10 Film Simulation Recipes For Fall

Road Through the Autumn Trees – Bountiful, UT – Fujifilm X100F – Velvia

Autumn officially arrived yesterday. I didn’t notice because I moved to the Phoenix metropolitan area, and in this part of Arizona it is still summer, as far as the weather and trees are concerned. Besides, this area isn’t known for its fall colors, anyway. But I used to live in Utah, and loved watching the autumn colors descend on the Wasatch, beginning at the mountain peaks in late-summer and working their way to the valley by October. I will miss that this year, for sure.

A common question I’m asked around the Autumn Equinox is which Film Simulation Recipes are best for photographing fall colors. There are many that could work well, much more than merely 10. I think, generally speaking, any recipe that uses Velvia or Astia could be solid options. Classic Chrome and Classic Negative recipes can be good, too. I don’t believe any film simulation is inherently “bad” for fall colors, but obviously some are better than others. I think oftentimes the recipes that are more vibrant will do better, so perhaps look for those. Download the Fuji X Weekly App (if you haven’t already), browse through the sample pictures, and see which recipe stands out he most to you. Or, if you’re brave, use the new Random Recipe selector to choose one for you!

If you are not sure which Film Simulation Recipe to use on your Fujifilm camera and are looking for some ideas, I have suggested 10 below, which I believe will do well for photographing fall colors. Best of luck this autumn season!

Montana Autumn + Fujifilm X100V

Autumn Aspen – Big Arm, MT – Fujifilm X100V

Back in October I took a quick vacation to Montana. I’ve shared some of those pictures on this website, but many of them I haven’t, because I’ve been busy with other things. Today marks Winter Solstice, which means fall is officially over, yet I’ve finally just now found the time to post some of my autumn pictures from that Montana trip!

All of these pictures were captured with my Fujifilm X100V. The film simulation recipes that I used were Kodak Portra 400 v2 (currently only available on the Fuji X Weekly App for iOS), an experiment (which I had actually forgotten about until I was reviewing these pictures) where I used Classic Negative instead of Classic Chrome with the Kodak Portra 400 v2 recipe (I might have also adjusted the WB Shift a little, I don’t remember), and The Rockwell for a few pictures (I think I might have made an adjustment or two to that recipe on this trip, but, again, I don’t really remember). Most of these pictures were captured with that Classic Negative experiment, and I realize that I need to revisit it, because the results are pretty good!

The Fujifilm X100V is such a great camera to carry around on vacation. It’s small enough that it’s not in the way, yet it’s capable of capturing amazing pictures. It rained while I was there, and the camera survived getting a little wet. The X100V is my favorite travel camera hands down, and I enjoy it immensely. It’s not the right tool for every situation, but it’s the camera that I use most often, especially when on vacation.

Yellow Spots – Big Arm, MT – Fujifilm X100V
Wet Red Leaves – Big Arm, MT – Fujifilm X100V
Turning Red – Big Arm, MT – Fujifilm X100V
Red – Big Fork, MT – Fujifilm X100V
Yellow in the Forest – Big Fork, MT – Fujifilm X100V
Changing to Yellow – Big Fork, MT – Fujifilm X100V
Early Autumn Forest – Big Fork, MT – Fujifilm X100V
Golden Forest – Big Fork, MT – Fujifilm X100V
Light Log – Big Fork, MT – Fujifilm X100V
Sunlight Through The Forest Trees – Big Arm, MT – Fujifilm X100V
One Lane Bridge – Big Fork, MT – Fujifilm X100V
One Car – Big Fork, MT – Fujifilm X100V
Red on Pine – Big Fork, MT – Fujifilm X100V
443 Osborn – Big Fork, MT – Fujifilm X100V
Whitefish Lake – Whitefish, MT – Fujifilm X100V

Photoessay: Autumn 2019

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Mountain Autumn – Big Mountain Pass, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 90mm

Fall might be my favorite season, but it’s always too short. Summer often overstays its welcome. Winter usually comes too quickly. Autumn gets squeezed in the middle. You have to be quick, because it’s fleeting. It comes and goes so quickly! If you don’t take time to see and experience it, you’ll flat out miss it, and you’ll have to wait another year for fall to return.

Autumn is the season of change. The weather changes. The colors of the leaves change. The food we eat and coffee we drink change (if you want them to). There’s beauty in change, and uncertainty. It ends cold and gloomy as winter budges in, but before it does autumn puts on a spectacular show. Autumn can be breathtakingly beautiful!

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Apple Harvest – Logan, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 90mm

The photographs in this post were captured during the 2019 fall season. Many of them I’ve yet to share on the Fuji X Weekly blog, but you’ve probably seen a few of them in other articles. Some of the pictures are from early autumn when the weather was still warm and the leaves only beginning to change colors. Others are from late fall when the temperatures dipped cold and the scene turned drab. Still others were captured during the height of vibrant colors, which unfortunately didn’t last very long, yet long enough for me to get a few exposures made.

I used a Fujifilm X-T30, which is a great all-around camera, for all of these pictures. A number of different lenses were attached to it, depending on the image. I used a Fujinon 35mm, a Fujinon 90mm, a Fujinon 50-230mm, a Rokinon 12mm, an Industar 69, and an Asahi Super-Takumar 135mm. There’s a number of different film simulation recipes that I used, including Velvia, Kodacolor, Eterna, “Classic Negative” and possibly another one, I’m not certain. I hope that you enjoy!

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Leaves of Autumn – Riverdale, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 35mm f/2

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Bent Trunk – Bountiful, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 35mm f/2

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Icy Leaf – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Industar 69

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Changing Nature – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 35mm f/2

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Tree Star – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Rokinon 12mm

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Autumn Sun At Ogden Station – Ogden, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Rokinon 12mm

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Drab Autumn Drive – Bountiful, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 35mm f/2

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Flowing Creek – Bountiful, Utah – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 35mm f/2

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Flowing Fall – Bountiful, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Asahi Super-Takumar 135mm

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Gradations of Color – Big Mountain Pass, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 90mm

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Change Begins – Big Mountain Pass, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 90mm

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Winter Kissed Autumn – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 50-230mm

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Mountainside Autumn – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 50-230mm

See also:
5 Tips For Fall Foliage Photography
Zion In Autumn