharing it in such a clear way, its inspiring
best wishes Kat x
I love to read about how other’s process their images! Thanks for sharing your tips and techniques – your photos are gorgeous!
[...] Le second sur la post-production, aussi appelée Photoshoppage, ici. [...]
[...] how to take prettier photos part 1 on mocking bird. and part 2. [...]
i enjoyed reading this article, thanks for you tips! your photos are so nice as well as your blog!
Hi :) I love your photography. I love that “dreamy, film-like” look in digital photographs. ;) I just happened onto your blog via For the Love of Light dot com, the photographers page. Thanks for sharing your tips & hints to making beautiful, dreamy photos.
your pictures are just beautiful. i’ve always wondered how to create film-like dreamy photos using digital so thanks so much for putting together such a great article! can’t wait to take out my 400D and giving it a go!
Wow, thanks for all of this, I’m going to try the Fill Layer tips!
I know this is drastically late but just saw you over at the mausumi advent calendar. My dad was an amateur photographer so he taught me growing up how to take images on film. Now I’m stuck with my digi cam and completely lost! This is so helpful!
I’m glad I ran into your blog, and this post in particular! I’ve been trying to get the ‘filmy’ feel to my photos for a while now…… Here’s a link to my first attempt following your general guidelines. Thank you so much!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rohitnair/4243919586/
[...] — 14 roses to be exact, one for each year. It was totally unexpected. I’m trying out this tutorial to get softer colours. But I think it need a few more tries in order to be more [...]
Hey Amanda
thanks for your post. I’ve been wading through a heap of scanning and have been waiting for a chance to try your tips. I think it went okay but I might take the advice to be a bit more subtle next time!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agrippinamaior/4422419970/