The Best Fujifilm Film Simulation Recipes for People of Color

Spread the love

Fujifilm cameras have largely become universally known for their “film simulation recipes,” presets that you can apply to their base color palettes to build an “authentic” film-like look to your JPEG files. While there might be something of a cult following for anything that’s labeled “Classic Chrome,” the truth is that if you are a photographer who photographs people of color (POC) you have likely experienced weird hues of skin tones. That’s why we searched for and tested three popular Film Recipes and tried our hand at creating our own.

History

There’s a long and complex relationship with the Photography Industry and People of Color – especially around how images turn out by default. This isn’t new to modern photography – we’ve previously talked about how analog film could render melanated skin tones incorrectly at best and unflatteringly at worst – and which ones are best for photographing people of color. In digital photography, this issue presents itself in the “color science” that your camera manufacturer chooses to implement. While many apologists will say, “you can always fix it in post,” that’s not necessarily accessible to every photographer. LUTs and in the case of Fujifilm cameras, Film Simulation Recipes, have helped to give photographers more control over the results that come straight out of the camera – it’s one of the biggest reasons why I stuck with Fujifilm cameras for as long as I did.

Reggie’s Portra by Reggie Ballesteros

The name Reggie Ballesteros is one of the most recognizable within the Fujifilm camera community. Ballesteros is a Pilipino photographer who’s built a prolific body of work all captured on his Fujifilm cameras. One of the reasons Ballesteros has amassed the following he has is for the attention he’s paid to creating presets and film recipes that are intended to work with POC and their various skin tones. Reggie’s Portra was created by tweaking Fuji X Weekly’s Kodak Portra 400 film simulation.

Below are some samples taken with the Fujifilm X-Pro 3:

Woman in white shirt and jeans stands outside near stairs, holding a railing, looking to her left.

A child in a white shirt covers their nose and mouth, looking at the camera in a restaurant.

Person in a white shirt rests their arm on a table next to a phone, face mostly out of frame.

Two people serve food from trays under a canopy at an outdoor event.

Smiling woman in tan beret serves food to people at an outdoor event under a canopy tent.

A group of people serve food from covered trays at an outdoor event.

Women serving food from trays at an outdoor event, with people waiting in line behind them.

Woman serving food from trays at an outdoor event, surrounded by people waiting in line with plates.

When researching film simulations for this article, Reggie’s Portra was by far the most recommended film simulation for photographing people of color by a mile. One of the reasons that it is so highly recommended is for the way it controls the orange hues while still being able to be applied while shooting with your camera’s Auto White Balance turned on. The resulting images are typically clean, bright, and with very little grain. I found that it works best in brighter, cooler (light temperature) conditions. One of the downsides of this film simulation recipe is the very thing that makes it so flexible – the colors can feel muted or flat. If you’re looking for more character in your final image, you may find yourself a bit underwhelmed.

Vibrant Arizona by Fuji X Weekly

If you’re looking for something with more warmth in your image, Vibrant Arizona by Fuji X Weekly is right up your alley. Vibrant Arizona makes every image you make feel like summer. The tones are all very warm and “sunny” while keeping things extremely low contrast. This could be especially useful for head shots or any other kind of portrait where the goal is to provide the softest, most flattering image.

Some samples taken using the Vibrant Arizona film simulation can be found here:

Smiling child wearing a Cinnamoroll t-shirt and gold necklaces, looking at the camera indoors.

Woman in white shirt and jeans stands outside by a staircase, holding the railing and looking to the side.

Gloved hands serving food from large trays at a buffet table with aluminum containers and utensils.

Bald man in a cream shirt and colorful tie stands against a textured light wall, looking thoughtful.

Man typing on a laptop in a café, with a Starbucks cup beside him and people in the background.

Child in a white shirt covers mouth and nose with shirt, looking at camera, hands on face, indoors.

Detective Pikachu figure and a cup sit on a shelf by a window with green trees visible outside.

A person in a white shirt sits at a table with a phone, resting their arm and hand on the surface.

Woman with curly hair smiling, resting chin on hand, wearing a white shirt against a plain background.

A man receives food from three women serving at a covered outdoor table with trays of food.

People serving themselves food from trays at an outdoor event, with a car trunk open in the background.

Two people serve food from trays at a table covered with a yellow cloth at an outdoor event.

In real world use, I found that this film simulation is best applied with staged portraits with controlled lighting versus documentary-style photography. While testing the film simulation recipes in this article, I shot a community service event for my church in mixed, natural lighting conditions. On a very overcast day, Vibrant Arizona skewed too far into yellow hues. While it wasn’t exactly unflattering on dark skin tones, it did leave me feeling like the world was experiencing a weird jaundice tint. That said, using Vibrant Arizona on a subject lit with my Flashpoint XPLOR 100 resulted in one of my favorite pictures of my wife.

Reggie’s Superia by Reggie Ballesteros

If you’re like me and enjoy high contrast images and photographing in every condition imaginable, this is the one you should take note of. Reggie’s Superia is the perfect complement for Reggie’s Portra – acting as the Yang to Reggie’s Portra’s Ying. Like Reggie’s Portra, Reggie’s Superia was developed with the intention of being used on subjects with melenated skin, except this simulation leans a lot more into the “film” look. Reggie’s Superia’s biggest defining trait is the grit that’s added to the film simulation (as compared to Reggie’s Portra).

Reggie’s Superia was a ton of fun to shoot with:

Woman in jeans and a white shirt stands outside, shading her eyes and looking to her left.

A man wearing glasses and a light gray jacket stands in front of a textured gray wall.

Elderly woman holding a camera, seated, wearing a patterned dress and black bag, with a concerned expression.

Man with glasses sits in a cafe, looking seriously at the camera; blurred background with chairs and tables.

Man with glasses smiling in a cafe, wearing a dark t-shirt. Background is softly blurred.

Child in a white shirt covers mouth and nose with collar, hands on face, sitting indoors near a mural.

Person in a white shirt resting arms on a table, hand touching opposite arm, face partially out of frame.

Man in yellow shirt and mask sits at bus stop beside a lit shop window and accident lawyer ad.

Woman in pink dress waves on sidewalk near market; man walks away; cars and buildings in background.

A woman pushes a stroller past moving boxes and an Otter Moving & Storage truck on a city street.

People serve food outdoors under a tent, handing plates to others waiting in line at a community event.

Six people stand outside by a fence, two women share an umbrella, some wear patterned skirts and dresses.

People wearing gloves serve food to others from trays at an outdoor event, with a crowd in the background.

Having shot each of these film simulations for just under a month, I found myself consistently gravitating toward Reggie’s Superia because of the character it gave my images. The final images were often closest to what I had “seen” before putting the viewfinder to my face.

CINELAND – a Reminder to Experiment for Yourself

Two women sit outdoors at a table with food, one drinks from a can; image edit settings are listed beside them. — A reminder to experiment for yourself

While each of the film simulation recipes above are worth checking out, it’s imperative to never forget to experiment for yourself. As photographers, experimentation is the backbone to our creative processes. The “CINELAND” preset you see featured here was created back when we reviewed the Fuji X Recipe app and I’ve spent the time since refining it further so that it fit with my vision for my photography.

Like Ballesteros, being a POC myself, and intentionally seeking other POC to photograph, I wanted to create something that would be both flattering to my subjects and flexible. CINELAND was created as a kind of faux cine-log look for my X-Pro 3. I never quite got there, but I’ll continue to refine this look:

Two men sit outdoors, one in blue shirt looking up, another in a cap smiling, with blurred figures in front.

Man in a blue shirt sitting outdoors, looking thoughtful, with others around him and a fence in the background.

Two women sit indoors; one is reading, and the other looks thoughtful. A bottle sits on the table.

Woman in glasses sits with arms behind head, appearing relaxed at a gathering; objects blurred in foreground.

Two women sit outside; one drinks from a can, surrounded by food, with a patterned fence in the background.

A young person with wavy hair wearing a black shirt sits indoors, looking towards the camera.

An older man with gray hair and mustache sits indoors, looking to the side.

Get rid of the ads!

Did you enjoy reading this article as much as we enjoyed writing it? There's a way to support us and our reporting, getting ad-free navigation and more as a bonus. Subscribe to us for less than a coffee per month —just $3.99— or take advantage of our yearly subscription with a hefty discount for only $25.

An ad-free experience
A free mystery box for Lightroom or Capture One
All the books in our store
20% discount on Capture One
30% discount on Imalume Photo Theft Protection
20% off Herbs and Kettle Tea Company.
20% off your order from MPIX printing services.
5% off Viltrox Products via their eCommerce store.
10% off all film developing, printing and scanning services from Blue Moon Camera and Machine
15% off 7Artisans products: The lens and accessory maker is offering a sweet discount for Phoblographer's readers.