I use the Nikon D3400 and recently got the Nikkor 35mm lens for the f/1.8 (I really enjoy low light photography and wanted to upgrade from my kit lens's f/4).

I was playing around with it at an abandoned daycare and set the shutter speed to 1/4000-2000 and set the aperture to f/5-10. I was hoping this would simulate the natural-looking grain effect that film has, but I'm not sure if I replicated the effect well or just took lower quality and crappier photos.

Please critique away. Any advice on how to simulate the grain/vintage/film effect is greatly appreciated!


Before I started experimenting with the aperture:

DSC_0448 by goon1 !, on Flickr

DSC_0466 by goon1 !, on Flickr


After I started experimenting with the aperture:

DSC_0451 by goon1 !, on Flickr

Version 2 by goon1 !, on Flickr

DSC_0459 by goon1 !, on Flickr

DSC_0460 by goon1 !, on Flickr

looks better before you messed with them

You should set your camera to aperture priority. That way you control the aperture so the shutter speed adjusts automatically.

I think the first one looks like it tells a story and I could see it being used in a news article about the closure, but the others don't really show much. The second one needs better composition because of the shape of the tarp. Overall I don't think having the fence in the way looks good.

Posted by randomesquephoto looks better before you messed with them

Looking back on it again today, I agree.

Posted by Steed You should set your camera to aperture priority. That way you control the aperture so the shutter speed adjusts automatically. I think the first one looks like it tells a story and I could see it being used in a news article about the closure, but the others don't really show much. The second one needs better composition because of the shape of the tarp. Overall I don't think having the fence in the way looks good.

I agree. I was about to hop the fence so I could get a better angle for the shot, but then I saw a security camera start flashing and I thought it'd be a better idea to come back later when I didn't already flash my face and license plate to the camera.

I hate to sound like a film purist, but I feel like adding grain or purposely running your ISO too high for the look is kinda dumb. I've never shot film and I would love to try though. I personally like to try and get my shots as clean as I can while still matching how it looked in real life. It's good to experiment with stuff like this though.

Posted by ryanpics I hate to sound like a film purist, but I feel like adding grain or purposely running your ISO too high for the look is kinda dumb. I've never shot film and I would love to try though. I personally like to try and get my shots as clean as I can while still matching how it looked in real life. It's good to experiment with stuff like this though.

I appreciate your idea (and the ISO was sky high on these shots). I think I'm going to keep the camera work pure for now and keep using my disposable if I want a shot to have a more retro aesthetic.

I personally think they look awesome. a nostalgic sense of distortion. Although I would suggest that maybe using real film or a good grain preset in photoshop might be a more efficient/pleasing way to achieve this effect rather than just bumping up the iso. I wouldn’t give up experimenting with this vibe though, one of my favorite things to do is make photos look “bad” on purpose to give it a more mysterious and distant feeling.

It depends on how you want to use the bokeh really I love me some F1.0

50mmF1.0 by gungyduo, on Flickr