Gina Nero

Firstly, I want to say that lately I feel pretty crummy sharing my photographs, musings or – anything – unrelated to the live-streamed genocide. Don’t stay silent my friends. If you’re waving that flag, sharing a bajillion videos, making art, protesting or donating, I think you are stupendous. Please continue.

And now:

It’s the textures! It’s the grain! It’s the dynamic range! How can we imitate the surreal look of an analog photograph through the lens of a digital camera? I have stumbled across one million articles and reddit posts with the same question. So I am making it one million and one. 

The problem here is when we try too hard, our results are often disappointing. In my opinion, this is the case with digital cameras and technology in general. Too much of a good thing is no longer a good thing. Too many bananas will put you in the hospital. Sorry, here’s a better example – I wear glasses to see clearly. But, my eyes don’t require this level of exhaustive detail to seeingly treasure the world around me. Sure, for focus precision and expelling tiny nose-dwelling blackheads, my glasses are essential, but otherwise, they are not. 

It’s important to note that we are not necessarily seeking the groovy look and light spillage of a film photograph, we are seeking it’s qualities. That’s where a negative triumphs – quality. Can we pinpoint the digital image’s flaws in comparison to the analog image’s strengths? Dynamic range and tones.

Having said all that, I am the happy owner of a Fuji XT5 with a 16-80mm zoom and my golly it brings me joy. Just as an iPhone does. Below, you can find a compact list of Gina’s tips for morphing quick-sticks digital photos into less technically faultless, silkier images that will dilate your pupils in arousal. Enjoy.

1. USE A FILTER. Specifically the Tiffen Black Pro-Mist 1/4 or if you’re brave, 1/2. Buy one and breathe easy. Personally, I am more inclined to screw on the infamous Star Filter – it creates an innocent glow and cushions the irrepairable overexposed nothingness – which remains a major blunder in digital imagery. With the benefit of Fuji’s insanely fun film simulations and a physical filter to calm those highlights, you will achieve an image that is an edge closer to the caliber of an analog photograph.

2. Put in the work. When fine-tuning a film photograph, one or two days can pass by – I know, it sounds certifiably bonkers and I admit it is a problem. With the progress of digital cameras, we expect the editing process to be as rapid as taking the shot and hurtling it onto the computer. But the key for a well-edited photograph from any camera is to proceed in a leisurely fashion. Step away from the computer, observe the image under different lighting conditions and against different white-grey-black toned backgrounds.  The obsession to make photography easy is undermining it’s value and the process. Sequentially we are losing the art behind the photograph. There is one exception – if your images are for underpaid employment, by all means sharpen that shit and call it a day.

3. Take a better photograph with layers and depth. Due to the cost of film, we tend to investigate and prepare ourselves to shoot at the exact post-sexy-sunset time of day that lasts approximately ten minutes. Due to the ease of digital cameras, we’re taking a bajillion frames a milisecond – at noon – expecting twenty of them to be worthy of a magazine cover. None of them are.

4. Applications such as VSCO [for mobile] and DxO Nik Collection [for Photoshop] make for handy tools. I sound like a grubby ad. Can we revive torrents again? Hackers have become indifferent to our needs. 

5. Get over it. Distinct tools perform in distinct ways. If you have the means, shoot film and swallow your paycheck. Alternatively, find a sugar-friend with deep pockets to finance your dreams. My baby-boomer Makers are retiring from their investment position. Please reach out if you are a suitable candidate or buy a print to support my perfectly reasonable film supply needs.