Tbilisi on my Mind - Fujifilm Film Simulation
A New Fujifilm Recipe - Tbilisi Film Simulation Recipe
I’ve been in a new city for the past few weeks (Tbilisi, Georgia), and the spring weather has inspired me to set out with my Fujifilm X-H2 and 27mm f/2.8 and capture the budding colors. There is no shortage of flower salesmen in this city, and I never tire of photographing flowers.
Most of my photos were taken around noon or early afternoon. Many photographers avoid these hours because the lighting is harsh, but I reject that thinking. If you can’t find good color combinations in bright daylight, you aren’t trying hard enough. Anyone can capture nice photos during Golden Hour because nature is doing all the work for you.
Photographing in harsh light is about finding pleasing color palettes in the arrangement of the world.
I began this recipe with Classic Chrome. Fujifilm describes Classic Chrome as having “soft color and enhanced shadow contrast for a calm look.” Wanting to customize the recipe further, I adjusted the white balance to Daylight and shifted the red and blue balance (+4 Red and -4 Blue).
I’ve tried to include sample photos with varying colors. Nothing annoys me more than when people share Fujifilm recipes with gorgeous sample photos from only one scene, and then when you try to use them in differing color scenarios they look like trash.
This recipe was made with my Fujifilm X-H2, the 27mm f/2.8, and the Sigma 18-50 f/2.8 for X-Mount.
Color Palette for Tbilisi Film Simulation
Red tones pop with saturation and the images have an overall warm feeling due to the white balance settings. The blues are muted. You’ll notice the sky is dull and not a punchy blue.
The contrast, sharpness, and clarity are all slightly decreased. I feel this recipe has potential to be used as an everyday simulation for general shooting (if you like warm images that is). This would be a great recipe for the new Fujifilm X100vi.
Tbilisi Film Simulation - Instructions
FILM SIMULATION: Classic Chrome
GRAIN EFFECT: Weak, Large
COLOR CHROME EFFECT: Weak
COLOR CHROME FX BLUE: Weak
SMOOTH SKIN: Off (I never use this setting)
WHITE BALANCE: Daylight, R4, B-4
DYNAMIC RANGE: DR200
HIGHLIGHT TONE: -1
SHADOW TONE: -1
COLOR: 0
SHARPNESS: -1
HIGH ISO NR: -2
CLARITY: -1
