I’ve been obsessed with making a digital photo look like film for the longest time. Trying to replicate the “Film Look” has been something of a secondary photography goal for me during my four year career. Really, what I mean by this is replicating vintage film by observing the traits and characteristics of stocks like Portra 400, Kodak Gold 200, and Ektar 100. But every time I think I got it just right, I look at the photos later and say to myself, “I’m still not quite there yet.”
The sheer truth is that I’ll never be able to replicate film on digital perfectly. I use vintage film lenses. I shoot on film to understand the look. I research other photos people have taken on film. I might be able to fool some people about the true medium I took a photo, but I’ll never get it right each and every time. There’s also a plethora of different stocks to choose from, so is there really even a real “Film Look” people can identify with?
But the main problem is that film is analog after all, and I’m trying to force a digital format to be a copy of it. By nature, that’s impossible, but it sure hasn’t stopped me from trying.
So why do I want my photos to look like film?
So if I shoot on digital, why would I ever want to make my photos look like film anyways? Shouldn’t I just embrace a “digital look” for a digital photo? What’s the point? They are two different formats anyways, and maybe they deserve to be separate.
But there’s something about a film photo. Film is the golden standard. It’s how photography started. Every photographer I have read about and have seen in museums and galleries shot on film. It just brings you to a different era. It has its own vibe, heartbeat, and soul. There’s something special baked into film photos. How the colors are rendered, how highlights roll off, the film grain. I want this in my digital photos. I want the feeling that it gives people — a feeling of vintage-ness, a feeling of timelessness. There is something about film that doesn’t get old the way digital does. I want people to see my digital work but still have the emotions associated with viewing film.
And despite replicating film being a difficult and very nuanced process, I want what I can’t have. I now see it as something of a challenge. And believe me; I won’t stop until I get there no matter who criticizes me for it
I also want this “film look” to be a staple in my style. So regardless of the format I choose to shoot in, film or digital, I want all my photos to still have the same feel. So in this regard, I’m forced to replicate the feeling of my film photos onto my digital ones so that I have consistency. I won’t make every digital photo a perfect replication of a film stock, but if I could get just the feel of film in one way or another, I’ll take it for the bulk of my work. But let’s put this point aside and see why a lot of growing photographers and influencers still want the look.
Because I’m a weird case. I’m a person who shoots both formats and then uses the photos I take on film to better the process of replicating them on digital. Most people want to just skip the whole “using an actual film camera as a reference point.” They just straight-up want to shoot on nothing but digital and still get a “Film Look.”
So here’s the elephant in the room: if I or other people want the film look, why not shoot on film?
Well, as I mentioned, I already do that. Enter my Canon AE-1. But even though I can actually get the film look with film, I still want it replicated in digital. And a lot of people who don’t shoot on film still feel the same way.
Let’s get real here. If you shoot on film, you probably understand how much more difficult shooting on this format is than digital. We live in a time where taking photos is more convenient than ever. My dad shot on film as a teenager in the 80s (he was probably even using a Canon AE-1 or A-1 himself). He has an iPhone now. He has no intention of shooting on film ever again because he has everything he needs to take a photo in the palms of his hands. This is because shooting film is inconvenient for most people like my dad.
Then there’s buying film rolls, which are pretty expensive. A roll of 36 exposures of Portra 400 is like $10. $10 for 36 exposures that I can’t even view right after I take them (Yeah, yeah, there are cheaper film stocks). But then you have to get the roll processed into negatives, and those negatives need to be scanned into actual photos you can use. This costs both time and money. After buying a digital camera and an SD card, shooting thousands and thousands of photos has nearly zero variable costs like film does.
But why do we shoot on film anyways? Because we love the process. Art is a process. That’s like the entire mantra of my articles. But most people don’t really get that. They like convenience. I mean, we’re probably not going to cook our food over an outdoor fire, but some people will do that because of the artistic nature of the process. And despite my father not shooting photos on film, he still uses VHS tapes. To him, it’s about the process. And it’s no different than my desire to shoot and develop my film.
But if there’s a way for people to get the film look without the hassle of actually shooting on film, then there are people who are going to do just that. Film is not exactly the most accessible way to shoot photography. It’s become more of a novelty and a niche since the onset of digital. And I shoot everything I do professionally on digital. It’s the easiest, quickest, and most reliable way to go about it. I shoot thousands of photos every month. I simply don’t have the time or money to shoot them all on film. Not to mention how much harder it is either.
And so I settle for still trying to replicate the “Film Look” on digital. Nothing will ever beat actually shooting on film, but a man can certainly still dream. And for people who aren’t like me who just solely want the look without having to shoot on film, there’s value in this idea, even if they are skipping such a rewarding process. Film is a coveted style. People want their photos to have this type of vibe in them but would much rather get this end product in an easier fashion, hence the replication on digital. So, the replication of film makes a lot of sense for a lot of people in this regard, and that’s why there is a ton of utility in getting the “Film Look” like this.
My photos on film:
