Retro photo feeling?

[Dan Cattermole]

I love it when you look through old family photos, when all of us were children, of course it was film.... but it has that 'feel' to it, a genuine back in the day photograph.
For me when I was younger, the photos with myself had the retro vibe... For many others on here.... it may be vintage.. No names mentioned

I've played around with this photo that my wife had took about 18 months ago with me and my eldest daughter Grace (how much ahs she changed?!?!) and, although it was taken on the Oly (digi) I PP'd this to try and give it same 'retroness' so when Grace looks at it in many years to come, she can hopefully see the photo in the way I see them.

I hope this makes a bit of sense to some. lol

Thanks for Looking

 

[Kev Pugh]

Looks Good Dan, the piccie not the bloke with the hair Seriously though there is a great feel for the 70's I think and I think you are almost there with this, oh and the Avies do help in on too

 

[Dan Cattermole]

Ha! Cheers dude, I'm hoping she'd get that same inspiration for photos when she views this later in life.
Do you think it needs anything else tweeking?

 

[Brian Moore]

Dan that's a bonnie fotie! That must be the wee lassie whose fotie you posted the other day. As to the retro look of the old film foties I understand what you mean. It seems a lot of people hold those old images in a nostalgic area of their minds.

Let's all go back to film full time, that's what I say!

 

[Dan Cattermole]

Certainly is the wee lassie Brian, not so so much anymore these days, as soon as they learn to back chat, they've grown!!!
Thats a good way of putting it, digital has changed so much, and it doesn't have that 'straight out of the camera' look/feel to it.

I'm all up for film Bri, gonna slowly create a film making kit and I'll be away!

 

[Kev Pugh]

Some thing like this for me, a bit of instamatic squareness and a abit more desat see what you think

 

[Brian Moore]

I like the instamatic look. (Looks like some scanner dust just under yer lower lip there, Dan. There's software to fix that! )

 

[Brian Moore]

I have a couple of Kodak Instamatics. I should get an old cartridge and wind some 35mm film into it and shoot with one of them. (I think I read that 35mm can be used in 126 cartridges.)

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Man - I feel like I'm traaaaavellllling baaaaaaaak innnnnnnnnn tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimmmmmmeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.............

Amazing how the look effects the emotional connection with the photo

Found the same with the 8mm cine I shot this year - even though the setting is 2011, your brain takes you back to your childhood, and the emotional connection is so much stronger than clean digital images.

 

[Brian Moore]

Maybe that's how to put it,...digital is too clean?

 

[Brodie Jackson]

This photo is the cutest!!
I'm liking the retro effect.

 

[Thomas brookes]

Love it dan!!! Is that a light room preset? Share it? Is that perdi park? I lost my V wings there back in the day!! Haha

 

[Dan Cattermole]

Thanks guys

I think your right there chris, and Brian .... It is an emotional connection in the nostalgic area of your mind.
I believe in this photo in many moons to come will have that effect on my daughter when she's older..... Especially the edit from Kev, really liking the desat, and the square crop!! Is that all you did Kev? Very nice!!

Digital is just too clean brian, ageed, and perfect, although saying that, we may look at digital in moons to come and assess that as retro/old school due to the rapid expansion of advanced technology that available to societies fingertips these days.

Could the original digital have that connection? I don't know... I think film would always win hands down!
Digital is still relatively new bieng available in the early 90's, (was it the Logitech? (uncommercially available to the public in 91? ((I may be corrected on that)))

 

[Dan Cattermole]

Love it dan!!! Is that a light room preset? Share it? Is that perdi park? I lost my V wings there back in the day!! Haha

I think I might desat it a bit more to match Kevs edit and set it as a preset. I adjusted the contrast, added some grain, give it a bit of gussian blur, and added a bit of warmth... Sorted!!!

It is perdi park Tom, that was taken in the summer of 2010... I think lol

I hope you didn't lose ya V wings on that swing Thomas?!!

 

[adrian jordin]

Speaking as something of a minority round here ....I just don't have any nostalgia for film at all.
I much prefer digital and all that I can do with it.

There's nothing in the 'feel' of an old image for me, I'd much rather capture the clarity of the content which for me is what matters. (I suspect this is for the same reason that Impressionist paintings don't do a lot for me..I prefer the Surrealists).

What I do sometimes miss is the simplicity of the cameras...if someone could just put a digital back on an OM1....

BTW I used to use 35mm transparnecy film when I first started in photography and I have dabbled in B&W, developing and printing my own pictures. Can't say I miss it though.

 

[Kev Pugh]

Dan the treatment is a PS plug in from onOne, 'phototools 2.5' Vintage filter.

onOne were offering free downloads of plugins for PS a while back. So that is what I used on your shot, bearing in mind that it was started from your edit so it would be slightly less if done from the original.......but that doesn't stop a little bit of foreplay with the image to get things going...

if anyone is interested free downloads for PS and Lightroom

Free Products - onOne Software

 

[Dan Cattermole]

Thanks Kev, I'll look into that.

Ade, it's most definately a case each to their own opinion. I've not had a great deal of experience in film, I just love the magic.
It interests me alot to educate myself more about how we all got these sensors and learning the roots..
My nan said to me about 12 years ago, I'll buy you a nice modern car when your on the road. I told her I wasn't interested in the mod cons etc, I wanted her 1983 VW scirocco! Lol. She had it from new, there was that emotional connection with it present.

Don't get me wrong, digital offers so much simplicity, flexibility, and alot of forgiveness, and that's what contributes and applies to other subjects in life to our modern society. However, film is becoming a great interest for myself.
I see you've been alot more involved in film than me by the sound of it. I'm suprised that it doesn't do alot for you. I wish I had that opportunity! Lol.
Maybe it's my character, possibly my style in photography, but, I like to 'work' for my acheivements (and not only in photog) I'll do that extra thing, walk that extra mile.... Literally. I suppose that character gives me the full apreciation for film

 

[adrian jordin]

I see you've been alot more involved in film than me by the sound of it. I'm suprised that it doesn't do alot for you.

Ah, but it used to....I used to wait with baited breath to pick up the latest set of slides, to see what had worked and what hadn't. I even took to mounting them myself. Great fun....but I still get that feeling downloading the latest digital shots and seeing them full size, then processing the raw image, cropping, dodging, burning, etc as I would have done in a darkroom to get the image I want, that I originally saw in my minds eye.

It's definitely worth doing film if you have the chance, it can teach a lot more control if you've only got 36 exposures rather 100 or more to get it right.

 

[Ralph Thornton]

Chris may think he's traveling back in time but I feel like I might be traveling to foreign country with a different language. Oh, yes the UK is not the US, eh?. How many terms are there for the youngin' ? I think each post in this thread has a new one (to me). I do like the instamatic look to the photo. I used one of those cameras for a few years in the way back and have a fond memory of the prints they produced.

But just think, the typical digital photo we see today will be retro some day too. I wonder what well be looking at then?

 

[Garry Lee]

I like that a lot. I've used Olympus (still have e-3). There's a trick I used to do to give the neutral colour the E-400 put out a Velvia look. I used to increase contrast, saturation and vibrancy 10%. This had a great look.