Presets and Camera profiles for film emulation

You can emulate the color response of film stocks of any film stock with a gradient, a LUT, Davinci Resolve, and a lot of patience and free time.

In the video industry, there are already many techniques for bringing the characteristics of famous film stocks into digital workflows. But as photographers, we’re still catching up in that department. To bridge this gap, I’ve adapted the color response curves found in DaVinci Resolve’s film emulation LUTs to Lightroom. Using Color Response Curves you can bring those same classic tones and color nuances into your photography editing environment while maintaining the possibility to edit your images however you see fit.

Color Response Curves are graphical representations of how each of the red, green, and blue layers in a film emulsion responds to different wavelengths of light. Luckily, a neutral gray pixel has exactly those three components, so we can reverse engineer film emulation LUTs and get the same classic color response as film stocks.

VIDEO EXPLANATION OF THIS TECHNIQUE

Read a more detailed article about color response curves: https://vmoldo.com/film-colors/

Color response curves map out how the different color layers of film react to light, giving each film stock its unique look. I painstakingly recreated these curves from complex film emulations inside Davinci Resolved and baked them into easy-to-use Lightroom Camera profiles so you can use them, to give your photos the film vibes without taking over your Lightroom sliders, so you can fine-tune your images the way you like them.

It's basically like picking a film stock after you have already taken the photo and you also have the power to influence the rest of the film properties afterwards.

They're not magic, but man, they sure make film emulation feel like a breeze.

Episode Two Contains Color Response Curves for:

Ektar 25, Ektar100, and ProImage 100 are 3 famous film stocks that have a very natural look while Ektrachrome is the odd-ball here having a more pronounced color cast.

002 Kodak Ektar 25

Ektar 25 is loved for its natural, true-to-life colors and ultra-fine detail, making it perfect for controlled lighting and highly detailed photos.

002 Kodak Ektar 100

Ektar 100 stands out with its bright, vibrant colors and forgiving nature, making it versatile and ideal for a wide range of lighting conditions and photography styles.

002 Kodak ProImage 100

Kodak ProImage 100 is appreciated for its warm tones, soft contrast, and versatility, making it perfect for portraits and everyday photography. With it, you can lean into a more creative image by limiting the dynamic range and significantly lifting the black point so you get those nice soft shadows for a more creative look.

002 Ektachrome

Ektachrome film is cherished for its rich, vibrant colors and excellent contrast, making it ideal for stunning slides and detailed prints in various lighting conditions.

What is included?

You’ll receive three folders:

• The first contains camera profiles with the color response curves baked into them on top of the Adobe Neutral color profile. This will provide a starting point for your edits with the characteristics of the film stock imbued in it but will allow you to use all the Lightroom settings you might want to create your final look
• The second folder holds presets that provide a quick way to apply those profiles in Lightroom. If you prefer browsing through the profiles directly in Lightroom’s menus, you only need to install the camera profiles folder. However, for faster previewing, I’ve also created presets to make accessing them easier.
• The third folder contains the actual curves designed for the tone curve panel. I recommend using these with either the Camera Neutral or Adobe Standard profiles for optimal results. Mixing them with Adobe Color might result in oversaturated images with way too much contrast. The main difference between using camera profiles versus curves is TIMING. If you use the Camera Profiles the color response curve is applied first in the editing process. And if you go for the curves they will be applied after basic adjustments of the RAW file.

READ ME

For optimal results, I recommend applying the camera profiles as early as possible in your editing process, right after you set a proper white balance for your images you can do whatever you want with them.

They are not a 1 click preset!

Please note that these are custom response curves saved as camera profiles, not a one-click preset. They are great building blocks that will help you create nostalgic film emulations with amazing colors, but you will still have to make basic adjustments to your RAW files to bring the best out of your photos.

Purchase of these Lightroom presets and Camera profiles grants the buyer a personal, non-transferable, and non-exclusive license to use the presets. This license strictly prohibits resale, redistribution, or sharing of the presets in their original or any modified form, whether for commercial or non-commercial purposes.

INSTALLATION:

Copy the .xmp files to the specific folder:

Windows: C:Users\[your username]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\CameraRaw\Settings

macOS: User Library>Application Support>Adobe>CameraRaw> Settings

You can make as many subfolders and organize the files however you see fit as Lightroom won't care and it will load everything in them

WARNING: Your Lightroom Version has to be somewhat recent. This won't work with versions of Lightroom that do not have a curve panel inside their maks.

To learn how to add any presets to Lightroom you can follow these steps:

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-cc/kb/faq-install-presets-profiles.html