This new Film Simulation Recipe—called Texas Sun—comes courtesy of Jay Ybarra (Instagram, X). I met Jay earlier this year in Denver, and also in Austin at Fujifilm’s Create With Us event. He’s a great guy, and it was an honor to team up with him this last summer. Both a talented photographer and videographer, there’s a pretty good chance you’ve seen some of his work before (even if you didn’t realize it), and I’m sure you will again.
Jay first shared this Recipe in a Reel that was published on Fujifilm’s Instagram page. We had previously discussed doing some sort of collaboration, so when I saw it I reached out to Jay and asked if I could publish his Recipe on Fuji X Weekly and in the App. He was kind to agree, and provided a little backstory not included in the Reel, plus a few pictures for the article. Thank you, Jay, for creating this Recipe and allowing me to share it!
For Texas Sun, Jay wanted something Portra-like, but with increased vibrancy. A warm and colorful aesthetic, with a Kodak color negative film vibe. He found that this Recipe does well in many situations, but especially in backlit sunlight. It also works well with a flash. It’s great for breathing life into boring midday light, and also for sunset and blue-hour situations.
There is one unique aspect of this Recipe: the 6500K White Balance is a starting point. Depending on the light, you might find it to be too warm, and you may need to adjust it down until you get the results you want. Perhaps you’ll use 6500K for one image, 6300K for another, and 6100K for another, if the higher Kelvin numbers are a tad too warm for the specific light situation you are photographing in. I’m more of a set-it-and-forget-it person, so I left it at 6500K for all of my pictures, and didn’t adjust it down.
This Recipe is for fifth-generation Fujifilm X-Trans cameras, which (as of this writing) are the X-H2s, X-H2, X-T5, X-S20, X100VI, X-T50, and X-M5. You can also use it on some X-Trans IV models—Fujifilm X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, and X-T30 II—by setting Color Chrome FX Blue to Strong instead of Weak. You can use it on newer GFX models, too; however, it will likely render slightly differently (try it anyway).
Film Simulation: Classic Chrome
Dynamic Range: DR200
Grain Effect: Strong, Small
Color Chrome Effect: Strong
Color Chrome FX Blue: Weak
White Balance: 6500K, +2 Red & -6 Blue
Highlight: -2
Shadow: -0.5
Color:+4
Sharpness: -2
High ISO NR: -4
Clarity: 0
ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400
Exposure Compensation: +2/3 to +1 (typically)
Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs captured using this Texas Sun Film Simulation Recipe:
White Balance Comparison:
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Fujifilm X100VI in black:
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Fujifilm X100VI in silver:
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