Thursday, February 9, 2017

Really Nostalgic Images?

I'm not sure if others share the same sentiment, but I feel that Instagram filters are getting old. At least  for me... Processing the picture you make your adjustments, and optionally, apply a filter. And that's where lies my disinterest - mainly due to the unfamiliarity.


These filters, while impressive in their own right, just aren't what I can relate to. The name sounds familiar maybe, but the colors just don't look familiar at all. It's not that they're bad or anything, I just have a difficult time relating to them at all. Many of them are nothing like the 3R or 4R nor 5R pictures I remembered seeing growing up.

A photo posted by Rowe Lee (@lostwanderingdrifter) on


I suppose all that changed when I got an iPhone. No, this isn't about the iPhone's camera qualities - It's good, but so are a number of other Android phones. For properly taking pictures I prefer my mirrorless camera and process with DarkTable because I'm too cheap to pay for the expensive Adobe Lightroom (Joao Almeida Photography has a plethora of film emulation presets for Darktable and it's awesome but that's another story.)

A photo posted by Rowe Lee (@lostwanderingdrifter) on


And then there's my mobile phone. I use my mobile phone for quick snapshots, among other things and for that I use an app to process my pictures. I don't use it for pictures heavily due to battery life concerns. I want my phone to at least last a day, also it still sounds weird to me to say that I take PICTURES with my PHONE. Instagram filters can only go so far, so I've sought out some alternative and found it. For some time now, I've been hooked to this application called RNI Films by Really Nice Images (Yes, that's their name). How do I know I'm hooked? I went as far as buying it. Film packs and all. Unfortunately they only have this on iOS. Sorry, curious Android/Windows users.



Some may argue- why not use VSCO? Though I acknowledge that VSCO is a powerful application- I know people who make amazing works using it, I am absolutely and utterly lost finding my way around it. Give me a  camera with manual controls, I can figure out my way around in using it after an hour of fiddling with it. VSCO though, I end up clueless. Navigating it is a nightmare for me and I don't know what to adjust and what it's for.

A photo posted by Rowe Lee (@lostwanderingdrifter) on


And I think this is what RNI Films addresses. The simplistic interface makes it a joy to use, and the look and feel I want is easily attained. The drama is in the image and in the captions - not in the use of the application. Easily organized filters let me experiment with little or no fuss be it in color or monochrome. Some names sound familiar and it satisfies my curiosity to see how the image may have looked processed in that certain film.


A photo posted by Rowe Lee (@lostwanderingdrifter) on


What's more desirable is the fact that I can easily identify and relate to a lot of the film emulations (well, filters actually). Growing up I had an automatic Nikon film compact. It was automatic, and it let me take a lot of pictures easily. I was taking pictures before I even learned what an aperture was. I took so many pictures that during parties and excursions I always carried at least a couple of rolls of film. Sometimes the 72 shots total wasn't enough.

A photo posted by Rowe Lee (@lostwanderingdrifter) on


A photo posted by Rowe Lee (@lostwanderingdrifter) on


And that's how I can related to them today. I bought and shot so many rolls that I learned how to load them on the camera before I had the grasp of the concepts. It was all about the images made. I more or less have an idea what a Kodak Gold or Fujifilm Superia or Fujifilm Velvia output would look like that I can relate to compared to what Early Bird or Nashville or Dogpatch can hope to hint me, let alone the cryptic VSCO filter combinations.

A photo posted by Rowe Lee (@lostwanderingdrifter) on


Since I got to digital photography I suppose I kind of missed that. Fortunately there are lots of apps that can help with the nostalgia. And RNI Films would be among my favorites. Not that it's the best or anything, I just find it best suited for me. What's your favorite image processing tool?

Also, I encourage everyone to follow me on Instagram where these images were taken from. More images and other tidbits can be found there.

Until then, don't let the fear of getting lost deter you from going out to wander! :)

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