Flat Earth, Cinematic Matte Low Contrast

Low contrast cinematic film recipe with Eterna film simulation

Flat Earth

I’ve been experimenting with low contrast (or matte) film recipe styles recently. I love the cinematic mood that you can achieve with a flattened tone curve, and overall soft aesthetic.

My first published recipe with this approach was Flatpack, a Classic Chrome look with a matte nostalgic vibe. For this recipe, I’ve worked instead from Eterna as a base simulation for a soft tone profile. For added atmosphere, I’ve used a colour balance that evokes a characterful cine vibe, but also works really well for natural and outdoor scenes.

I’ve tested it in a variety of conditions, and although it is lovely in sunshine, I also really love the look in murky conditions, like mist, cloud and drizzle. It’s a real all weather recipe. I didn’t plan it that way, but it’s a happy accident that I’m very pleased about.

Flat Earth really doubles down on the cinematic vibe, and has a wonderfully calm and mellow tone. There’s also a bit of extra mood from a single stop of underexposure. If you enjoy this look even a little bit as much as I do, then you’ll soon be a champ on your socials with this flat tone style.

Flat Earth Film Recipe Settings

Film Simulation	Eterna/Cinema
Grain Effect	Weak, Large
Colour Chrome Effect	Weak
Colour Chrome Blue	Off
White Balance	6200K, ‑2 Red, ‑2 Blue
Dynamic Range	DR200
Highlights	‑1
Shadows	‑1
Colour	‑4
Sharpness	‑1
ISO Noise Reduction	‑4
Clarity	0
EV Compensation	-1/3

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June 9, 2023

Hiking Buddy, for Full Colour Photo Walks

Astia film simulation recipe with bold colours and punchy contrast

Hiking Buddy

A lot of my film recipes are based around a muted tones look, or nostalgic colour shifts. Hiking Buddy film recipe is something altogether different. It’s full of bold colour and punchy contrast.

The base for the recipe is Astia, a film simulation with playful colour, especially the reds and blues. That’s true of this recipe too, where any blues or reds will jump out of your photos. That’s not to say that other colours are muted, because in this recipe, all colours are full of life.

I’ve tested this recipe on a number of photo walks in the forest and by the sea. It seems very happy in bright conditions, but also cloudy and overcast ones. I tried it early and late in the day as well, and thanks to the Astia simulation, it brought blue hour to life with a boost to the natural blue colour.

Hiking Buddy Film Recipe Settings

Film Simulation	Astia/Soft
Grain Effect	Weak, Small
Colour Chrome Effect	Strong
Colour Chrome Blue	Weak
White Balance	5500K, ‑2 Red, 0 Blue
Dynamic Range	DR400
Highlights	‑0.5
Shadows	‑1.5
Colour	+1
Sharpness	0
ISO Noise Reduction	‑4
Clarity	+2
EV Compensation	+1/3

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April 27, 2023

Titanium, Muted with a Metallic Tone

Eterna Bleach Bypass film recipe with minimised saturation for a metal tone look

Titanium

One of the great things about the Eterna Bleach Bypass fim simulation is the muted low saturation tone. This adds a drama to images, and with adjustments to the colour balance, can be tuned to give a wide variety of moods.

In this recipe, the mood is a cool blue one, with a metallic tone that is almost grey in some situations, and a faded blue in others. The effect is an extreme one, changing the original scene dramatically, but it’s a powerful effect and makes for a really interesting image style.

I find it works best with bright light, or with light on the subject. It tames even the most extreme full sunlight, and has a metallic tone that removes almost all warm tones for that titanium look.

Titanium Film Recipe Settings

Film Simulation	Eterna Bleach Bypass
Grain Effect	Weak, Small
Colour Chrome Effect	Off
Colour Chrome Blue	Weak
White Balance	Shade, ‑3 Red, +3 Blue
Dynamic Range	DR400
Highlights	‑0.5
Shadows	‑1.5
Colour	‑4
Sharpness	+1
ISO Noise Reduction	‑4
Clarity	0
EV Compensation	-1/3

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April 13, 2023

Forest Ranger, Woodland Green Recipe

Film simulation recipe using Pro Neg Standard for forest and woodland vibes

Forest Ranger

I love walking in forests and woodlands and take a lot of my photos in amongst the trees. I wanted to make a recipe that brought out the greens of the forest in a mellow and nostalgic look. I also wanted to recognise that it’s not always sunny, and when it’s a bit wet or gloomy, the forest is a great place to walk.

The base for this recipe is Pro Neg Standard, a simulation that Fujifilm suggest we use for portrait photography. That may well be a good use, but I have been drawn to the limestone grey green tone of neutrals and wanted to build on this for a forest look.

The resulting tone is soft and muted with a retro nostalgic feel, and there is a green character that runs throughout. It loves the woods in all seasons and all weathers, working well with pale creams, browns and oranges as well as its main feature, green tones.

I have a page of suggestions for film recipes for forests and woodlands, but this is the first that I have made specifically with this in mind.

Forest Ranger Film Recipe Settings

Film Simulation	PRO Neg. Std
Grain Effect	Off
Colour Chrome Effect	Weak
Colour Chrome Blue	Weak
White Balance	Daylight, +2 Red, ‑7 Blue
Dynamic Range	DR100
Highlights	‑1
Shadows	‑1
Colour	‑4
Sharpness	+1
ISO Noise Reduction	‑4
Clarity	0
EV Compensation	0

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Community Photos

Photos taken with the Forest Ranger film recipe by members of the Film Recipes community.

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Forest Ranger film recipe photo by Justin Gould

Forest Ranger by Tracy Kuenzer

Forest Ranger film recipe photo by Tracy Kuenzer

April 2, 2023

Ultra Color 200, Max Color Negative Film

Classic Negative film simulation recipe with boosted colour saturation

Ultra Color 200

Here’s a Fujifilm simulation recipe that I made for cloudy and dull days, with punchy colour and deep blacks. It works in all sorts of conditions, but with a Classic Negative base and +4 colour, it’s especially great on gloomy days where the punchy colour and dark shadows deliver powerful pictures from the unremarkable light.

Whilst this film recipe brings some vivid colours to life, it’s not an unnatural look, such as you could get from Velvia with a similar setting. Instead, this look preserves the nostalgic character of Classic Negative, and provides a style that is still very definitely Fujifilm.

I’ve also increased shadow depth in this recipe, meaning that images made with Ultra Color 200 have more impact that standard Classic Negative. This is balanced out with a stop or two of over-exposure so the resulting image isn’t too dark. I find it is a great choice for natural subjects like leaves and textures that you might discover on a dull day.

I tried it on a few evening city shots too, and the results were impactful and rich, reminding me a lot of photo prints from max style 35mm films. A few golden hour tests brought out vivid colours, especially in plants, such as the golden ferns further down in the image samples below.

Ultra Color 200 Film Recipe Settings

Film Simulation	Classic Negative
Grain Effect	Weak, Small
Colour Chrome Effect	Weak
Colour Chrome Blue	Off
White Balance	Underwater, ‑2 Red, ‑2 Blue
Dynamic Range	DR200
Highlights	‑2
Shadows	+2
Colour	+4
Sharpness	0
ISO Noise Reduction	‑4
Clarity	0
EV Compensation	+2/3

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Photos taken with the Ultra Color 200 film recipe by members of the Film Recipes community.

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Ultra Color 200 film recipe photo by Sabrina Magnusson

March 11, 2023

Flatpack, Matte 35mm Film Recipe

Fujifilm simulation film recipe for a flat tone matte look like Kodak 35mm prints

Flatpack

This film recipe began life as an attempt to match a look I had seen with 35mm film photos taken on Kodak film. I had really liked the low contrast matte look, and wanted to be able to shoot with something similar on my Fujifilm camera.

Whilst this recipe does capture the flat look and colour tones I had seen, it was very specific to a single set of samples I had seen. So, rather than name it after the Kodak film stock, I decided to tweak it some more and embrace the flat matte look.

What we have then, is a general Kodak film-like look, reminiscent of some 35mm photography, with a muted tone and soft, matte like feel.

The base simulation is Classic Chrome, with a color chrome effect and small shift from the shade/cloudy colour balance. Shadows and highlights are both compressed to the -2 setting.

Like all the film recipes on this site, it was designed for recent X-Trans IV cameras, but with the exception of color chrome blue, this recipe is widely compatible with easy adaptation for older cameras too.

Flatpack Film Recipe Settings

Film Simulation	Classic Chrome
Grain Effect	Weak, Small
Colour Chrome Effect	Weak
Colour Chrome Blue	Weak
White Balance	Shade, ‑2 Red, ‑2 Blue
Dynamic Range	DR200
Highlights	‑2
Shadows	‑2
Colour	‑2
Sharpness	‑2
ISO Noise Reduction	‑4
Clarity	0
EV Compensation	+2/3

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Flatpack film recipe photo by David Forsdike

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Flatpack film recipe photo by Tony Saunders

March 5, 2023

Silver Slate, Mineral Tone Bleach Bypass

Muted tones film recipe using the Eterna Bleach Bypass simulation

Silver Slate

The winter weather in the UK has been inspiring me to wrap up warm and shoot some images in the cold and frosty conditions. This weather has a naturally muted tone with pale colours and lots of white. Working with the conditions has helped me to develop a number of Winter film recipes, including this one, which has a mineral silvery tone that reminds me of Welsh slate.

The base simulation is Eterna Bleach Bypass, available on the newer Fujifilm cameras only. It’s a strong favourite of mine and I really enjoy the striking low saturation styles that it can be nudged into making.

Silver Slate Film Recipe Settings

Film Simulation	Eterna Bleach Bypass
Grain Effect	Weak, Small
Colour Chrome Effect	Off
Colour Chrome Blue	Weak
White Balance	Fluorescent 3, 0 Red, ‑4 Blue
Dynamic Range	DR400
Highlights	‑2
Shadows	‑2
Colour	‑3
Sharpness	+1
ISO Noise Reduction	‑4
Clarity	0
EV Compensation	-1/3

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February 9, 2023

Cineplus, a Punchy Classic Chrome Style

Cinematic classic chrome film recipe with rich color and contrast

Cineplus

Sometimes, when developing film recipes, the inspiration comes in the form of a single image. This was one of those occasions, when this fifties style image was posted in the Facebook group as an interesting look.

I kept returning to it, trying to find a recipe that came close to this interesting retro style.

The look sits somewhere between Classic Chrome and Classic Negative, and having explored both, I settled on Classic Chrome as the base simulation. To this, I added rich colour and tested various colour balances, until I settled on the below combination.

I didn’t have any 50’s interiors to work with, so I tried it with a by usual range of natural and landscape scenes. Whether it matches the source image, I don’t know, but I love how it has come out.

Cineplus Film Recipe Settings

Film Simulation	Classic Chrome
Grain Effect	Off
Colour Chrome Effect	Strong
Colour Chrome Blue	Weak
White Balance	5800K, +1 Red, +2 Blue
Dynamic Range	DR400
Highlights	‑1
Shadows	+1
Colour	+4
Sharpness	‑2
ISO Noise Reduction	‑4
Clarity	0
EV Compensation	+2/3

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Cineplus film recipe photo by Lethanh Nguyen

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Cineplus film recipe photo by Darren Urda

Photos by TheCameraEatsFirst

Cineplus film recipe photo by TheCameraEatsFirst

Photos by Kay Zer

February 2, 2023

Mellow Magic, the Relaxed Natural Recipe

Eterna based film recipe with a relaxed and mellow natural look

Mellow Magic

I love the Eterna film simulation for the cinematic feel, but even more, I love the tone, with a mellow warmth that adds a relaxed and calming character to images.

For this film recipe, I wanted to capture this character, but escape from the low contrast of the unedited sim, and to add a little extra vibrancy to make the recipe more flexible in a wide range of situations.

I do think I’ve achieved this, and Mellow Magic can bring a relaxed but natural looking image for all sorts of subjects. For me, I’ve really found it happy for nature and landscape shots, and especially in woodlands and forests.

The one limitation that may pop up, is that Mellow Magic is set at a fixed color temperature, so indoor shots and night city shots may have an unusual cast.

Mellow Magic Film Recipe Settings

Film Simulation	Eterna/Cinema
Grain Effect	Weak, Large
Colour Chrome Effect	Off
Colour Chrome Blue	Weak
White Balance	7000K, ‑2 Red, +5 Blue
Dynamic Range	DR400
Highlights	‑1
Shadows	+3
Colour	+3
Sharpness	0
ISO Noise Reduction	‑4
Clarity	0
EV Compensation	0

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Photos taken with the Mellow Magic film recipe by members of the Film Recipes community.

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Mellow Magic film recipe photo by Tom Pollard

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Mellow Magic film recipe photo by Justin Gould

December 26, 2022

Vinterskog, Deep Tones Forest Recipe

Bleach bypass film recipe inspired by the Swedish forest photos of Catrine Sandberg

Vinterskog

I really love misty moody photography, and would probably be happy if there was fog almost every morning. I love how scenery fades away and colours are obscured by the pale mist.

A photographer who make the most of these conditions is Catrine Sandberg whose magically moody images from Swedish forests I follow on Instagram.

She shoots and edits in a variety of atmospheric styles, but her blue-green toned deep images are my favourites.

This is just one example, and it is the look that I have sought to recreate with the Vinterskog film recipe.

To achieve this look, I have used Eterna Bleach Bypass, which is a truly amazing base simulation with lots of flexibility to create styles that just can’t be achieved with Classic Chrome or Negative. So, unfortunately, this recipe will be limited to those of you with the newer generations of cameras.

But … and this is a good ‘but’ … if you have an older camera, without Bleach Bypass, I have also made Vinterkrom, where I have tried to recreate this look using Classic Chrome.

Vinterskog Film Recipe Settings

Film Simulation	Eterna Bleach Bypass
Grain Effect	Weak, Small
Colour Chrome Effect	Strong
Colour Chrome Blue	Weak
White Balance	4400K, 0 Red, ‑4 Blue
Dynamic Range	DR400
Highlights	‑2
Shadows	+2
Colour	+4
Sharpness	0
ISO Noise Reduction	‑4
Clarity	‑4
EV Compensation	+1/3