Field
Films
Seven films, each with its own tone and color. They are Field's own, not copies of any film stock. Every film is the base for your own recipes.
Field
Field's base rendering. Denser shadows than the iPhone's own photos, calm highlights that roll off instead of clipping, and color that is natural with a little more life.
For: Everything. If you don't want to think about films, stay here.
Daybook
Everyday, a touch warmer and softer, with fine grain.
| Film | Field |
| Sharpness | -1 |
| Red Shift | +1 |
| Blue Shift | -1 |
| Grain | Weak, Small |
Halcyon
Low contrast, open shadows and very soft highlights. Skin is quieter and turns slightly toward rose instead of orange. Greens and blues keep their color, so a landscape doesn't go gray.
For: People, portraits, window light, and harsh midday sun that other films make too hard.
Window
People indoors by a window. Softer still, a little warmer.
| Film | Halcyon |
| Highlights | -1 |
| Shadows | -1 |
| Color | -1 |
| Sharpness | -2 |
| Red Shift | +2 |
| Blue Shift | -2 |
| Grain | Weak, Small |
Verdant
Like slide film: hard contrast, dense and saturated color. Strong colors get deeper, not just brighter. Greens lean lush and slightly yellow, skies lean deep and slightly violet. Skin stays close to natural.
For: Landscapes, travel, forests, clear skies, and flat overcast days that need weight.
Ridgeline
Mountains on a clear day. Highlights held, deep skies, light kept as it was.
| Film | Verdant |
| Highlights | -1 |
| Shadows | +1 |
| Color | +1 |
| White Balance | Daylight |
| Blue Depth | Strong |
Ashgrove
Hard tone with muted color. Greens turn olive, blues toward cyan, bright areas lose their color early. Color is there, but it never shouts.
For: Street, city, documentary, overcast days, anything where color would distract from the moment.
Concrete
Gray city days. Harder, drier, with visible grain.
| Film | Ashgrove |
| Highlights | +1 |
| Shadows | +1.5 |
| Color | -2 |
| Sharpness | +1 |
| Grain | Strong, Small |
Tidewater
Like color negative film printed hard. Reds lean toward magenta, greens toward cyan, shadows go cool while highlights turn warm. Skin gets a little gold.
For: Golden hour, summer, the beach, evening streets. Anything lit by low, warm sun.
Late Pier
Low sun. Fixed daylight white balance keeps the warm light warm instead of correcting it away.
| Film | Tidewater |
| Highlights | -0.5 |
| Shadows | +0.5 |
| Color | +1 |
| White Balance | Daylight |
| Red Shift | +2 |
| Blue Shift | -1 |
| Grain | Weak, Large |
Nightline
Flat midtones and open shadows, like a motion picture stock. Quiet color, greens and blues toward cyan, a hint of teal in the shadows.
For: Night, city lights, rain, blue hour, moody interiors.
Blue Hour
Dusk in the city. Tungsten white balance turns daylight blue and keeps street lights closer to white.
| Film | Nightline |
| Highlights | -1 |
| Shadows | -1 |
| Sharpness | -1 |
| White Balance | Incandescent |
| Grain | Strong, Large |
Graphite
Black and white as if shot through a yellow filter: skies go darker, skin and reds brighter. Firm contrast with real blacks.
For: Hard light, strong shapes, faces, and any scene where color doesn't add anything.
Darkroom
Harder, grainier, with dark skies. In black and white, warmth works like a colored filter: warm darkens skies and lightens skin, cool does the opposite.
| Film | Graphite |
| Highlights | +1 |
| Shadows | +2 |
| Sharpness | +1 |
| Red Shift | +6 |
| Blue Shift | -6 |
| Grain | Strong, Large |
Working with films
Choose by the light
The light decides more than the subject. Hard sun: Halcyon softens it. Flat gray days: Verdant or Ashgrove give them weight. Low warm sun: Tidewater. After dark: Nightline. When color gets in the way: Graphite.
Fix the white balance to keep the mood
Auto white balance corrects warm evening light and blue dusk toward neutral. A recipe with a fixed white balance, like Daylight, keeps the light as it was. Warm and cool on the Color pad shift the color on top, the way a white balance shift does on a camera.
Expose for the highlights
The films keep shadows dense on purpose. If bright parts of the scene matter, take EV down a little rather than lifting everything; open the shadows in the recipe if you want them lighter.
Grain
Weak and small for everyday photos, strong and large for night and black and white.
Shoot one film for a while
Like a roll of film: pick one for a day or a trip and keep it. The photos will belong together, and you will learn what the film does.
How films work inside Field: Films, not filters. How to build your own: Recipes in Field.