VSCO (Visual Supply Company) has been a huge buzzword on Twitter over that last few months or so. I first heard about this company from seeing a tweet from Nate of Image is Found. I was so intrigued about these "film" presets that I decided to take advantage of their "sale" price last month and clicked buy.
I really didn't know what to expect. I don't shoot in film and my editing style is more clean than the grainy look of film. But I had heard so many great things about the presets that I thought I'd take a chance and try them out.
After playing for a few weeks now, I can tell you that these are some powerful presets! Customized for Canon and Nikon shooters they work with your file specifically to create the best looking image! Wow. They are highly stylized however, so if the film look is not for your, neither are these presets.
As a former film shooter, the idea of being able to create the look of film with a digital image is really exciting. I can get the look of Kodak, Fuji, Ilford, all with a digital file and all with the power of Lightroom. With one click I can transform my image and still have the ability to fine tune the photo and make adjustments where needed. The presets are consistent and reliable and make editing a true breeze! Of course keeping in mind that your exposures are correct. These presets are made to create a look and feel, they are not for correcting exposures.
Within the presets there are also adjustment presets to further customize. Darken skies, add a fade, decrease/increase saturation, add grain and more. You can take the preset and really make an image that is truly your own. It's been really fun playing and creating something outside of my normal editing!
Hands down I think that these presets are definitely worth their price tag and are quite the steal. Definitely check VSCO out if you are looking for that film look without the work of using film! And while this is isn't my typical editing style, I am looking forward to having these for personal projects. And maybe an image or two in my editing;) Super powerful, customizable and consistent, these are the best Lightroom presets I have ever purchased. With simply one click I can create an image that I am proud to show my clients, family or friends. Anything that can help make editing faster, easier and more efficient makes me happy:)
I used Mike and Monica's engagement session to demonstrate the different looks you can create with VSCO. If you'd like to see what their engagement session looked like without the presets, take a look here. The below images are SOOC and the presets have been directly applied to the RAW image. I've indicated my adjustments and tweaks below as well as what preset I used on each image:)
Kodak Porta 160 (my favorite out of the color film presets)
Darken Skies +
Kodak Porta 160
Darken Skies +
Fill Light
Local adjustment brush
Saturation - 100% (you do not need to desaturate your images before using the presets)
Tri-X 400
Contrast +
Fuji 800z -
Fuji 160C
Vignette +
Ilford HP5
Fuji 160C
Fuji 800z +
Local adjustment brush
Kodak Porta 160C
Fuji 800z+
Cropping
Kodak T-Max 3200
Cropping
Blacks +3
Fuji 160C
Fill Light
Kodak Tri-X 400 +
Vignette +
Cropping
If you've been on the fence about whether or not these presets are for you, I hope I've given you a glimpse at what you can do with them and how the various film looks effect your images. If you have any further questions, please feel free to leave a comment below or email me at deborahzparker@mac.com. I'd love to hear your thoughts!