The Fuji X Weekly App has a Category feature for App Patrons that allows you to Filter Recipes by different genres, styles, or situations. For example, you can Filter By Travel. Or Cloudy. Or Landscapes or Street. There are 17 different Categories, and you can choose however many you’d like. For example, if you’d like a retro Americana aesthetic that’s good for midday light, you can find that. For this article, I chose Dramatic and Street, because I was interested in a Recipe for dramatic-looking images in an urban setting.
What makes a street photo dramatic is often not the Recipe, but the light and whatever is going on inside the frame. You don’t need a dramatic Recipe for a dramatic photo. I was after something that was inherently going to bring some hoopla, though, so I chose Dramatic as the first Category, and Street as the second (because I was heading into the city). I was presented with a number of options, including the seven below. I chose three—BewareMyVelvia, Xpro ’62, and FRGMT B&W—and programmed them into my camera. Unfortunately, it ended up raining pretty hard, and my photography opportunity got cut short by some other circumstances, so I didn’t come away with much. But I did want to illustrate another situation in which the Category feature was helpful.
If you are looking for some Recipes for street photography that’s going to accentuate or create drama, the seven below are good options. Not all of these Recipes are ones you’d use for every subject or situation, but in the right circumstance you can get excellent results. Five of the ones below are color, and the last two are black-and-white.
Created by Tom Baumgaertel, a.k.a. bewaremyfuji, the BewareMyVelvia Recipe is specifically intended for multiple-exposure photography; however, it can be used for single-exposure pictures, too. It produces a cross-process look similar to Velvia 50 film developed in C41 chemistry. This is likely the ultimate dramatic street photography Recipe. It’s compatible with fourth and fifth generation X-series cameras, as well as newer GFX models.
Xpro ’62 is another Recipe that produces a cross-process look, although with a notably divergent aesthetic. This is compatible with fourth-generations cameras (X-Pro3, X100V, X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, and X-T30 II); for fifth-generations models (X-H2s, X-H2, X-T5, X-S20, X100VI, X-T50, X-M5, X-E5, and X-T30 III), simply reduce Color Chrome FX Blue to Weak (instead of Strong).
The Expired ECN-2 100T Recipe mimics the look of a motion picture stock that’s intended for use in artificial light that has long since expired, and was spooled for still photography and developed in C41 chemistry. The results are certainly unusual. This Recipe is for newer fourth (X-E4, X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, and X-T30 II) and fifth-generation X-series cameras, as well as newer GFX models.
Mimicking the aesthetic of the highest ISO color slide film of the ’60’s and ’70’s, the GAF 500 Recipe requires using an ultra-high ISO: 12800! You’re either going to love or hate how grainy this one is. GAF 500 is compatible with fourth-generation X-series cameras; for fifth-generation, simply reduce Color Chrome FX Blue to Weak (instead of Strong).
A facsimile of slide film that’s been mishandled in some way, the Expired Slide Recipe produces a lomography-esque aesthetic that you might appreciate in the right situations. It’s compatible with fourth and fifth-generation X-series cameras, as well as newer GFX models.
Fujifilm’s first official Recipe, FRGMT B&W—created by fashion designer, producer, and artist Hiroshi Fujiwara—was included in a limited edition of the GFX100RF. I asked for and received permission to publish it on Fuji X Weekly. This is a contrasty black-and-white Recipe that produces dramatic results. It’s compatible with fourth and fifth-generation X-series cameras, as well as newer GFX models.
Last but certainly not least, Kodak T-Max P3200 was a collaborative effort between Anders Lindborg and the late John Sevigny. This is one of the best black-and-white Recipes, producing dramatic and grainy images. It’s compatible with fourth and fifth-generation X-series cameras, as well as newer GFX models. If you’ve never tried this one, you should do so today!
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