Remaining Relic in Disrepair – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
One of the most popular film simulation recipes that I’ve created is Kodacolor, which mimics the look of Kodacolor VR film, and ColorPlus 200 (the same film re-branded). A Fuji X Weekly reader recently asked me to create a recipe that resembles the aesthetic of photographer Stephen Shore. Stephen has been around for many, many years, and he’s still photographing today. Over the decades he’s used many different films, and perhaps even digital in recent years, but most notably he shot Kodacolor in 35mm, 4″ x 5″ medium-format, and especially 8″ x 10″ large format.
When I was looking at Stephen Shore’s pictures, there was something about it that seemed “off” when compared to my Kodacolor recipe. Close, but off. Some of that could be attributed to the use of different films, or how the film was shot, developed and/or printed. Then I read that the medium-format and especially the large-format versions of Kodacolor film were more vibrant, more saturated, then the 35mm version, and I realized why my recipe seemed off. It needed Color to be turned up in order to mimic Stephen Shore’s pictures.
This is not a new recipe. It is my Kodacolor recipe with one change: Color is to 0 instead of -2. That’s it! The results are only subtly different, but closer to Stephen Shore’s aesthetic. I think, alternatively, setting Grain to Weak could also be appropriate, but I left it at Strong. All of the pictures in this article were captured using this modified Kodacolor recipe on my Fujifilm X-T30. This recipe (as well as the original Kodacolor recipe) is compatible with all X-Trans III & IV cameras.
Classic Chrome
Dynamic Range: DR400
Highlight: -1
Shadow: +2
Color: 0
Sharpening: +2
Noise Reduction: -4
Grain: Strong
Color Chrome Effect: Off
White Balance: 6300K, -1 Red & -4 Blue
ISO: Auto up to ISO 6400
Exposure Compensation: +2/3 to + 1-1/3 (typically)
Francis Peak Afternoon – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
March Reeds – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Ready To Swing – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Potted Plant by a Window – Layton, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Pointing Towards the Sky – Layton, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
House Window – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Colorful Neighborhood – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Kiss The Crepes – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
5:20 – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Packed Parking Lot – Bountiful, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
See also: Kodacolor for X-Trans II
The good thing about ‘downgrading’ from my old Fuji camera (an X-Pro3) to an X-T3, is that since I no longer have Classic Neg as my default setting, it’s left me freer to experiment a bit more and try some other recipes. To my immense surprise, this slightly tweaked version of Kodacolor is rapidly becoming a favorite. More to the point, Ritchie, I think you have truly succeeded in crafting a recipe which recreates many of the unique tonal characteristics of quite a bit of Stephen Shore’s work.
The long hours of creative experimentation which I know you have put in over the last few years – are truly having a great and real ripple effect, when other photographers (me!) wind up using some of them… and falling in love with them.
Since the best way of saying Thank You is with deeds as well as words, I’ve just (finally!) taken out a year’s subscription to the Fuji-X Weekly IOS App – which I’m quickly discovering may also be worth its weight in metaphoric gold. So serious props for this very cool recipe – which continues to grow on me 🙂
I appreciate your kindness and support. I’ve received some great feedback on this tweak on the Kodacolor recipe. I’m so glad that you like it and find it helpful to your photography! 😀