VSCO Film

VSCO Film is a set of digital emulsions which mimic some of the great camera films of our era. I recently acquired their Lightroom 3 set of presets (after a heated inner debate) and have adopted them to my workflow.

What you get for your money?

Since I purchased the standard version I got two presets folders one titled Standard and another Toolkit (which rocks but more on this later). Here’s the gist of it. Select a preset from the avaliable film types and then continue to work the image with their Toolkit.

 
VSCO Standard Folder

• Fuji 160
• Fuji 400H
• Fuji 800Z
• Ilford HP5
• Kodak Portra 160
• Kodak Portra 400
• Kodak Portra 800
• Kodak T-MAX 3200
• Kodak Tri-X 400

Now all the aforementioned presets have 3 types as well.

• Normal
• Plus
• Minus

For example, let’s choose Ilford HP5 to demonstrate how they’ll look in Lightroom 3.

• Ilford HP5
• Ilford HP5 +
• Ilford HP5 -

VSCO film doesn’t affect the WB of your image and also doesn’t add Clarity either but they do add their own Sharpening to each presets. With that said, these aforementioned options are in the mix in how I process my images. 1st I check for WB, then I select a preset from the Standard Kit. 2nd, I’ve been usually auto leveling the blacks immediately aftter to get a good feel. I then hop over to the Toolkit and go down the list selected some and add a little bit of this and little bit of that along the way, until I arrive at a final edit.

These set of presets, like any other presets, are not sinlge click solutions to that generate amazing results magically but they do provide a very solid foundation upon which to further continue to tweak your images(hence the Toolkit). Keep in mind, that you’re free to tweak any slider you want. You’re by no means trap VSCO, you slide to the left or right at will.

Gaping Question

Is it worth it? Well, that’s a subjective question. To me it was. I absolutely love the color renditions of some of my favorite old school films most which by now have been discontinued anyway, so its nice to know one can have that look on your digital frames. Will I delete my other tweaked presets?

Absolutely not, those other presets are part of my body of work and have carved, sort off what might be called “my own look” but I’m certainly open to live with VSCO and my own sets and develop a nice balance. To be honest, they’ve done a wonderful job of creating a look that would be quite difficult to do on your own, unless, you’re a hardcore Lightroom engineer and have a profound knowledge of film types.

In the end, VSCO film presets are just another tool to let our creatives minds explore our photographic vision. Like Siskel & Ebert would have have said “Two thumbs up for VSCO Film.” If you’re an Aperture user, Patrick La Roque has a nice write up you can read as well.

Improvements. This list is by no means exhaustive, but it’s what you’d notice and appreciate as a serious photographer:
- AF speed is a LOT faster
- The top plate dials are much stiffer, and now don’t rotate accidentally
- Greatly improved LCD; supposedly still the same number of dots, but side by side with the old X1, it seems a lot clearer and more fluid.
- EVF shoe, and matching tiltable EVF which has great resolution.
- Battery life is significantly better
- Burst mode is faster.

This particular part was rather interesting. When I first saw the “new” Leica EVF I immediately said, “hmm, the Olympus VF-2 rebranded, how about that,” and then I saw this part.

I did an experiment with the EVF out of curiosity – the plug looked like any one of the existing EVF plugs. Expecting it to fit my D-Lux 5 Titanium, I was surprised when it didn’t; but it did fit my Olympus OM-D and Pen Mini. Even more interestingly, it worked! Draw whatever conclusion you wish; it’s a very nice EVF all the same, and my preferred way of working with the camera. Oh, and it tilts, too, and locks securely in the down position (something not all tiltable EVFs seem to manage.)

So perhaps the Olympus VF2 can be used on the X2, it certainly seems plausible, not to mention, way cheaper as the Olympus VF-2 are currently oscillating around $150 in the used market in flea bay and other notable m43 forums.

Tiny Hands

Wouter decided to finish his PAD project this week after 70 continous weeks of photographing daily. Yes, that’s right daily. That’s quite a record I must say. I ask myself sometimes, I’ll even reach that far, I don’t know, at least that’s not the goal, the goal is 52 weeks and complete the year, something that seems to far far away still.

Nevertheless, I continue to photograph in my own PAD project and I’m still going strong. I wish Wouter the best in his forth coming projects and I’m sure I’ll be there when he hits publish.

I mentioned a few weeks ago I had left my Canon 30D in its bag because I didn’t feel like lugging it around. Instead, I took my compact, the LX3, my little side kick and off I went. Those who follow this blog and also know me from Flickr know that I love small format cameras.

You can categorize small format cameras in various types [this is strictly my view of things plus I have tiny hands].

1. Small Compacts ie. GRD & LX3
2. Small M43 cameras ie. GF1, G2
3. Small Dslrs’ ie. Nikon D3100, Pentax K-X

So where does the Canon 30D and this size dslr fit into my rhythm. Tough question but I’ll try to elucidate as much as I can. Keep in mind that I share these views strictly in a cathartic way in hopes of learning more about my photography.

Ever since I owned the Panasonic GF1/G2 I knew that form factor was special. Its hard for me to put it in words but its a feeling one gets when one shoots with such cameras.

By this I don’t mean to preach these are the greatest but for me, they certainly felt special. But like all things in life and photography doesn’t escape from this reality, there are compromises to be made. As I photographed I wanted better IQ and the possibility to shoot in low light situations as much as possible.

After much research, I finally settled with the only camera that had similar physical dimensions like the Panasonic G2 and that is the Nikon D3100 ( recently replaced by the 24mp D32000, 10mp too much for me ). Not only is the D3100 tiny, its file are really something else. So with that said say hello to my little friend.

 
 
All images taken by Jorge Ledesma on a Nikon D3100/18-55mm VR

Sketches of Life

Nature has a natural order of things. In order to survive our ecology follows a path that its been doing for centuries. Within that order we have prey, predators, and adapters. I’d like to focus on the last one – adapters.

I consider myself an adapter. I started this craft way back in 1994 with good ole film, had a huge break, and rekindled my love affair in 2010. When I resurfaced into the digital world I tried a number of cameras in order to fine tune what I liked and disliked. During that process I discovered a number of things. Things that surprised me, but in the end, they became my nature – Small Format Cameras.

I deviated from that path several times only to come running back to it in a hurry. Actually several times, as I tried to go against my nature to no avail. Silly me, as deep down I already knew where I was and where I wanted to go but got dissuaded along the path. Nevertheless, I continue to evolve and continue to nurture this craft.

This week seemed, at least for me, like I was in a zone where all my shots where keepers. I don’t know if that happens to you all but once in a while it happens to me and this week was it. I hopped in and out of various social scenes like a chameleon, dancing in between sketches of life I wanted to capture with the lens.

Once again, I must say the LX3 handled itself beautifully. The more I shoot with this little digicam the more I appreciate its Leica lens which is fast throughout its entire focal length. Yes, I’m aware it’s not the latest and greatest but within it genre, its tough to beat I would say even in today’s world.

I also wanted to especially thank Ryan from last week’s comments who shared a wonderful link to Phil Dougliss’ work. In a few words, oh my gosh, what a photographer, what a vision, and what an executor. I highly recommend you peruse his digital cyberbook. I’ve been reveling in it all week reading and learning.

Two Brothers

You see my brother is a dslr shooter [Nikon D90 + and heavy expensive glass] and it seems like the only thing he covets is IQ. I mean we’ve had this conversation countless times and I’m always on the other side because I value more imagery and the creative process. He on the other hand prefers perfectly sharp images blown up 400% to see if they are really sharp, yes, he’s a zealot pixel peeper to the nth degree, almost to the point its incredibly tedious to speak to him about photography. I say tedious because he’s always shooting down my imagery and not qualifying it as real photography because sometimes its not as sharp as he may want. Actually he’s even gone on the record as to say he’s never seen a sharp image by me, a totally ridiculous claim I tell him, but such is life and conversations between brothers. Does it bother me, well, I wouldn’t be writing about it if it didn’t but it kind off does, so I’m venting with you all[lol].

I always counter argue that his photography looks lacks vision and its more like an APS-C point & shooter coupled with his SB-600 + 17-55mm f/2.8 and I tell him even a monkey can press that shutter and get something decent with world class glass and great gear in broad daylight. He claims to be a very technical shooter because he knows all the little buttons on his D90, a task I’ve never really aimed for. I’m more like an aperture priority guy and to me the vision, imagery, and composition are more important.

Well enough of that, we agree to disagree, and we’ll go on an on the same topic.

Going back to your Roots

It’s not that one type of processing is better than another [b&w vs color] but for me it goes by moods. This week was particularly hard to complete as getting inspired was very difficult. I feel like I still have a lot to learn in my image creating process. Doubts are always looming on my mind and I ask myself questions like “Should I share this image? Should I process this image?” and so forth. In the end, I just go with what feels right and how my week developed.

Emptiness

Beginning with a new camera is always a bit of a daunting task. There are the new menus, new buttons, new options, new custom settings and all in all, its like starting a new relationship with a person and can sometimes begin a little rough. But like anything else in life, things get better. I go with what I know and build from there. So far, I’m loving this new transition, but as I mentioned to my friend, the little Black & White bug is already biting me and begging to look that way. So don’t be surprised next week installments is back to high contrast, street, abstract, and whatever.

What are friends for ─ Canon 30D

“Jorge, try my 30D, it’s literally almost brand new and it looks minty its been in its box since 2007, you’ll like it. I bought it, barely used it, and I decided to go full frame with the 5D, so all in all, I think I used it maybe 4 times and it has less than 2k frames, try it out and see how it feels.”

Great, a new older camera. I didn’t’ really know what to expect. As you know, viewing gear on the web is a completely different experience when you see things personally [where was I going to see a Canon 30D lol?] but I must confess I was rather excited as this begins a new chapter in my photographic journey.

It’s Here, 1st Impressions

Keep in my mind my background was with a Nikon D80 which I shot maybe 10 times and various Micro Four Thirds bodies, including the GF1, G2, EPL–2, and some others. The Canon 30D is no light weight kid, its got a rugged body which has some heft to it and certainly doesn’t feel cheap by any means – this IS a camera, yes indeed. My loaned 30D is literally in mint condition, as I opened the box I could not help remember some scenes from the movie “Back to the Future.” Gosh it looks nice, so is this what a Canon XXD body looks like. I told myself, “I could see myself shooting with this for a while.”

So a few days had passed and I didn’t have a CF card nor an AF lens, instead I had a triad of Olympus OM lenses [28mm 3.5, 50mm 1.8, 35–70mm 3.5–4.5] and I decided I would go the manual route first. I soon realized that the adapter I had purchased on Ebay which supposedly had autofocus confirmation was a dud and it didn’t have the metal contacts to speak to the camera. So I tried my luck as best I could, but the my efforts fell short of the expected quality that I require for my frames (they were soft).

Nifty Fifty

So I hop on various Canon sites and read about the 50mm 1.8 II and read about how sharp it is despite its shortcoming in build quality and I decided to buy this lens so I can properly put the 30D through its paces. In one word, wow, this puppy is quite sharp indeed, my gosh and at this price what’s not to like.

It actually reminds me of the often forgotten Olympus 17mm f/2.8 which was the ugly duckling of the Micro Four Thirds which would get passed on for the better Panasonic 20mm f/1.7. True the 20mm is great lens but I think I have quite a lot of images that prove the Oly 17mm is no joke either. With that specific mindset I’m approaching this 50mm. Sure, it didn’t have USM and the better build quality of the 50mm f/1.4 but who cares I just want to shoot.

Manual Focus is difficult with the 50mm 1.8 II

All the reviews I read make a mention about how difficult is this lens to manual focus. Says who, sure its not the best nor the quietest lens , but I’m here to tell you its ok and the results are quite fantastic if you ask me. Its not even remotely as comfortable as the Olympus 50mm 1.8 but its not suppose to be. So here, here, to the new adventures with this combo which my friend said “Jorge, keep it, enjoy it, I’m sure you’ll put it to good use.” Yes, indeed I sure will.