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For The Love of Fujifilm Acros Film Simulation

Posted on January 28, 2018 by Ritchie Roesch

Mount Nebo – Mona, UT – Fujifilm X100F

I really love the different film simulations available on my Fujifilm X100F. There is one that I like more than the others, and it’s Acros. The contrast, tonality and grain are simply beautiful, and Acros has a true film-like aesthetic.

I know, that’s been said so much that it’s almost cliche, and, besides, not everyone wants a film look. I appreciate the look of film and I like it much more than the digital aesthetic. I grew up on analog photography, I shot tons of 35mm and 120 film, and to me it’s how photography should look. Digital is far more convenient than film, so it can be hard to justify the hassle of film. The best of both worlds would be the convenience of digital with a film aesthetic.

I’ve been trying to get a film look from my digital files for awhile. I’ve used different software options, such as Alien Skin Exposure and Nik Silver Efex, which are both excellent, to achieve the look that I want. The Acros Film Simulation on my Fujifilm X100F is every bit as good (maybe better) as what I would get using either of those editing programs, and I get it straight out of the camera, no editing required.

One aspect of Acros that Fujifilm got especially right is the grain. Digital noise, which is the modern equivalent of film grain, doesn’t match the look of actual silver grain, and the aesthetic of it is far inferior (although X-Trans noise is better looking than most). Adding a layer of faux grain over top of an image can get you closer (and Alien Skin does a better job with this than anyone in my opinion), but it’s still not the same. The “grain” found in my Acros JPEGs more resembles actual film grain than anything else I’ve found in digital photography.

Apache Sky – Mountain Green, UT – Fujifilm X100F

If you were to scan actual film and compare it side-by-side to images captured with the Acros Film Simulation, you’d have a tough time identifying which is film and which is digital. Same thing if you printed from the film and from the digital file, and asked people to identify which is which. The Acros Film Simulation doesn’t look all that digital as it more closely resembles analog.

Images captured with Acros look beautiful. They look nice viewed from a distance and up close, on a computer screen or printed and hung on a wall. Even though the film simulation produces a JPEG file and not RAW, the results are what one would expect to achieve if they post-processed a RAW file. This isn’t typical camera-made JPEG stuff.

Great black-and-white results without hassle is what the Acros Film Simulation delivers. That’s the convenience of digital photography merged with the quality of film photography. I have two different settings, a “standard” Acros and a “push-process” Acros, that I frequently use, and they’re very good. The photographs in this article are examples of both that I’ve captured over the last several weeks.

I remember the “old days” of film photography. It was a slow process. Loading the film, using the entire roll before you could change it, rewinding it by hand, then all of the darkroom work–winding it onto a reel in complete darkness, baths in chemicals and water, drying, printing a contact sheet, then making prints. One print could take hours of work to get right. It wasn’t easy, but that’s the way it was, and the results made it worthwhile. Now, thanks to the X100F and Acros, I can achieve similar results with ease.

One Way Or Another – Surprise, AZ – Fujifilm X100F

Sanitary Sewer Surprise – Surprise, AZ – Fujifilm X100F

Palm Shadow – Las Vegas, NV – Fujifilm X100F

I-15 Overpass – Las Vegas, NV – Fujifilm X100F

Serious Coffee – Taylorsville, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Agave Drops – Surprise, AZ – Fujifilm X100F

Shelf Owls – Peoria, AZ – Fujifilm X100F

Hot Coffee – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Bird Bath – Surprise, AZ – Fujifilm X100F

Aunt & Niece – Surprise, AZ – Fujifilm X100F

Photoessay: B&W Cacti

Posted on January 14, 2018 by Ritchie Roesch

Barbs – Peoria, AZ – Fujifilm X100F

One thing that I did on my Christmas visit to Arizona was photograph cacti. You can find cactus all over the place there. The spiky shrubs are common in Arizona landscaping, and a short walk into the desert will reveal even more. There are over 60 varieties of cactus that grow there. I only photographed a few different types, including Organ Pipe, Saguaro, Barbary Fig, Cholla, and a couple others that I couldn’t identify.

The ten photographs in this article are all camera-made JPEGs; however, I used X RAW Studio to process the RAW files (if you aren’t sure what X RAW Studio is, be sure to click the link), fine-tuning my Across Push-Process Film Simulation recipe. For most of these I increased the shadows to +4, and for some of them I reduced highlights to +3. I adjusted the exposure by 1/3 stop (either plus or minus) for a few of the pictures, as well.

I love the film-look that the Fujifilm X100F produces. A few years back I captured some cactus pictures in Arizona using a Minolta XG-1 and Kodak T-Max 400 film. What I get from the X100F using Acros and what I got back from the lab using the film gear are surprisingly similar. You can achieve film-like results with any digital camera using software, such as Nik Silver Efex or Alien Skin Exposure (both of which I’ve used extensively in the past), but with Fujifilm you can get it straight from the camera if you want.

People have told me, “I don’t get your fascination with film. I don’t like the film-look.” Different strokes for different folks. I personally don’t like pictures that look digital. I compare it to listening to an MP3 file versus an analog record. The MP3 will be more cold and clean, while the analog sound will have more warmth and character. Digital music is way more convenient, and that’s why it is so common.

Digital photography is way more convenient than analog photography, but that doesn’t necessarily make it better. I appreciate the characteristics of film, and the ability to achieve that look while enjoying the conveniences of digital is something I’m thrilled about. One thing I especially like about Fujifilm is that they maintain their analog soul in the digital age.

Cactus Needles – Peoria, AZ – Fujifilm X100F

Cactus Shrub – Peoria, AZ – Fujifilm X100F

Arms Up – Peoria, AZ – Fujifilm X100F

Old & Weathered – Peoria, AZ – Fujifilm X100F

Layers – Peoria, AZ – Fujifilm X100F

Minimal Protection – Peoria, AZ – Fujifilm X100F

Drama – Peoria, AZ – Fujifilm X100F

Finger Spikes – Peoria, AZ – Fujifilm X100F

Still Surviving – Surprise, AZ – Fujifilm X100F

5 Acros The Autumn Sky

Posted on October 10, 2017 by Ritchie Roesch

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve captured a bunch of pictures with my Fujifilm X100F. Most of them have been color photographs. During the autumn months I tend to shoot more color than black-and-white, mainly because of the changing leaves.

Even though I’ve shot a lot of color, I still have captured many monochrome images. As I was looking through some of those pictures this morning, five stood out as a mini-set. They’re not really related to each other (well, two of them are), but they don’t seem out of place side-by-side either.

The commonality between these pictures (besides lack of color) is that they show the changing weather of the changing season. Note how the sky looks in each image. It’s the same autumn in every photograph, but the conditions are different. It’s not just the tree leaves that change in fall. This mini-set demonstrates that. The autumn sky takes on many different looks, even on the same day.

The photographs below were all captured using my Fujifilm X100F within a two-week period between late-September and early-October. They are all camera-made JPEGs using my Acros Film Simulation recipe.

Alpine Loop Monochrome – American Fork Canyon, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Wasatch September – American Fork Canyon, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Farm Windmill – Syracuse, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Monochrome Architecture – Lehi, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Snow Dusting The Mountain – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Fujifilm X100F & Monochrome Street Photography

Posted on October 8, 2017 by Ritchie Roesch

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A lot has been said about using the Fujifilm X100F for street photography. Some have even called it the perfect street photography tool. It does seem like a good camera for the genre.

I’m not necessarily a street photographer. I do dabble in it sometimes and enjoy it whenever the opportunity presents itself. I would never call myself a street photography expert.

For those that don’t know what street photography is, it can be typically defined as “candid photographs in public places” (most often urban locations). I say typically because there are always exceptions to the rule. Some street photographers pose their subjects. Some street pictures aren’t captured in public places. Some don’t even include people. Some are in suburban or rural locations. The line is grey. I stray outside the definition regularly.

I simply like capturing the quickly-gone moments. Things move fast and you’re trying to be completely inconspicuous. It’s very challenging. There is a little bit of a rush to it, since people don’t typically care for strangers taking their pictures. You have so little control over the elements. But it is also very rewarding, and some of my favorite pictures that I’ve captured are street images.

The Fujifilm X100F is a great street photography tool, but it isn’t perfect. I actually prefer ultra-wide-angle for my style, and the 35mm (equivalent) focal-length is nowhere near wide enough. I work around this, no big deal. It alters my approach significantly, but perhaps the good is that it pushes my comfort zone, which can only make me better. Sometimes the auto-focus misses, but this has become less of a problem the more that I’ve used the camera. I’ve tried zone-focus (which is a manual-focus strategy), but I haven’t done it enough to be good at it with this camera.

For my black-and-white street photographs I use my Acros Film Simulation recipe. I just love the way it looks and very rarely do I edit anything. The camera just makes fantastic-looking pictures! I don’t even shoot RAW anymore. I cannot tell you just how much time this has saved me, but it’s a lot!

The twenty pictures below are my favorite street photographs that I’ve captured with the Fujifilm X100F during the first two months of use. I hope you enjoy them!

Train Watching – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Man In The Straw Hat – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Coffee & Wifi – Orem, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Walking Man – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Skateboarding – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X100F

One Step At A Time – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Departures – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F

The Tortilla Maker – Layton, UT – Fujifilm X100F

McWaiting – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Library Stairs – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Smoke And A Coffee – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Never Too Old To Learn – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Ack! – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Bike & Rider Shadow – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Multitasking – Riverdale, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Creative Minds – Ogden, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Girl By The Escalator – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F

The Baggage We Carry – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F

City Creek Directory – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F

The Lonely Internet – Orem, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Fujifilm X100F @ Yellowstone National Park, Part 2 – Monochrome Photographs

Posted on September 26, 2017 by Ritchie Roesch

Dying Tree At Grand Canyon Rim – Yellowstone NP, WY – Fujifilm X100F

Part 1 – Color Photographs

I learned plenty from this one-day trip to Yellowstone National Park. One thing is that a heck-of-a-lot of people visit this place from all over the world. The park was down right crowded from the west entrance all the way to Old Faithful. Even the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone was packed with people.

Since summer break was well over and it was a Thursday, I figured we’d have the park almost to ourselves. I was way off! I talked briefly with some people while waiting for Old Faithful to erupt who have visited the park numerous times, and this was actually considered a small crowd for Yellowstone based on their experiences. I’d hate to come in the peak summer season!

You really get a sense that you’re on top of an active volcano while in Yellowstone. All of the geothermal activity is a big clue, but you can also tell that you are inside the caldera by observing the rim, which you can spot throughout the park. The place feels a bit unsettling, like it could blow at any moment. Hopefully the big eruption is many millennium away.

Old Faithful was alright, but the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone was breathtaking! It was our favorite sight in the National Park. A definite must-see! The Dragon’s Mouth was my favorite geothermal spot. I would have liked to see more of the geysers and such, but the weather didn’t cooperate.

This was my first real travel adventure with the Fujifilm X100F, and it didn’t disappoint. It fit nicely into my jacket pocket, so it was always with me yet never in the way. The dark-grey sky made high-ISO a necessity, and the camera had no issues with that. When I wanted to zoom (but didn’t want to walk out in the rain), I used the Digital Teleconverter. I used the fill-flash several times. Despite no weather sealing, the camera got plenty wet several different times and it handled that like a champ, no worse for the wear.

The photographs in this post are all out-of-camera JPEGS using Acros Film Simulation. I love the Acros settings, and I feel like I get film-like results with it. It saves me tons of time not having to post-process my files. My workflow has been greatly simplified and quickened by the Fujifilm X100F, yet I’m not compromising on results. Enjoy!

Hebgen Lake – West Yellowstone, MT – Fujifilm X100F

Mountain Obscured – West Yellowstone, MT – Fujifilm X100F

Meadow & Mt Haynes – Yellowstone NP, WY – Fujifilm X100F

Firehole Falls – Yellowstone NP, WY – Fujifilm X100F

Lodgepole Pines – Yellowstone NP, WY – Fujifilm X100F

Faithful Steam – Yellowstone NP, WY – Fujifilm X100F

Old Faithful Erupting – Yellowstone NP, WY – Fujifilm X100F

Old Faithful Geyser From Old Faithful Lodge – Yellowstone NP, WY – Fujifilm X100F

Faithful Crowd – Yellowstone NP, WY – Fujifilm X100F

Bear & Fish – Yellowstone NP, WY – Fujifilm X100F

Family At Kepler Cascades – Yellowstone NP, WY – Fujifilm X100F

Kepler Cascades Monochrome – Yellowstone NP, WY – Fujifilm X100F

Yellowstone Lake – Yellowstone NP, WY – Fujifilm X100F

Pines On The Lakeshore – Yellowstone NP, WY – Fujifilm X100F

Steamy – Yellowstone NP, WY – Fujifilm X100F

Hot & Muddy – Yellowstone NP, WY – Fujifilm X100F

Rising Steam – Yellowstone NP, WY – Fujifilm X100F

Mud Puddle – Yellowstone NP, WY – Fujifilm X100F

Mud Volcano – Yellowstone NP, WY – Fujifilm X100F

Dragon’s Mouth – Yellowstone NP, WY – Fujifilm X100F

Photographing Lower Falls With A Phone – Yellowstone NP, WY – Fujifilm X100F

Lower Yellowstone Falls Monochrome – Yellowstone NP, WY – Fujifilm X100F

Grand View of Grand Canyon – Yellowstone NP, WY – Fujifilm X100F

Yellowstone’s Grand Canyon – Yellowstone NP, WY – Fujifilm X100F

Roadside Raven – Yellowstone NP, WY – Fujifilm X100F

Thin Crust – Yellowstone NP, WY – Fujifilm X100F

Beryl Steam – Yellowstone NP, WY – Fujifilm X100F

Photoessay: Street Feet

Posted on September 12, 2017 by Ritchie Roesch

Stepping – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F

There are certain photo series that I’m actively working on, such as abandoned businesses in color (entitled Space Available), that are purposeful personal projects. Then there certain photo series that are more by happenstance, not created on purpose, where I notice a common thread among images. This series, Street Feet, falls into the latter category.

I had no intentions of this becoming a project. I didn’t try to make a series. It just sort of happened. I just subconsciously did it, and didn’t even notice that I had done so until reviewing my street photography images. I saw a pattern. I realized that I was creating these related pictures.

Street Feet is pretty straight forward: street-style black-and-white photographs of people’s feet. You can’t see the full body because I was photographing the lower extremities. Sometimes it’s a closeup of someone’s shoes, while other times the view is broader.

I used a Fujifilm X100F to capture these images. My Acros Film Simulation recipe was used for every picture, and the Digital Teleconverter was utilized for many. These are all out-of-camera JPEGs. Enjoy!

Walking Man – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Walking Away – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Together – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Skateboarding – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Going Somewhere – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F

One Step At A Time – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Siblings At City Creek Mall – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Outside The Elevator – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Walking Shoes – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F

My Fujifilm X100F Acros Film Simulation Recipe

Posted on August 27, 2017 by Ritchie Roesch

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Fujifilm offers “Film Simulations” on their cameras instead of traditional JPEG settings. One of the most popular, available only on X-Trans III cameras, such as the X100F, is Acros.

Neopan Acros is an ISO 100 film made by Fujifilm available in 35mm and 120 formats. I’ve used it before and it’s quite good. While Fuji recycled the Acros name for their black-and-white digital Film Simulation, it’s not an exact match to the film. But that’s OK.

The Acros Film Simulation is a wonderful option that has great contrast, beautiful tonality and lovely faux film grain. An interesting fact is that the amount of film grain applied increases as the ISO increases, like what you would find if you shot actual film. So an image shot at ISO 1600 has noticeably more grain than an image shot at ISO 200.

And it really does have a film look! You’d be hard pressed to tell apart an image shot on real black-and-white film and one shot using the Acros Film Simulation. Straight-out-of-camera JPEGs look like black-and-white prints made from 35mm film. Amazing!

Sitting Large – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F

There are four Acros options: Acros (no filter), Acros+R (red filter), Acros+Y (yellow filter) and Acros+G (green filter). Acros+R is more like using a real orange filter on actual film than a red filter. Acros+Y and Acros+G are a little more subtle than if you used real filters on actual film.

I use Acros+R for landscapes (which darkens blues and lightens reds), Acros+G for people pictures (which darkens reds and lightens greens) and standard Acros for everything else. If you know what each one does, you can choose what’s best for each situation. The rest of the settings are the same.

While I have my Acros recipe programmed (custom settings 3, 4 and 5), I’m not afraid to deviate when necessary. Sometimes a little more or less contrast is needed, so I increase or decrease the highlights and shadows. If I want more grain, I will turn the Film Grain to weak (which adds more faux grain to what’s already included in the Acros Film Simulation). I might add or decrease the Dynamic Range. Each situation is different, so I try to be dynamic when shooting.

Acros/Acros+R/Acros+G
Dynamic Range: DR200
Highlight: +2
Shadows: +2
Noise Reduction: -2
Sharpening: +2
Grain Effect: Off
ISO: Auto up to 12800
Exposure Compensation: +1 (typically)

Example photos, all camera-made JPEGs captured using my Acros Film Simulation recipe:

Ilford Harman Technology – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Train Watching – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Track 1 Platform – Ogden, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Black Conduit – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Safety Features – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Diversity – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Industrial Spur – North Salt Lake, Utah – Fujifilm X100F

KeyBank Building – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Salt Lake Cityscape – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Building Through The Tree Leaves – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Light Bulb Shadow – Ogden, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Building Storm Over Ridge – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Man In The Straw Hat – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Joy’s Joy – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Look What I Drew – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X100F

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