VSCO FILM

When the guys behind The Visual Supply Co asked me to try their new product VSCO FILM, I almost didn’t want to like it. I have a love hate relationship with Lightroom, it seems to get my images half the way to where I want them, so I always have to finish them off in Photoshop. For someone who sits behind the computer as much as I do, that’s extremely frustrating.

I was literally muttering like an old man when I installed the VSCO FILM presets. I opened up a random image and clicked on one of the presets.

Boom.

I opened up another one.

One click.

Boom.

This can’t be true, I told myself. With one click a set of Lightroom presets gave me the look I was after, without tweaking?

I tried a black and white preset.

Boom.

I get asked to endorse products all the time. I rarely – if ever – do it.

But I can honestly say that I love these Lightroom and ACR presets. I don’t care if they give you the look of film or not, I care about the end result.

And I love it.

With saying that, I also love shooting real film, but it’s nice to have something great for digital raw files.

These images were all edited with the VSCO FILM presets.

One click.

Boom.

Order your copy here.

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  1. wow have times have changed:) time and time again we keep going back to vsco for the foundation of the look we need. With a few custom tweaks we can make our images look like how we saw them when we took them. That’s the trick though. Too many people are “one clicking” and everyone is looking the same with their editing… bottom line, love vsco. Jamie+Jake:married in Montana was edited entirely with one of the polaroid presets:) Jonas, you really did help bring vsco to the world. Nice work.

  2. Not at all how I felt. First time I clicked a preset I just about killed myself for having bought it, but then eventually I began to appreciate them more, but they still aren’t all that I thought they’d be. I clicked the preset and was like, “Man, I still need to work on this image as much as I used to.” Perhaps one day I’ll get the hang of it, but right now it’s just so so and doesn’t really do much to speed up my editing process.
    Thanks for the review!

  3. I used these presets on a wedding I just shot (my first wedding shoot ever). I loved how they worked. I find by default they crush the shadow and add a little too much contrast but easily fixable in ACR. I can’t say they work spectacular with flash photography and they require a little bit more massaging in that aspect.

  4. I have just stumbled across this post and I am wondering how the preset looked in an indoor situation, or with flash, the above results are beautiful but it would be nice to see how it looks in a different lighting situation :)

  5. @A Gatty – you mean general rule photography 101 applies? hahaha

    Anyway, which filters did you use on these? In particular the first image. I assume these are also customizable after you apply them too?

    Looks great!

  6. This sounds like a pretty good film emulator! I mean, I was shooting film just the other day and I was just enjoying the great world outside my of computer, then I took a picture of just a random thing.

    And Boom.

    Then I tuned and saw more beautiful light.

    Boom.

    I changed lenses and went to take a portrait.

    One click.

    Boom.

    The best part was when I got the film processed and scanned. I opened the files up in finder. And with just one click, they all looked just like film!

    Double up!

    Boom.
    Boom.

    ;-)

  7. They definitely need some new images to sell their product!! I also looked at it a while ago and thought what a crock o shit! another company thinking they can match film, but your images and some images my brother sent me (both of which was processed with the presets) look very very impressive, making me think twice about investing in this.. so thanks for making me want to spend more money!

  8. i love watching all the sheeps following (or copying rather) whatever you do! all trying to copy ur look.
    the bride on the second last photos, her lips sure looks like angelina jolie…

  9. I love reading the comments almost as much as your own words these days. You really have a way of instigating conversation Jonas.
    Well done on being a spokesperson for VSCO. So nice to see a photographer from my own back yard for a change:)

  10. Jonas,
    I respect you as a photographer so does everyone that follows you work. I think it’s your responsibility from that stand point to be more transparent with your crowd. First, you should tell everyone that the one click theory only works when you nail your exposure 100%, that being said the different lighting situations would produce slightly different results that would need to be further tweaked. Let’s not even dive in the subject that if the WB is off the end result will be different as well. Last, perhaps you need to communicate the same message as the other spokesmen, is it one click or two(per Jon Keately)? I am not saying the product is bad or anything of the sort, I just wish that you were more transparent and admit that what the product accomplishes for you may not necessary translates to someone else’s work. I love your work, and I mean no disrespect what so ever, just think about it for a minute then determine your course of action.

  11. Not sure how I feel about this. Images look great but Lightroom isn’t THAT complex. Why not make your own presets and save yourself $$$? Who cares if your greens aren’t reproduced exactly as they would be on Portra 800? Use your eyes, do a bit of fiddling, add a user preset then BOOM! Your very own brand of boom.

  12. @louis “@perspectiveye: with all the similar post techniques and presets available now, the IMAGE itself will be more important then ever.”

  13. You still have to be a good photographer to get good results. Some of these pictures are dark and the end result looks alittle muddy.

  14. i didn’t know lightroom could produce grain like that. i never liked how LR handled my raw images, so when i had a chance to try aperture i went with it. now all i hear about is LR among pro photogs, never hear about aperture. any one have advice who has used both..?

  15. men vad betyder det egentligen? Att programmet gör allt jobb åt dig? så att du bara behöver klicka och så är bilderna färdigredigerade??

  16. Thanks for the heads-up on this Jonas. I’ve been yearning for a Lightroom-only workflow for a while now, so it’s great to see some nice presets that bring this another step closer.

  17. If you could share that wedding by the pool immediately, that would be great. Thank you.
    These are all magic, but I’ve come to expect nothing short.

  18. Funny I was just on their site before and was not sure because presets never quite give me the results but you may have changed my mind!

  19. Damn you, Jonas. Had to buy that stuff and now my wife will be bitching about money and stuff. She will probably divorce me just for a couple of stupid presets and will only get to see my kids every second weekend. GAH!

  20. To showcase a plug-in (or whatever it is) for photographs, the before’s without the after’s aren’t that informative.

  21. Jonas, it appears that you’re issues with high traffic have now deferred to the VSCO site! Tried to get on and it crashed – gee no wonder people want you to endorse their gear!

  22. hmmm boom… lol…going to try it… I’ve been a Florabella girl, I may need to check out VSCO Thanks Jonas… p.s I’m not sure I’ll be doing anymore weddings… I think I’ll stick to childrens photography!

  23. Brett: I used different presets here, but I like the Portra 800 for color and TMAX 3200 for BW the most.

  24. oh dear, looks like i could fall in love & i might need to check VSCOFILM out …..
    thanks for publishing this hear Jonas :-)

    (i can so totally hear you muttering like an old man as you were doing the install :-) i think i would i would have been the same )

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