When Nausicaa reached out to let me know she’d be passing through Toronto during her North American tour, I was happy we could find a date that worked. We planned the shoot around the one thing my backyard gives me that I can’t recreate anywhere else: about forty-five minutes of beautiful evening light each July. As the sun clears a gap between the trees and neighbouring houses, the deck fills with warm, directional light that feels almost cinematic. This was just before Southern Ontario’s summer heat wave settled in, so despite the warm evening, we simply followed the light until it disappeared.
Special thanks to Nausicaa for her creativity, professionalism, and willingness to collaborate during her time in Toronto. It was a pleasure working together, and I’m grateful she made room in her travels for this shoot.
Model: @nausicaa_yami_
CLASSIC NEG FADE
Every image in this gallery was photographed on my Fujifilm X-Pro3 with the Fujinon XF 35mm f/1.4 R and a soft diffusion filter. I used the Classic Neg Fade recipe by Luis Costa as my starting point https://lifeunintended.com/2021/08/06/the-7-custom-fujifilm-recipes-on-my-camera-right-now/
- Classic Negative
- DR400
- Auto White Balance with a +2 Red / -5 Blue shift
- Highlights -1, Shadows -1
- Color -1
- Noise Reduction -4
- Sharpening -4
- Strong Large Grain
- Color Chrome Effect Strong
- Color Chrome FX Blue Weak
- Exposure compensation typically between +2/3 and +1 stop).
I photographed the entire session as JPEGs in FINE quality, imported them into Lightroom, made a few small contrast adjustments, and exported them again as JPEGs. Aside from removing a recycling bin from the background of one frame, these photographs are essentially straight out of camera. I’ve been enjoying trusting the Fuji files more and spending less time behind a computer.
Film Still to Come
Alongside the digital camera, I also photographed the session on Kodak Portra 400. I enjoy working with both formats during the same shoot. Digital lets me respond quickly as the light changes, while film naturally slows the pace and encourages me to be a little more deliberate. I’m looking forward to seeing how Portra interprets the same evening light, and I’ll add those photographs to this post once the negatives have been developed and scanned.
