Vintage or retro-style photography is so fashionable right now. Here, we’ll give you some of our
best tips to make your own, as well as some inspiration to get you started.
Why Vintage?
We’ve seen a rise
in all things vintage. Like most trends, something niche and ‘uncool’ is
flipped on its head and becomes the fashionable thing to do. Think of ‘The
Great British Bake Off’ and ‘TGB Sewing Bee’ television programmes.
Upcycling old
furniture and a resurgence of old-style hair-dos and clothes has become popular
too. It makes sense that with that would come the rise of retro-style
photography.
What do we Mean by Vintage?
Just saying vintage can be confusing, because what exactly do we mean by that? It could
refer to the heavy contrast, low-key lighting of film noir or it could refer to
a bleached out 70s look. How you interpret it is really up to you; where
previous styles were dictated by the fashion and limits of technology, today,
anything goes.
Three Ways
to go Vintage
Processing Your Image in an Old Style
No matter the
content of a photograph, vintage and retro filters are all the rage, think Instagram.
As well as giving photographs an older look, they can also be quite flattering—duller light, colour casts and fuzzy filters hide a multitude of lens defects and failings—so
it’s no wonder they’ve become so popular with the rise in selfie taking.
What You Need
A way to digitally alter your images is about all you need. This can be as in depth as you like, with a parametric editing program like Photoshop, or it a simple app filter such as the ones offered by Instagram.
Styling your
Subjects and Background
Dressing the set or
styling your subjects is another way to get a vintage look, although it takes
more time and effort to do it this way. You also need to decide if you’re
trying the style for fun, or if you’re going for accuracy, because there are a
wealth of pedants waiting to tell you that your wrist-watch is (no pun
intended), out of time…
Makeup
Makeup for All!
David Bode
Portrait
Essential Makeup Tips for Every Portrait Photographer
Dawn Oosterhoff
What You Need
Good natural
lighting is best to use when you can. Most of the great vintage photographs I
see are created out of doors, particularly in the morning, or late afternoon-what’s
known as Golden Hour.
Relevant
backgrounds. Keep backgrounds simple and pleasant, don’t over-clutter. If
you’re going for accuracy for a particular time period, then check your
background for things that may not belong and consider whether you’ll be able
to edit them out or whether it’s best to move locations.
Use Film
Film doesn’t always
produce a retro look and many photographers still use film in a completely
modern and contemporary way. However, team an older camera with some old or
even expired film, and you might be surprised by the results.
What You Need
A film camera and
film! When film expires it tends to suffer from weird colour casts and fading—perfect for vintage photographs and no extra processing needed.
Polaroid cameras
are fun too, although film is very expensive (I pay around £17 for 8
exposures). You can pick up Polaroids for very little, if you’re canny.
Restored cameras can set you back around £50, but trawl charity shops and
markets and you could pick one up for just a few pounds. I found a working
Polaroid Land Camera in a charity shop for £5.
Camera Selection
Five Fantastic Film Cameras for Under $100
Jeffrey Opp
Camera Selection
Five Fantastic Film Cameras Under $1000
Jeffrey Opp
Inspiration
Vintage Style
Very little about the processing
says ‘vintage’ here, but everything else exudes it. The antique print of the
background works well with the styling of the model. The makeup, accessories
and hair styling are all well thought out and all of these individual aspects
come together to make a great retro styled photograph.
Vintage Journey
This composite could have been improved with some work on the perspective, but is fun nonetheless. The cream
colours of the car and subject of the photograph work well with the background
and the whole thing has a sense of 50s/60s style.
Circus
Definitely one of the more surreal photographs with a vintage edge that
I’ve seen, but it works really nicely. A composite for sure, the elements work
well together and the dusky processing of the background helps the tent and
subject to stand out.
Happy Kid Playing With Plane
This is a great example of a contemporary style with a retro edge. This
could be any child playing dress up, but the wooden plane and yellow and blue
tones, give the image an ‘older’ feel, whereas the lack of any texture and the
crisp focus keep it up to date—easily the kind of thing a parent could print
and frame.
Luggage
Without
the suitcase, I probably wouldn’t really put this into a vintage category, even though
the desaturated colours allude to that look. The old case and its battered
luggage stickers. Check out the objects on this horizon: this is the same base image as the woman in the car, above, just given a slightly different treatment!
Try a Retro Action
Retro
style actions for the likes of Photoshop and Lightroom are in abundance, so
it’s really easy to find one that suits your needs if you’re looking for a
quick fix.
I
tried The Colourizer’s Old Retro Action
on one of my own photographs:
This
an unprocessed image from a shoot I did with a friend, Kayley, who is a
‘Vintage Singer’, so she was already styled perfectly.
You
can see the action creates a number of layers, so that you can edit in a
non-destructive way, not touching your original image. It’s unfortunate that
they’re all set to 100%, so you can’t increase the effects on any layer, but
they do all have layer masks attached for you to make local adjustments.
I
brushed over Kayley on a few of the layers to tone down the colour cast over
her face and body and make her ‘pop’ from the background.
Certainly
the matte look and yellow colouring give this a more retro feel than the
unprocessed one had.
How to Make Photographs to Look Vintage by Hand
Let’s say that you
have the photograph you want to look vintage; that could be a carefully styled
piece, or something modern that you just want to give a fun, retro feel to.
Cross Processing
Cross processing is
one of my favourite ways of giving an image a retro feel. It started in film
photography by using chemicals that were intended for a different type of film
and often happened by mistake!
Today, you can
replicate the effect digitally, with very little effort. Google’s Color Efex Pro, part of the now
free Nik Collection, has a cross processing filter with a number of options so
that you can really tailor the look.
Split Toning
Split Toning Colour Pictures in Photoshop: Theory and Practice
Marie Gardiner
Colour Balance
Create a Rich Purple and Gold Look in Adobe Photoshop
Marie Gardiner
Create a Matte Feel
There are a few
ways to do this and a really popular one is to layer a colour filter over the
top of the image. This can make any people in your photographs look a bit
strange.
Another way to achieve a matte look is simply to reduce the contrast
of your image, or if you like, reduce highlights and enhance shadows.
Photoshop Actions
50 Super Awesome Adobe Photoshop Actions from Envato Elements
Melody Nieves
Think About
Saturation
Most people advise
reducing saturation when you’re adding a vintage look to your images, but it
really depends what you want. Think about beach photographs from the 50s:
they’re bright, full of colour and fun and still, by definition, retro! So you
don’t necessarily have to desaturate your images, you might want to boost the
colour instead.
Adobe Lightroom
How to Make Creative Color Adjustments in Adobe Lightroom
Andrew Childress
Textures
Adding texture to a photograph is
a really simple way to make it look old. You can do this by applying a texture
over the top, or using brushes to selectively place ‘dirt’ or ‘stains’ around
the image.
Photo Manipulation
How to Age a Photo in Adobe Photoshop
Kirk Nelson
Top Tips for Vintage Shots
Look
for old cameras in charity shops and at markets
Use
cross processing for an instant retro look
Try
a matte look by reducing contrast
Use
an expired film in an old film camera
Add
a texture or use brushes on your digital image
Further Resources
How
to Make a Retro 80s Composite Portrait:
Isolate a subject from a green screen in
PhotoKey and create a quirky 80s composite using an action from PhotoDune.
The
Comprehensive Guide to Vintage Film and Cameras: From what rolls to buy, what cameras to shoot with
and what to do with it all when you're done.
30
Amazing Mobile Apps for Photographers:
30 of the best mobile apps for
photographers including some vintage greats.
Final Thoughts
Like all great
trends or fads, the hark back to all things old school won’t be here forever,
so jump on the bandwagon while the getting is good.
Vintage photographs
are a fun way to get involved with the retro movement without having to grow an ironic beard or take up knitting.
There are lots of
ways to give it a go, and whether that’s using an old camera and film, staging
some shots with an ‘old-new’ feel or simply processing your existing pictures
to give them a retro edge. If you want to try this without breaking the bank, check our local charity shops, markets and auction houses. You can often find great, old cameras that still work. Couple those with some cheap or even expired film and you're good to go!
If you're editing an existing picture, you can try something as simple as an Instagram filter, or try a more in depth method by creating your own workflow in an editing suite. Between the two, and a happy medium, is to try using an action, or series of actions, to give you a great vintage look, which you can then alter to suit your needs by adjusting each layer.