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The following tip on getting digital images to look like Lomo Images was submitted by DPS reader – Frank Lazaro. You can see his photography at his Flickr page and see some of his Lomo shots here.
From the first time I saw a photo that looked like this, I wanted to shoot one of my own. But, for the longest time I couldn't figure it out how people took photos look like this. Then one day searching the web, I realized I needed a Lomo LC-A camera. This is a Russian made camera that was a knock off of another camera. It is poorly made and by Japanese camera standards, a bad picture taker too. As the legend goes, somewhere in the 1990's a cult following developed and hasn't stop since.
Low and behold I went out and bought 2 of these babies. I love them, but I also had a digital SLR – a Canon 20D. After shooting with the Lomo, I wanted to take photos from my 20D and give them the Lomo look and feel.
I searched and searched and after trying several different Photoshop methods, I finally came up with my own using a mix of different techniques. By all means, there are probably other ways to do this, but this method has served me well.
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Here is my step by step on how I take a digital photo and make it Lomoified. I do have one suggestion though, create an action script once get this down, it will save you a ton of time.
The first thing you want to do is create the classic vignette that the Lomos are well known for and I achieve this by doing a freehand lasso of a circle around the photo. It doesn't need to be perfect and to prevent hard edges, I set the feather to 80-90px before creating the circle.
Once you have set the feather (shown above) and have drawn the circle, you must invert the selection. You can do this one of two ways. #1 Shift-Ctrl-I (Shift-cmd-I on the mac) or #2 Go to the menu Select>Inverse.
Now to achieve the vignette, I add a Levels layer. Note: I still have the invert selected.
This will add a masked out layer on top of your original layer. I then adjust the levels by moving the center arrow to the right. This will darken the edges, giving me a vignette. The amount is up to you and in this case I went from 1.00 to 0.50 on the center number highlighted in the image below.
Now you have a vignette.
Another key to a Lomo picture is the color contrast and saturation. This occurs because people with real Lomos use color slide film and cross-process the film in C41 chemicals.
For those that don't know what cross-processing is, it's when you develop film in a chemical other then what it was made for. Standard 35mm film is usually processed in C41 chemicals and Color Slide film is usually processed in E6 chemicals. Interesting results happen when you mix and match.
Typically, Lomo owners will take color slide film (E6) and have it processed as standard 35mm film (C41). This results in over saturation of colors and at times some freaky results. All of which make Lomo as special as they are.
To get a digital photo to look Lomo, we need to fake the cross-processing effect (E6 film in C41 chemicals).
At this point I usually flatten the image using shift-ctrl-e (shift-cmd-e on the mac) or go to the menu and Layer>Merge Layers.
First, I add a curves layer and create a slanted S.
Then I create a new layer on top of the other two layers. I select the paint bucket and pick the color black and fill the new layer with solid black.
Then I change the blending mode and set it to Hue and reduce the opacity to 40%.
This has gotten us very close to be finished. Again, I flatten the photo by using shift-ctrl-e (shift-cmd-e on the mac) or go to the menu and Layer>Merge Layers.
Before saving the photo as a JPG, you need to sharpen the photo. I use the unsharp mask and Lab mode/lightness technique. The purpose of this step is that it adds more contrast and darkens some of the areas as well. Now you can use whatever sharpening technique you want, but the following method prevents the color halos that come with certain sharpening techniques.
Go to Image>Mode>Lab Color. If you hadn't flattened the image yet, it will ask you if want to flatten, please do so.
Then select your channel window and click on the lightness channel. The 3 other channels should deselect.
Then go to the menu, select Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp Mask.
I like sharpness, so I set the Amount to 50%, Radius to 50% and the Threshold to 0. Click Ok. This is completely up to you on the settings. Plus it will depend on the photo as well and use your best judgment/preference.
Go to Image>Mode> RGB Color. You do not have to reselect the unchecked channels, when converting back to RGB, the channels will automatically turn back on and the photo will go back to be in color.
Now you are done, save the file and share.
Final step, save as a Jpeg.
update: once you've read this tutorial and had an experiment with the technique head to our Forum and share some of your results.
Would love to see it updated with some images.
Amazing post, thank you!
Here is my photo, I have not use the vignette and I add a yellow filter:
Amazing post, thank you!
Here is my photo, here I have not use the vignette and I add a yellow filter:
The look of lomo images is really promising. I think this is one of those extraordinary stuffs that we can do with our pictures in order to go beyond the ordinary. Photoshop tactics have always made magic for me but I guess this post here will make a difference in how I deal with saturation and contrast now.
I like the popping effect of the lomo! I still want to learn more tricks so I don't really mind getting new ideas to give more of some cam kicks. (although I've decided to get a lomo camera). I should probably need more tuto for this so that I can get everything just right.
If you have to doctor the photo in Photoshop then just call it a digital photo. Lomography is plastic camera photography period.
Not trying to rain on your parade, but colorized B/W films are not the real deal either...
I didn't read through all the comments and maybe someone already pointed this out, but won't it be much simpler to use the custom lens correction to create the vignette? Photoshop CS5
For those who are into photography like myself, this article is really useful. It provides a step by step instruction on how to establish the Lomo effect. I would suggest this article to my friends who also love to experiment on photography. Great article and clear instructions on how to achieve the effect.
Good learning site,@ photography tips, well done
Great tutorial. Thanks for the Photoshop help! Superb effect. This totally cool!
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Great lomo photography tips, another great photography article!
ILOVE IT.!! THANKS FOR THE TUTORIAL and soon will try it on my photos. thanks darren.
You rock. Thanks so much!
This isnt so hard i just made my first Lomo Photography! Thank you i will recommend your site!
Wonderful site. Lots of helpful information here. I'm sending it to a few friends ans also sharing in delicious. And of course, thank you to your sweat!
My first attempt was not quite what I was expecting, but with more experimenting I'm sure I will be satisfied! Great tutorial!
Wow, very cool! Thanks for the awesome an easy to use tutorial!!!
Your lomo photography is awesome. such this is big tutorial.
Great tuturiol so far, but I am having trouble locating the Curves dialog box. I'm using Adobe Photoshop 9.
Awesome tutorial. Another great way to learn some new Photoshop technicques. One of my favorite images created while toying with this tutorial:
Original Image
'Lomoed' Image
While I am sure not quite the right 'style' I just had fun playing with some of the new 'tools' I hadn't used in Photoshop before.
What are the best Nikon lenses for wedding photography?
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how to do in LR3??? thanks
We all have different passions and styles in Photography, If you do not like a fantastic tutorial like this then don't knock it - Let those that found it interesting enjoy it and experiment with it.
In my opinion Knockers are poor pathetic losers. Photography is a fantastic hobby - Lets keep it a happy hobby and keep your negative comments to yourselves. Thanks Darren for sharing with us, Regards Dave
here's another thought, buy a holga lens (ebay etc) for $20-$30 or a Diana for a true photo. My Holga lens results are nothing like the phony overdone images that are made in photoshop.
it's quite simple to make a Lomo, Holga or Diane photo. Go out buy a camera and buy the film! If you complaint is how expensive it is per shot, do what we did: get good with composition, eat ramen noodles and focus on your photography. We always found ways to pay for it.
"This is very simple i have hust made my first lomo photo!"
lol, you didn't make a lomo photo, you converted it into a lomo image.
If there is a filter called "Van Gogh" it doesn't mean you made a "van Gogh" ;)...or putting a sticker with a woodstructure, on a plastic cabinet, it doesn't make it a wooden cabinet.
And don't feel attacked, if you can't afford it or don't have the knowledge, just work on creating better photographs, art is about improving yourselves, through work and understanding.
This is very simple i have hust made my first lomo photo!
Great Tutorial and Great tips, Keep them coming! :-)
Great directions, This article jump started my lomography process on Photoshop. Thanks
Great step by step directions - thanks
Awesome!! Love it!!
The tutorial is great i am totally noob at Photoshop and i did it easy!
Great tutorial but I'm really looking for something like this in GIMP. Any help?
Wow - totally cool look. I'd love to be able to do that to my pictures-and really appreciated the Lomo knowledge. Plus, I had a FANTASTIC time looking at a year of cool photos people created using this technique. But I could only get to step 3. You said, "Now to achieve the vignette, I add a Levels layer. Note: I still have the invert selected." What is a "levels layer," and how do you add one? I could not find anything like that on my PSCS4 version, nor anything in the Photoshop help. Please enlighten me! :)
Thank you for this! I love lomo, and I love this tutorial for both the outcome and the tools it's given me. :D
I'm sorry, I've been reading and rereading the instructions here...does this not work for photoshop elements? I can't find "Lab Color" anywhere. Can this look be created in Elements? Thanks for any help/advice!
This is a really cool and easy to follow tutorial. I've had some great fun experimenting with this. The awesome thing with this is you can apply the effect and make almost any photo look pretty decent with a bit of tweaking. This has inspired me to learn a lot more about photoshop. Thanks for taking the time to share
THIS IS AMAZING! AND actually easy to follow (with some previous knowledge of Photoshop)! THANK YOU X1000000000000000000000000000000000000 FOR SHARING!!!
you know what I dont care what others think. Whether they think its cheating or whatever.. I love the lomo look and I dont have a film camera nor the money to buy one. All my work at the moment is through my friends Canon on loan to me. Its digital so to get the lomo look I use photoshop and I have some ok pics too. Does it really matter how you got somewhere? I would say there are no rules and its the finished piece that interests me. I dont care what camera you used, film or digital anyone who does to me seems pretentious... lets see what lomography images you guys have got :D
Lomo photography look perfect i want to learn more keep righting guys!!!
Photoshop can do miracles!
I think part of the problem is *everyone's* desire for cheaper something or other at the cost of quality. But that's what a lot of "serious" photographers forget. Its not just photography. Its everything. Do you think Pizza Hut is delicious? Are you absolutely in love with Cinnamon Toast Crunch? Who on earth doesn't ever, EVER sacrifice quality for cost? And wait, places like Ikea and Forever 21 and PacSun are freakin great for making us think we're investing a decent amount of money for good quality. And it IS good quality, but it ain't artisan and it sure as heck isn't straight off the runway. Because, also, let's face it, even if we had the money, most of us aren't really into most of things straight off the runway (too bold/tacky/weird for us) or straight out of woodworker's shop (too homey/handmade/simple for us). There is and always will be a market for the high end true to its trade photography/furniture/clothing design/cuisine art. But there will also always be the general mass market who, lo and behold, does actually drive this. So appreciate it. Because in a roundabout way, these people are funding you.
To Shianne and others with "fake" lomo issues (and the lovers):
Actually, the "principle" behind lomo is "happy accidents", which is why there are things like purposeful light leaks cameras out there. The digital darkroom now offers more availability to creating these happy accidents, just in a different way. While yes, film still does offer a greater spectrum that we can perceive and this should be applauded and recognized, digital is catching up.
I work as both art photographer and photojournalist and no matter where I go there are always the "haters". It *used* to bother me that anyone can pick up a camera and take great pictures, but then I took a step back and got off my high horse and began to appreciate it. It GREAT that so many people have the availability to take decent pictures now! As my husband who is an executive chef says, "I don't think chefs ever freaked out when microwaves and TV dinners and granola bars and the Cooking Channel became popular. We groan sometimes when people *think* they're good "chefs" but we are never mad at the attempts. I always love taking the opportunity to teach people what great food really is and I am never so full of myself that I don't listen to a ProAm or even amatuer to see if they might be onto something new and exciting." There is so much room out there for so many differing perpectives. Why put them down?
What I have mostly come across is photographers feeling threatened. Especially students and ProAms. They invest all this money into tons of expensive equipment only to maybe have their pictures be not quite as appreciated as their amateur friends'. But putting down other people and attacking them only distances you from people, people that may a minute ago have been your customer base. Take the opportunity to educate people, but without being full of yourself, with a humbleness open to being wrong or learning something new yourself. And above all, have enough confidence in your own work so you don't feel like you're becoming obsolete and therefore feel the need to attack others. Gone are the days where being a self-ritgeous artist will still pay. You need to be a bit more of a people person and that means understanding what your customer base and those around you are into. Meet them where they are, then explain how cool and how much better the film side *can* be and you've got them hook line and sinker into your possibly better work and wanting to invest their money in one really great print of yours instead of 5 so-so prints of lesser quality by others.
If you notice, many of the great photographers have tutorials on their photo techniques and how people can do it themselves "cheaper". Its because they know its not a threat. They know the connection benefits them far more than the holier-than-thou approach.
Food for thought ;)
This is really great tut. I'm gonna try this with some of my photos I have taken during this summer :) Thanks for the good guidance.
Lomo is real good. Been using it for quite some time now.
I luv lomo pic... I want try this tutorial... when I done my work, I'll be back on show to you''ll...
Amazing effects. Lomo can really have things stand out. Although yes, digital photography helps with having great photographs, it does take a certain level of artistry to produce such results.
To all the lomo purists out there: while you may disagree with digitally creating the lomo effect, you should try and understand that other people do not share your opinion (and yes, what you are expressing is an "opinion"). As such, there is no "wrong" when it comes to art. Don't agree with it? Go take pictures with your lomo and keep your comments to yourself. This is a page for people who want to know how to do it. Better yet, start a forum designated for other people who want to hate something and invite negative comments.
Never tried a Lomo filter before, but I definitely will. I have found this post really informative and useful for my photographic experiments. Many thanks.
Digital Photographer
Ugh. I HATE this. Digital cameras are evil! Now anyone can take a picture of a flower and say "Look, I'm an artist!" It bugs me so much. Film comes out so beautifully, everything about digital is just so unappealing and boring. It goes against everything Lomography stands for when you just try to copy the style.
Thanks Sallie: I did find the guided method for the Lomo effect in Elements 9. I was hoping to find out the Full Edit steps so that I would have a little more control. I like the guided tab feature though. It saves some time on images that you are just putting in a family web album to share an event. Thanks again for responding.
Im so sorry that my reply posted 3 times! it wasnt playing yesterday so didnt think it had posted at all! apologies!!
Hello Jawhitehead,
I have found a link for you for how to create the Lomo effect in Photoshop Elements 9. I hope this helps :)
Hello Jawhitehead,
I have found a link for you for how to create the Lomo effect in Photoshop Elements 9. I hope this helps :)
Hello jawhitehead,
I have found a video tutorial for you, for how to create the Lomo effect Photoshop Elements 9. I hope this helps :)
I would like to know the process in Photoshop Elements as well. I have Elements 9. Thanks for asking Sallie. I love the look of this effect.
Hi there I really want to master this effect but I am having trouble with this article.. would it be possible to tell us how its done using Photoshop Elements? I have Elements 7 and the menu instructions and some function names differ therefore making it rather difficult to get the Lomo look. Please can you help?
Great things come a long way, Thanks!!
oh my god! this tutorial is so great and i had been looking for ir since i don't know when! thanks :)
whoa.. apparently i;m 4 years behind the times! oh well.. it's a great digital effect that worked for me.
as for the photography and LOMO hardliners... quit trolling and go do what you do best, which is (based off the attitudes conveyed in your comments here) is making pretty photos with your expensive cameras and lighting rigs. good on ya. leave us shop-junkies to our thing and we'll leave you to yours'. i still get paid and make a comfortable living.. :)
Great tutorial. Just what I was looking for.
Also, don't worry about the haters below....you said you bought a Lomo anyway.
Nice Lomo Photography!!!
When I go to image>mode, lab color did not show up as an option.
Instead, I made a background copy layer, desaturated it, used the unsharp mask filter to sharpen, and set the layer mode to overlay.
I think it worked.
[eimg link='http://www.flickr.com/photos/61280150@N07/5593156599/' title='LomoBackyard' url='http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5308/5593156599_7a07919aa6.jpg']
excellent article and very informative - thanks a lot!
@Dparks..nope try "a purist" or photographer... or somebody who would like to challenge people to get it as much as possible (not necessarily all, mind you) in-camera instead of resorting to click-tricks :)...
so much talk about creating art...and at the same time so much about how to imitate (through actions, see the double irony in there)...
Be a better photographer people! :)...there is a challenge there :)
Michele: The desaturation and contrast effects cannot be achieved with filters, but the soft-focus vignetting and standard vignetting (the dark edges) are easily achieved.
Hi guys! Can you please tell me if you can get a filter that can create this effect?
@ Daxxyl - You're either a troll or an idiot. In either case, you should stop.
It's amazing. Thanks for the tutorial ! Gianni
Thank you. I will try this. In an economy like ours currently is we need to be as creative as we can with what we have. I have a family of 5 on one income and I think this sort of post is a blessing. Would I prefer to have a LOMO camera? Heck yes I would but how do I justify spending 350+ when it's that or diapers and food for our kids. Thanks again,
God Bless.
( Just a thought...I think a real artist should be able to make something beautiful and moving with what they have. )
The points you emphasize is surprisingly well and great to follow and i have taken those points into consideration!
thanks for the instructions!
First of all a big THANK YOU.
This really helped and the effect on my final image is just amazing :)
@ s.crowley...it's not about the use of darkroom techniques, but moving sliders from the comfort of a chair...it's craft versus yeah..what...monkey-button pressing?
and furthermore...using digital techniques to imitate analogue? that's fake...use digital to do digital...don't fake...
like in my previous example....would you like a real wooden cabinet (analogue), or one where the grain of the wood is a plastic piece of paper, on some composite, to imitate that wooden cabinet :) ....so yeah..that .fake cabinet would be trashy, kitsch :)
guys where are the skills, mastership and craft?
You might try using adjustment layers and avoid flattening until the very end, that way you can still make adjustments and fine-tune things further into the project.
GOD all you guys who are like "photoshop ruins the purity of lomo" are a bunch of hipsters. you guys probably also think that it is somehow cool to ride a bike with no brakes. if you like lomography and hate photoshop, great. don't go getting all self-righteous on all of us who do use photoshop.
and gene, i completely agree with you.
daxxyl, show me any one of the most famous b&w film photographers i.e. imogen cunningham, ansel adams, etc. and show me one photograph that they printed straight, with no darkroom manipulation. it is incredibly difficult, if not impossible. art is not just showing what you see, that is photocopying. to make a plain photograph into an artful one, you must manipulate it, whether in the darkroom, or digitally. in doing so, you can go beyond showing the obvious, and you can begin to express deeper meaning.
Here is my attempt:
i have an instamatic 33, yes an original LOMO godfather camera.. it is AMAZING, I also have a sony DSC-H10 and I love them both... Lomo is AWESOME.. but with 126 film currently not in production ANYWHERE in the world, there needs to be something to fill that void..so quit complaining and being a snob..
The digital format is imitation, yes, but thats the highest form of flattery.. so celebrate it, the truth is, that after 40 odd years of "improving" & "perfecting" camera's and their pictures, everyone seems to now want those grainy, raw, images that us with a LOMO fetish have craved for a long time.
*I do it all for the love of art*
Darren, what I noticed is when I used the first step of creating a levels layer and modified the settings to create the vignette, anything that was white would stay white. Wouldn't a true vignette actually block the image?
I tired just filling the selected area with black and was able to accomplish a darker vignette. Tell me what you think.
Forgot to post link.
[eimg link='http://www.flickr.com/photos/53758710@N02/5174892029/' title='Apples - LOMO effect' url='http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4148/5174892029_ddf93954a3.jpg']
I love this tutorial, Very well written and easy to follow, I have just had a go with an image of my own and the saturated style looks great. Will post my flickr page when I have updated it.
Thanks for this tutorial! It is my first attempt at photo editing....let me know what you think :D
Using Photoshop should not be an alternative to good photography, but we should not make statements to suggest that Photoshop is in some way perverting true photographic expression.
It's all about using the tools you have and how you use them. I believe the best photographer has a solid understanding of both his camera equipment and how to properly expose, as well as, the post-processing of his photography through the use of tools like Photoshop.
Excellent tutorial, and excellent website for showing both a novice and professional a thing or two. You reviews are top not as well.
I love love love you lomography tutorial. Thank you so much.
I have done a few here:
Love using my Lomography cameras, but love that I can make my digital photos look like my Lomo shots as well. Thank you!!!
@Stephen - some others probably told you this before but some people cant afford to do stuff like this, for others a digital camera is more economical. It shouldnt matter where the art or the photograph's from or how it was made/developed. I used to use my cell phone as i was saving up for my canon, it just depends on how you use the instrument, not what instrument it is to get that result
I like this, and for someone who is just getting interested in photography and does not have money spend on buying different cameras/films, etc to get different effects, this is excellent. and now my iphone has apps that let me create lomo in 1 click, but its just fun to play around photoshop ;o)
Hey, just a little detail, but I think it makes the procedues a little better (while still looking the same)....
You can easily create vignetting effect by going into Filter --> Distort --> Lens Correction. This will open a box in which you can correct your image for chromatic abberration and, most importantly, vignetting. You can then just use the correction for vignetting and introduce some. It'll make it easier to make up a script for an automate process, too, as you wisely suggest.
I don't think you really need to flatten the image all that often, unless at the very end. Unless it's a recquirement on older version (I'm on CS4).
The article is good but the comments add lot's good for a Photoshop newbie like myself
I love your tutorial, I'm a beginner photographer, and I'm always looking for new stuff to learn. It's just that I like darker things, can you help with a tutorial on how to do something like that: http://bit.ly/abrkPH I would love to do something similar, but I have no idea how :( Thanks.
I own a 7D and I like this effect. For all those who are going to hate on me for converting my digital stills into a Lomo look, screw you. Im not about to spend more money on film and processing costs when I have a perfectly functioning computer and copy of Photoshop.
Thank You.
great post thanks for sharing i am Totally impressed.
I am really amazed with photoshop, on how they make lousy photo into a wonderful captured moments. I do have bunch of pictures with vignette effect and it is really the best. Cool article.
hey, great tuts! i like the way how you create the vignette effect... :P
thanks for sharing this lomo effects tutorial! =)
btw, just found out that this article was created 3 years ago... cool!
This tutorial has pretty much changed everything about the way I post process all my photos. Little techniques mixed with other tutorials give my work that special something. Thanks so much Darren.
Thanks for the tutorial! Just did this on one photo from a batch which didn't come out so well - the last roll on my film SLR before I finally got a DSLR. It looks pretty good - I love highly saturated images! I have a Holga and have often wondered how to get that same effect on my SLR images. Though I do love the unpredictability of cross-processed slide film, I must say I will be using this technique to liven up some recent party photos.
On an additional note, I've been quite taken by the Hipstamatic app on a few friend's iPhones. It would be nice to get hold of action sets or instructions on how to to duplicate those rough-edged looks on some of them.
[eimg link='http://www.flickr.com/photos/47673960@N00/4923593036/' title='asagaya11lomo3.jpg' url='http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4117/4923593036_e52c4be6d1_b.jpg']
You're making a lot of judgements here. You're assuming that those who choose to post-process their images are lazy (why? It takes more work to take the time to take a good photo - and it needs to be a good photo to begin with for it to be any good at all post-processing - and then go on and process it than it does to just take a good photo and be satisfied with that), and you're suggesting that it's somehow less pure to do so. In terms of visual art, photography is pretty young, and I imagine a hundred and fifty years ago there were painters who felt like photography wasn't "real" art.
You also try to distinguish between photographers and "illustrators", and assume they're mutually-exclusive. Why can't you be both? You're a photographer when you take a photo, and you're an illustrator or graphic artist or what have you when you post-process it significantly. Just like a painter might also draw images, too. Post-processing one image also doesn't mean you habitually do it; sometimes I feel like a photo is enhanced by post-processing, other times it's perfect as it is. Frequently I know when I'm taking a picture that it will be better with some post-processing simply because I can't attain the effect I'm after with the equipment at my disposal.
I'm happy with my pictures, though, so I don't really care if I'm achieving them in the wrong way.
daxxyl, thanks so much for your informative and insightful derision of this technique. I shall forever imagine you sitting at your hand-crafted computer, within your home built entirely of trees you felled and lumbered yourself (with handsaws, of course - power saws are for crass luddites), enjoying a lovely glass of wine from your own vineyards, aged to perfection, and a plate of veal from a calf you yourself nursed, fattened, and slaughtered, for indeed, no shortcuts are fit for enlightened souls such as you.
We are all richer for having received your condescension.
P.S. - what chemicals do you use when concocting your own developing baths and film?
thanks for this awesome tutorial! i love it.
Thanks so much for this tutorial. I have found the Pentax H90 to be a wonderful digital camera for Lomo work. It even has a "toy camera" filter on-board. Good luck everyone!
So is there anyway to do this sort of thing in Aperture 2?
hmm my thoughts were running ahead of my typing : "….and from the armchair-comfort/safety ..." i mean from "Photoshop by clicking random actions" can hardly being considered artistic...unless you call "coloring by the numbers " artistic....
please consider these "ramblings" of mine as a way to push so called artists a bit more forward, be more critical about the work you make...be more ambitious :)
that said, can we move on and repeatedly state how wonderfull, renewing, refreshing, wow-effect this is :D....so who else likes prefab-softboard-printwood cabinets, aren't they so amazing? strange that people still stick to mastercraft, it's so time-consuming and way to much effort ;)
ow please this is getting tedious... it's just like making MDF-board cabinets' putting a wood-grain-sticker on it and calling it "wooden-cabinet" it's tacky and not real, calling carpenters "old-school" ;)
....and from the armchair-comfort/safety ...what's the greatness or novelty about that...no ambition to strive for higher...to push your own limits?
let me clear..if you want to be tacky..you have all the right to it, absolutely, no contestabout tthat.... just be honest about that ;)...just as honest as saying it's (poorly) photoshopped ;)..or that it's imitation wood ;)...
Brilliant Tutorial - LOVE the effect - know it's not the real thing but hey - most people out there looking at it wouldn't know the difference. I like what it does to my images - it gives them an edge. Many thanks for sharing.
Love this effect...thanks...
Nice tutorial.
People complaining that one should get a photo right out of the camera and not Photoshop it are just plain wrong. Great film photographers of the past, including Ansel Adams used the chemical darkroom to enhance their photos. Now it's the digi-lightroom. While a merely good photo cannot necessarily be made great, a great photo can be made extraordinary in the digi-lightroom.
That said, I do believe this would be much easier to produce in Lightroom instead of PS. I do that all the time, saving the more cumbersome PS for special effects.
Wow, I guess there are complainers everywhere no matter where you go. This is an article written for people using digital cameras to try something different. It's quite clear in the title. And yet you've got this bunch of people that feel that they have to tell people how uncool this is and why not go buy a real Lomo. It's cheap and easy. Riiiiggght, it's easier to go and buy another camera and start worrying about film again. I'm sure that the people reading this article about digital photography really read the whole article because they wanted to be convinced to go and buy an old fashioned camera somewhere. I agree, some of them did. And good for them, but they didn't need any of your negative comments to make that decision. Find a misery forum or something and vent in a forum where people actually want to hear it.
To "camera": When you choose to alter a selection in Photoshop, one of the choices is "feather". The units of this adjustment are in pixels, or "px". Thus, he is feathering his selection by 80-90 pixels, so that outside the circle, everything is darkened; for 80 pixels (for instance) the darkening effect lessens, and inside that range, everything is normal.
Does that help?
thank you
i will tray make this today ,
i canot understand "" I set the feather to 80-90px before creating the circle."
This is just awesome. Thaaaaaannkkss!
Thank you very much for this tutorial.
Works like a charm!
The tutorial creates the lomo effect quite well, although I beleive there are some aspects missing.
The photos seem to clear for my liking and lomo pictures get developed with a grainy texture
I'd use the photoshop filter to add noise (very little though) or find some grainy textures online and put a screen option on it.
Otherwise, this is great for contrasting aspects of the lomo film. :)
Here's my photo..not sure if it looks like a lomo effect :/
[eimg url='http://wiurl.com/image/135a_sv.jpg' title='135a_sv.jpg']
Good Tutorial, quick, simple and effective. good work
Fantastic tip! I tried it on some of my photos. Thank you so much! :)
Absolutely fantastic efforts to share the really helpful review, Thanks for the info
This is a great tutorial... I was so happy when I stumbled onto this site. I'm not a professional photographer in the least, nor do I aspire to be one... but I love playing withe the hundreds and hundreds of photos I snap biweekly. This site serves as a great tool in learning how to emulate some of my fav photography styles... since I'm new to PHOTOSHOP it would have been helpful to get directions to finding things such as hidden photo buckets, but I guess seraching for it helped me to learn as well
Denver Photographer, can you post a link to the effect difference you are talking about?
That's not quite how I would create a vignette, because on a white background it looks fake, instead I would use a multiply layer to create that kind of vignette, but otherwise good tutorial.
I know these are provided for free and truly appreciate the contribution to the community. Would like to make a suggestion, can you possibly make versions for Linkedin and Wordpress? If not, no problem, just a suggestion and thank you again for making these available. I'm looking to change my blog's theme and these should look great!
Its so good tutorial
I am also Searching tutorial like this...............
You' re my photoshop's hero!:)
Here is my first Lomo try...next time i'll fix the brightness and maybe it will come out better
Im just curious how to save all the steps as a hot key? I love this affect!!
When i do the Hue part with the 40% Opacity, the image changes but i cant get it back to colour?
Please help
Awesome, thank you very much. I'll try it...
Hi, do you know of someone who made this in Lightroom? Would love to have a preset for this look.
I usually do my cross-process look in curves or color balance
thanks a lot for the lomo tips...i do really appreciate it. opps by the way i am Hafiz from Malaysia. i'm a student of Limkokwing University Malaysia. i'm taking a degree in professional design in which related to advertising. i love taking pictures and editing them.......last but not least to the respectfull editor please do email me with some updates of lomo tricks n tips n other pics modifying.....via photoshop hihii....thanks a lot bro
Just signed up for the forum today, but been on this site for days on end, even while at work....My Holga camera should be arriving in two days and I can't wait! Here's my lomofied dog. I don't have photoshop. I used a $20 photo editing software and tried to apply the techniques above...
excellent tutorial i absolutely love lomo - if your looking for an app to try check out toycamera analogcolor
Great Tutorial...the final result I got was amazing! Thanks!
Cool effect!!..just tried it myself to a fire hydrant photo, it really gives character to a simple ordinary object.
Thanks for the tips.
well would be if the image would post, oh well.
This was my attempt.
"rb" I guess it depends how good the artist is whether the image has the same mmmph as the real thing or not ... I like both the genuine unpredictability of lomo photography with the use of gelled strobes and also the crafting of a digital SLR photograph in lightroom / photoshop. I find that enjoying the process and being happy with the end result is what matters most to me.
This was such a good post, and the results I managed looked great! Thanks for making understand P-Shop even more.
Very cool effect , you can really take this to a next level and make some amazing effects, Thanks
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tjenkinson/4519454076/in/photostream/ - Thats my go at it
have a few others, but that was the best transformation from uber basic to a teeny bit interesting. Nice effect, i love sharpening, i think its the amateur in me.
brilliant, im curious have you got a guide to curves anywhere?
A very useful and easy to understand tutorial! Thankyou!
I'm sorry ppl I'm gonna agree with daxxyl the point of lomo is for the unpredictability. I love the convenience of digital and Photoshop but as a graphic designer for 10 yrs I wanted to actually learn photography. Or any film cams make u stop and think about what u r doing. U start to pay attention more to detail than relying on Photoshop to fix things. Plus a fake lomo doesn't hAve the same mmmph
Heres my lomo auto
[eimg link='http://www.flickr.com/photos/bws052/4503313500/' title='oldcarLomo' url='http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2801/4503313500_255856fd5f.jpg']
Very nicely represented article that literally shows off the distinctive properties of the photo editing software. It's really great post, nice work..I would like to appreciate your work and would like to tell to my friends.
Nice one, James!
gave it another go and think this one is better
@ Joe. I understand what you mean. Its clear where the lasso tool has been used. I still like it though, this tutorial has gotten my back in to using my photoshop. Thanks for your comment, your nice is very nice.
You're right, my non-native tongues aren't as good as my English!
And, thanks for toning it down a little. Your point came across much better when it wasn't phrased in such extremist (and insulting) language.
you're right it's not my native tongue...how good would be your second language ;)
in any case...you seem not to appreciate the fact that one could be a better photographer if things could be done through the camera ;)...and you don't seem to appreciate
in any case it's not meant as a polemic sentence...in the old days before photoshop...the manipulation done here were the work of the airbrusher and illustrational artis....think of the movieposters for example...
my point in general? be aware of the functional distinction between photographing and photoshopping... and spent more time photographing well instead of photoshopping well ;)....
so no, it's not a rant...sorry you saw it that way...it might have diverted you from the actual true photography involved here :)
daxxyl - It seems that English is not your native language. I'm guessing your phrase "is not spend on you" is meant to say something like, "is wasted on you."
In the next sentence, however, you leave off translation issues, and begin wild polemics: you obviously don't see or appreciate the difference between actually photographing and "illustrating (another word for photoshopping)"..so why bother photographing in your case?
Clearly, "illustrating" is not another word for "photoshopping", except in your emotional hyperbole. Ranting is not a helpful part of our discussion.
Hi Joe...
"perhaps that was done with filters, but personally I don't see any difference between creating a color cast with filters or with PS"
that means already this discussion is not spend on you...you obviously don't see or appreciate the difference between actually photographing and "illustrating (another word for photoshopping)"..so why bother photographing in your case?
I visited one of Herman's workshops and saw some of his actual raw-jpg (i.e the raw file and accompanying jpg)..and came quite close to it...the fact that you can't imagine this would be possible...is a drawback on your side....
the stress should be on photographing not on photoshopping...the moment photoshop becomes more important than the photography, then it's not any longer a photograph but a "illustration"
daxxyl, I'm pretty incredulous that the photo you linked from Herman van Gestel's site wasn't photoshopped quite heavily. The colors are really unnatural - perhaps that was done with filters, but personally I don't see any difference between creating a color cast with filters or with PS - and her hair and face clearly obey a completely different contrast rule than the rest of the photo. There's heavy vignetting - that didn't come from a well-designed SLR - and a lot of blowout on both sides of the model (if it was from a light source, either it would be one-sided, or her body would be blown out as well, which it isn't).
Great composition, great lighting, but this was 'shopped. A lot.
James - I like the picture, but the vignetting seems very artificial. It's clear that, instead of natural vignetting as a result of the "bad lens design" of the Lomo cameras, you've swept a darker area outside of the subject's head & body. Just my 2p; it's still very nice.
And on that note, here's my attempt. Comments? [eimg url='http://lh6.ggpht.com/_QpI-PdUWeic/S5-vCKpme7I/AAAAAAAAKZc/hrMJDwHTctY/s512/Joe%20%26%20Loie%20%40%20Mathews%20Martini%20Bar%20Erie%20100306%20IMG_0924%20LOMO.jpg' title='Joe%20%26%20Loie%20%40%20Mathews%20Martini%20Bar%20Erie%20100306%20IMG_0924%20LOMO.jpg']
Great tutorial, heres my outcome
wow great one, getting a lomo effect is it the same way for video contents also?
I Make my photos look like this all the time in photoshop... just by playing around in there.. I had no idea it was actually called Lomo whatever... until I stumbled across this blog LOL
your comment is based on an ideal situation, where everybody envisions the results before the shoot already...the high mastery of a photographic artist....but to many are just applying random effects just to see if anything interesting might happen to make something "interesting"
....i do admire the craftmanship involved wth photoshop, the same way it used to be for the dark-room-artist and the airbrusher....but if you look at it there are already 3 functions invlved with traditional film...photograher, darkroom artist and airtbrush artist....let's keep that functionality in mind..
back to digital media...photoshop is basically replacing the darkroom-artist and the airbrusher....the question still apllies.....even within the realm of phtoshop...what are you, photographer/darkroom or airbrusher? keep in mind the functionality, even within the same person.....
I see too many a lousy photographs who upgrade their less than mediocre images to work of art thru photoshop.....just for the purity of terminology I would be refering them as illustrator....not photographer.... the moment the photoshop work becomes cleare more important (or has the bigger imact) than the raw image then this person becomes a photohopper....
a photographer is for me somebody who can shoot straight from the camera, either by lomo camera or not ;)...
furthermore, my comment is more based about the less than "mediocre" photographer, who's picture worked less out than expected, and this indivisual start fiddling mindlessly from lomo-effect. to crossprocessing to pointillism without any prev planning...those i call the mindless photographer......in that case even a photograph from a traffic-camera could be called a photographer ;)
I recently saw an image from a very talented beginning photographer, Herman van Gestel....straight from the camera, with some final tweaks in photoshop like sharpening.....and some vignetting but the colours and the contrast is already there, the photoshop part is maybe 3% of the image ;)...now that's what I call a photographer! MInd you, I won't be able to reach this level, but just like Herman van Gestel the quality of my images rely more on the image in the camera than photoshop ;)..in fact look around his website, most are shot for 95 % out of the camera..that's what i call DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY ;)...just like the focus of this website!
photographer: Herman van Gestel
your comment is based on an ideal situation, where everybody evisions the results before the shoot already...the high mastery of a photographic artist....but to many are just applying random effects just to see if anything interesting might happen to make something "interesting"
....i do admire the craftmanship involved wth photoshop, the same way it used to be for the dark-room-artist and the airbrusher....but if you look at it there are already 3 functions invlved with traditional film...photograher, darkroom artist and airtbrush artist....let's keep that functionality in mind..
back to digital media...photoshop is basically replacing the darkroom-artist and the airbrusher....the question still apllies.....even within the realm of phtoshop...what are you, photographer/darkroom or airbrusher? keep in mind the functionality, even within the same person.....
I see too many a lousy photographs who upgrade their less than mediocre images to work of art thru photoshop.....just for the purity of terminology I would be refering them as illustrator....not photographer.... the moment the photoshop work becomes cleare more important (or has the bigger imact) than the raw image then this person becomes a photohopper....
a photographer is for me somebody who can shoot straight from the camera, either by lomo camera or not ;)...
furthermore, my comment is more based about the less than "mediocre" photographer, who's picture worked less out than expected, and this indivisual start fiddling mindlessly from lomo-effect. to crossprocessing to pointillism without any prev planning...those i call the mindless photographer......in that case even a photograph from a traffic-camera could be called a photographer ;)
I recently saw an image from a very talented beginning photographer, Herman van Gestel....straight from the camera, with some final tweaks in photoshop like sharpening.....and some vignetting but the colours and the contrast is already there, the photoshop part is maybe 3% of the image ;)...now that's what I call a photographer! MInd you, I won't be able to reach this level, but just like Herman van Gestel the quality of my images rely more on the image in the camera than photoshop ;)..in fact look around his website most are shot for 95 % out of the camera..that's what i call digital photography ;)...just like the focus of this website!
[eimg url='http://www.hermanvangestel.com/v471/av/recent/slides/B108174ff.jpg' title='B108174ff.jpg']
photographer Herman van Gestel
how to apply the above mentioned by the way in Lomo, with repsect to digital Photography?....with my above argument?
set up a photoshoot , with those colurs that will have the best effects wit a Lomo-chemistry....keep in mind that conversion of colors will be happening due to vignetting as well....anything that will support what you try to convey with your image....
that's different than Lomo-ing after the facts ;).....So, raise your level and photographic eye.....pre-vision!!
again, nothing against photoshop! embrace it, use it!.....but in a responsible manner ;)...just for the mere sake of raising your own level.....if you feel offended, maybe because your photographs rely toooo much on photoshop?...or the level is not there as you would wish ;)
I think what you may not be realizing (or maybe you do) is that Photographers for generations have always taken their photos and altered them in the darkroom for effects as well as to improve their images. Of course you shoot the best photo you can with the style and technique you have learned or aspire to but the dark room will always be where you fine tune the ideas you envisioned whether it's using effects or not. Who's to say the person converting to a Lomo image did not first invision the scene in the Lomo style then used Photoshop (Modern Darkroom) to achieve their final results. After all Photoshop has all the utilities/techniques an old fashion darkroom used to provide, of course in the digital sense. Burning, dodging, vingetting and many many more.
So it's not that anyone converting images or using effects to improve an image in Photoshop is mindless, I think they're actually expanding their creativity to see what other results they can achieve by first having the vision then using the (Digital) Darkroom to achieve those visions and results.
You may or may not agree with me but in the end it's about how a person is creative and wants to express it, if using photoshop gets them their end result it should be done that way. No one should be criticized for how hey use their creativity just as no one should be criticized for the type of art they create. Everyone has their own style and ideas, let them do their thing. Good shooting to you...
it's not about the opposition against photoshop....if you don't envision beforehand, then it's arm-chair-creativity...lazyng about and mindlessly trying out effects...where is the vision in this? where is the goal and working towards a result the moment you are making the image?
photoshop is great, hey I mean 've been using it since version 2.0...but i also know that this "fx just for the fx" is a shallow way .... so the mastery is doing this already at the inception stage, the moment out make the image....not just to make an image just "interesting"....it's make the path of the the creation so much more interesting ;)....
the question is....are you a photographer/creator or just a mindless-soul-less photoshopper ;)
Very cool!!!
I'm not sure why, but my posts with images are disappearing. The images aren't too big - 300x400.
Anyway, this tutorial has pointed out a Photoshop bug. If your selection wanders outside of the image size, it won't feather correctly. Only the portions within the image area will be feathered.
For landscape-format images, with a circle that exceeds the top and bottom, instead of a circular vignette effect, you end up with an hourglass-shaped effect.
See my two pictures here for a visual explanation, and more words:
Test post. Please ignore.
OK, my original post disappeared for some reason. Sorry if this is repeat.
This tutorial pointed out a Photoshop bug ("feature") to me.
If you make a circular selection that goes partly outside of the frame of the image, when you feather the selection, only the portion of the selection within the image will feather.
You expect a circular marquee + Levels adjustment to give you this:
[eimg url='http://lh4.ggpht.com/_QpI-PdUWeic/S5lLPcbt7OI/AAAAAAAAKMk/xPcz_rWSAJQ/Feather%20solution.jpg' title='Feather%20solution.jpg']
... but instead you get this:
[eimg url='http://lh5.ggpht.com/_QpI-PdUWeic/S5lLPyg0jaI/AAAAAAAAKMs/fiGb5XFha4M/Feather%20problem.jpg' title='Feather%20problem.jpg']
The way to get exactly what you want is to first add to the canvas area on all sides, make the selection, feather it, and then perform the operations desired (Levels adjust). After that, crop back to the original image size. What a pain... Does anyone know a simpler way?
OK, this tutorial pointed out to me a flaw in Photoshop, which will impact the output of this process.
You'd expect a feathering of a circular marquee to produce a circular pattern, right? Well, if your marquee exceeds the edges of your image size, it won't.
Here's what you expect to see:
[eimg url='http://lh4.ggpht.com/_QpI-PdUWeic/S5lLPcbt7OI/AAAAAAAAKMk/xPcz_rWSAJQ/Feather%20solution.jpg' title='Feather%20solution.jpg']
... but here's what you actually get:
[eimg url='http://lh5.ggpht.com/_QpI-PdUWeic/S5lLPyg0jaI/AAAAAAAAKMs/fiGb5XFha4M/Feather%20problem.jpg' title='Feather%20problem.jpg']
So how'd I get the truly circular vignette pattern? First I expanded the canvas, adding a margin on all sides. Then I performed the marquee selection & feathering, and did my Layers/Levels work on the selection. Finally, I cropped the image back to its original dimensions.
This is a great tutorial and personally I don't think it takes away any of the magic of lomo photography at all, this has just inspired me to buy a lomo camera to try the original method.
Thanks :)
Just a couple of alternative / quick steps.
Fristly, if you're shooting in RAW and have Photoshop, you can add vignettes through the 'lens correction' option - it's very quick, tweakable, and looks brilliant. This is my preferred method.
Also - there is a cross-process preset in the 'curves' tool. The effect is very strong, but it's tweakable, and I like it too.
I loved this!!! Thanks a lot! Here´s my first experiment.
I really like this effect. The only thing I don't like is losing the layers throughout the process. If you start with the sharpening step you can go RGB->LAB and back and then apply the effects layers (vignette, desaturation, curves). Then you can keep the layers for fine tuning.
Excellent tutorial.
thanks for sharing!
2 thumbs up
really like the effect.Where can i find the original of the tractor.??
Easy peasey. Thanks for the great tut! Here is my shot at it..... http://www.flickr.com/photos/toycamerajunkie/4366436358/
This was a very excellent tutorial - my first time playing with Photoshop and I was able to follow the instructions just fine! Here are the two faux lomo photos I worked on :) Thank you!!
Just came across this and I love it!!!! Thanks for the step by step!!
Great tutorial - thanks!
This is my attempt: http://www.flickr.com/photos/18345944@N00/4335879895/
Thx so much for this tip, i have a Lomo but i wish i could do the same thing with my DSLR.
i liked the lomo effect. but about tutorials steps it was not user friendly for understanding. i think we have to go very proper & giving sample images very clearly to understand each & every function. at present sample images are not proper.
Love this tip!
Here is my attempt:
before: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mitali/2539820274/in/set-72157605361925599/
after: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mitali/4318383742/
Love this tip! it really works. I love the lomo look and have a couple of iphone apps that lomo-fy iphone photos pretty well but was looking for a way to do that with my dslr pics. thank you :)
It seems like there is some resistance by photographers not to enhance images with certain effects in Photoshop because in their minds, it's cheating. Here's my thought for them: that's cool - don't use Photoshop. For us, we consider ourselves more artists that only photographers, so we have no problems using tools to enhance our art. The creativity then moves to the application of the effects. If you don't feel comfortable using Photoshop or feel cheap doing it, you should stick with that angle. We've met professional photographers who will pull a film camera out for a few shots in a session to create a cool experience for the customer. That's not something that we do, but I can definitely see the value in doing it.
This tutorial is great and I'm really pleased with my first attempt. Thanks so much!
Hey, one question - you said set Radius to 50%, but mine only has pixels not percentage, what would that be then?
AWESOME! I miss my lomo and haven't shot with one in over 10 years, this brings back memories and i thank you for this tutorial! My first attempt at "lomofication" [eimg url='http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs126.snc3/17366_262706445285_688130285_3894588_5490179_n.jpg' title='17366_262706445285_688130285_3894588_5490179_n.jpg'] not to shabby :)
In Gimp is function in Image>mode>decompose the you have to choose LAB. After this you get new workarea with your image in LAB as a layers whre layers have name a b and lightnes. Then you should deselect eyes in layers a and b and click on lightness where you should use unsharp mask. When you finish you can go back to image>mode and choose compose (all this in photo in LAB, you can close rgb photo before we dosent need it any more). Then you should choose LAB as compose part and click OK.
Realy impressive!!!
Thanks for this tutorial.
Very nice. Here is my effort.
@last comment: It's a russian manufacturer of cameras an optics
What does LOMO stand for??? its also a nice effect kinda like HDR images.
Here is my contribution !
Worth the steps it takes to acheive. Thanks!
I like this tutorial. But I want see another application on human skin.
Brilliant...this is exactly what I'm lookin' 4!......THANKS YOU SO MUCH, Dude!!!!!
HELP! HELP! I have GIMP and i cant get past the mode>lab color step
whats the equivalent of this in GIMP? anyone?
i dont know how to make my photo to its normal picture after my digital cam broken it turns into black and white...help how to make his color normal like other picture...thanks
great article. i've played around with these techniques and while they work I have concluded that you really can't beat the real thing. I just managed to get a cheap lomo on ebay, spent 5 bucks on new light seals and i am off!
Interesting effect actually, was not aware of the name of this effect before reading this article.
My Lomo Experiments http://tgcg4.com/lomo-experiments
awesome tutorial. i just tried this and it looks wonderful, i love the effect. thanks for the article!
very nice pictures and thanks for the lessons
hey...i just done this effect...
i'm using the same picture as yours for a comparison..
and the result didn't satisfied me...
it's being totally different..
1st...when i'm starting to do this...its all went well...
but then...after i add curves layer and done the slanted s...it's not quite the same as yours..
i push da problem away as i so excited to see the result...
i tought that it just a minor problem that can be fix later...
then the major problem occur...
that's when i started to read the sharpening and saving section..
it just went wrong all of sudden..
the result...well..dissapointed...
i hope u can tell, help and explain to me....
i really love your tutorial..
before: [eimg url='http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg231/nicholbrown/calitrip413.jpg' title='calitrip413.jpg'][img]
after: [eimg url='[IMG]http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg231/nicholbrown/lomo2.jpg' title='lomo2.jpg'][/img]
I love this technique, may not be spot on (no light leaks, etc) but it gives a similar feel. Best tutorial of this technique yet.
cool tutorial
here's my first trial of a lomo on my flickr photostream
i made it applying the points above. please check it out, and let me know how i can make it better
I think this was great, I learned a lot about the history/aesthetic of lomo and now I am interested in trying out the real thing. Thanks for this tutorial, you rock!
and to the poster 'eh'. Yeah, I can understand that digital manipulation is NOT the same as the art of traditional photography, But get this: Times have changed, and so have the ways of photography and art. All through out history art has always 'upgraded' to new ways of creating. Art is not about following an exact way of creating but just CREATING. Photoshop is just a new method to post processing. Even the masters such as Ansel Adams post processed in the wet darkroom. I am not saying the image should not be captured correctly, with incorrect composition, or exposure. However if your afraid of loosing your job, maybe your photos aren't that great to begin with. If your going to gripe, learn how to sell your traditional prints, with wet room editing (or are you against this too?) OR learn how to use photoshop.
anyway- thanks again for this tutorial, you did a great job writing it. I found it informative and very easy to follow.
Anyone can achieve that effect without having to purchase or use that software program. I copied the tractor and simply adjusted the hue ratio and contrast spectrum depth.
Very easy to do in paint. I'm a professional photographer and very little is needed to achieve this kind of effect, as well as others with just Paint program.
Of course if you want to step it up a notch, photoshop is your best bet. But save yourself $300, it's worth it if your only trying to get this very simply result. [img]https://dl-web.dropbox.com/get/Photos/My%20Photos/02-3.jpg?w=43ee0f1c[/img]
Wow great tutorial! I'm really wondering how to make my picture like this.
Hi, I have a question. Can we straight away snap a lomo using DSLR without using photoshop to edit?
Hi Jason,
We created an online tool to apply effects easily. Please check our web site at http://www.befunky.com/
Oh! And we have a kind of Lomo effect here: http://www.befunky.com/create/photo-effects/Lomoart/
I hope you like it. I would much appreciate it if you could give us your feedback using our feedback form.
Have fun
Hi Jason,
We created an online tool to apply effects easily. Please check our web site at http://www.befunky.com/
Oh! And we have a kind of Lomo effect here: http://www.befunky.com/create/photo-effects/Lomoart/
I hope you like it. I would much appreciate it if you could give us your feedback using our feedback form.
Have fun
I wonder how long it would take to memorize all those steps??
wow, so easy and has a great result that looks like i know what i'm doing! thanks! :)
great tut. amazing color and detail. thanks so much!
thank you guy, it's perfect~effect :)
My latest Lomo:
Great tutorial, i think i will choose 'Lomography' as one of my interest
Great, thanks... I've been wanting to use it but never made time to learn it...
@gene Try this: http://www.shutterfreaks.com/Tips/GettingStartedPS.html
Jesse, Is there a tutorial on how to record?
@bahiry Yes you can. You can "record" all the steps as an action. Then you simply "play" the action. However, I suggest you go through the steps a few times to understand them, that way if your action gets corrupted, you already know the steps to recreate them.
This may be a real silly question but is there anyway i can save all the steps above into one filter..? Sorta like something i can just set once and quickly reload and apply to future projects...?
Took the first picture and went through the steps very carefully, and I didn't get to the final version. Somewhere in there is missing a step.
This was cool! CS3 took away the paint bucket tool so it doesn't look like it should but it's still really good.
i love this tutorial....:)
thank you for this tutorial. i'm editing a vacation photo to be given as a present for my boyfriend. it's gonna look great on a cool frame. :)
Thanks for this great tutorial. Probably one of the most effective in existence for achieving this sought-after effect. As to all the controversy, it's a lot like film vs. digital or vinyl vs. CD (vs. digital) music - there are some purists who somehow are offended (or threatened) by the fact that new ways of doing things make creating images easier and more accessible.
Digital is a reality (it sounds silly trying to have to convince people of that in 2009) - I personally don't have any problem with tools or techniques that enable more people to achieve (or simulate) certain effects.
Here's my attempt:
That is sooo cool!!! I always wanna buy a Lomo, but I don't think I will use it a lot.
You found out a way to make my photos look like Lomo photography without buying Lomo!!!
Thanks a LOT :)
This is so informative! I looooove the Lomo look. I have a Lomo filter on my iPhone for all the photos I take on it. I can't wait to try this on PS and maybe record my own action. Thanks!
I agree with Lisa, I am new here and couldn't find the forum. Here's my shot at it. Very neat!
The freeware PhotoScape has a film effect like this. :) Just one click and your photos look Lomo.
For those who oppose this technique...
Most photographers use Photoshop. It's 2009. Seriously.
I personally love shooting film and digital, and I love creating interesting effects in Photoshop. There are many looks that you just can't get with traditional photography anymore. It's the evolution of technique. Some of the most popular effects you see being used these days in commercial photography are digitally produced. Some are good, some are bad. It's a matter of using techniques that fit your photography, and your client's needs. A lot of times you may be shooting digital, but you may want to enhance your photos to match a brand or personality, and Photoshop is really useful tool. There's a time and place for film and for digital. It's a matter of knowing what to use when, experimenting and having an open mind to the capabilities of the tools at your disposal. I think people are spending too much time being judgmental, and less time being creative.
Great tutorial but a lengthy process that can be done quickly in HDR editing, except for the vignette.
HDR, if used correctly can re create all of the darkroom chemical tricks mentioned here and with less fuss and sorter times in post.
Thanks for posting this, it really gets the brain juice flowing.
can i ask which photoshop version are you usng?
nice job btw=D
classic tips .... tried n colors are popping out ........... thanks a lot for the tip[s
Here's a before and after. I love this technique. I wanted to post to a forum as requested above, but I'm new here and I wasn't sure which one to choose.
I've always loved the look Lomo pics... great tut and nice results! Thanks for sharing.
This was one of the most AMAZING tutorials I've ever seen. Thank you so much for putting this out there for people like me (who don't have that much experience with photoshop yet). I really appreciate it. :)
This is by far one of the best tutorials! thank you so much!
Before and after. I just passed over this photo so many times as a random tourist pic. Now I really like it!
That's a handy tip right there. I love how these shots come out.
Thanks a lot for this! Can't wait to try it for myself.
what's lomo to begin with :D
Your tutorial rocks! i
I've tried some other technique but the result from yours is the best :)
Thank you :)
This tutorial makes me want to make out with you. I love this look so much that I purchased PS just to achieve it and your tutorial was amazingly simple to follow. I am loving the effect on my own photos. THANKS!
thanks, great tutorial - i posted my first attempt on
I think it is always important, before you start working on an image, to ask yourself how much can I push this image? In which direction? Popping highlights, boosting Hues. This tutorial for me is a great example of some methods of getting more out of your standard image. Thanks for posting. Tim
This tutorial totally made my day! Thank you so much... I posted the edited photos on my blog:
I was using a pro CPL filter on 18-200 with Nikon D-300 to explore the underexpose area to create Lomo effect. I was bracketing in manual single mode, i tried m-up mode but i was not satisfied. The image was then normalized using CaptureNX. The grain was "bubbled".
Thank you Darren Rowse for this nice tutorial. I loved this effect and created two using your steps.
You can check them at " http://www.flickr.com/photos/itsbhanu/sets/72157620236955996/ "
Thanks for a great tips. My first LOMOs are here
Thanks for a great tips. My first LOMOs are here
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Thanks for the great advice! Here's my result:
GREAT job! thank you tooo much! this was the best photo tutorial yet!!!!! Thnx)
I got confused as well, i didn't get the lomo effect as a result :(
i tried doinq this and i qot completely confused. i need help!
Super cool effect! and very very well written tutorial! So easy to follow! It was my first time to use all those photoshop feature things (see, i don't even know how to call 'em), but I can say I was able to achieve the lomo effect just by doing what the tutorial said. The screenshots were also very useful. Thanks! I think I'm going to be visiting this site often! :-)
I personally have had fun with this technique. I altered it slightly by using a Yeelow/Black for the Paint bucket section. I use different variations on the Yellow/black sometimes the Yellow is very promanant and other times the black is and combined it looks almost greenish or dark yellow mustard color. In any case I think this has added even more of what I was looking for in this technique, thanks...
The photo is too crisp to look like a lomograph. A dreamy effect would have had to been created.
Other than that, it looks great.
A few examples using this technique. http://www.flickr.com/photos/25187629@N06/
Thanks again for the tutorial!
This is a great tutorial! I love this lomo effect. Thanks a lot!
Hey, thanks for teaching us how to make our photos look like a Lomo shot. I live in a country where I can't find Lomo cameras to buy, I'd have to import from BHphoto or something and that isn't cheap, especially now a days.
I understand the people that are judging and saying that "photoshopping everything doesn't make you a photographer" but some people LIKE using Photoshop, sometimes just for fun. It's not like everybody that uses Photoshop is a bad photographer. To each, their own, right?!
..The reason I'm opposing this is because this is just lazy , and from the cofort of a chair...
If the photograph doesn't turn out the way you want then clicking all the effects after each other...that's lazyness without vision...in fact a click-monkey...
Now, if there are a couple of situations where one would use this..
-your photography sucks so you need effects to distract it
-make a photograph and this will enhance it...i.e. vision afterwards (so the photograph in first instance didn't work out
so far it has nothing to do with being good at photography....
you envisioned it before making the shot, making sure it meets all the criteria for an optimized result, take the shot (in this case one could make it even with a real lomo, as the vision is there)...and if need be with photoshop, improve/tweak the photoshop technique to fit it in your concept...
this is then good photography with vision...
which one earns more respect? and make you a photographer?
What a great tutorial thanks a lot for such tutorial, I tried to make one of my photo with the instructions...
You can check it out on http://www.flickr.com/photos/35613110@N06/3554924970/
Great tutorial. Thanks so much, I was looking for info on how to achieve an effect like this but I didn't
even know it was lomo photography that I was after . I will use this enhancement often I'm sure.
Thanks again, Denise
This tutorial was super easy, even for a lame Photoshop hack like me. And the result was cool. Thanks for the great tutorial!
www.picnik.com is a free photo-editing site (limited features but you can also upgrade) that has a simple button called "lomo-ish" that is part of the free package. All you do is upload your photo, click "lomo-ish" and voila. Someone referred me to the site a couple days ago and I've been playing with it. Lots of other features you can use too.
wow, its really sweet. i wish i could be using film but per shot, its so expensive, and im poor! =(
check out my results dopped down on a flower! http://www.flickr.com/photos/27659703@N02/3499162761/
I tried it out but it didn't come out right for me. Then again, I'm using photoshop 7.0. =(
ok, so why make a lomo effect if you can use a lomo -- that's fine you think that way. Why, for that matter, try to emulate steel if you can just go out and take a pic of steel. Or wood, gravel, rain, 3D letters, heaven, hell, and everything in between. Less painstaking and easier just to take a good shot in-camera by knowing your camera, lighting, exposures, f-stops, composition -- the technical and artistical part, isn't it? So now photoshop is pointless. Editing is null. Now we're out of a job and knocking on your window asking for spare change or if you'll buy my painting on cardboard.
Photoshop is NOT made for photographers, it's made for graphic designers. Whether/not they're photographers doesn't matter.
My point: if you're gonna gripe about something you can do in photoshop to make DIGITAL art, you've best not do it in a forum for digital art.
Didn't you use Urban Acid's Acidfy to have that color? How come you didn't specify that in this tutorial?
Okay, who cares about the lomography philosofy is, sure its good, but I can take photographs random without any real composure, with my dslr. What lomograph does is create an amazing effect and thats great, but with a dslr you don't need to buy a lomography camera, thats what its great about this tutorial and you can make sure the effect looks just how you want it too.
Wow, I love this. I do a lot of point and shooting type photography with with my digital camera while riding (I ride/race bike a lot) and this really add a lot to the look and to the end designs and photos that I use. Thanks for sharing.
Haha. LOMO elitists. Back in college I shot quite a bit with a Lomo. That was before the "scene" found out about them so they cost about what they were worth. But it isn't the cost that keeps me from shooting with a LOMO now...it's pain of dealing with film. Without a color darkroom I have absolutely no interest in dealing with film anymore.
With photoshop, I can take what I like from "lomography" and leave out what I don't. It's about results, not technique. If I wanted to recreate a photo made with a lomo, could I? No. Need to make it with a lomo for that. But one can come pretty close and go from RAW to TIFF in less time than it takes for a lab to process it.
Anyway, people should do what they want. Whatever makes them happy.
Yeah it's a great tutorial! You ask to share the result on forum after doing this tutorial. I wanna ask if what I did to my images is correct. But I dont know where should I put that Images. Can u please tell me, where is the right section to put that images? I need a guide. Or you can check the images on my blog
Great tutorial!
There's just one thing;
Some of the photos aren't showing up for me, and this is preventing me from doing it properly, especially the curves one ):
Could someone please give me the actual values for the curves layer step?
Hehehe, i hope Tim Shelbourne is not upset. Hehehe. :-)
My before and after.
The lomo effect is great, but the whole thing about lomo is that it ISN'T so sharp and is slightly blurry. My method is to use lens blur ever so slightly on the final image, and apply a noise layer and gaussian blur to simulate film grain for the most authentic looking LOMO effect...
i tried this with some uninteresting photos of skittles vodka being made
i love this tip.. =) i just read it.. although i haven't tried it yet.. =) i love the effect it showed on your sample photo too...
For those complaining, when did you stop using pigments on cave walls?
I guess I'm a little bored I wanted to share one more I did a few days later
thanks for the tutorial...here's my version
what a useful tutorial! I used to do the cross processing using slide film back in the good old days, and find the photoshop cross process filter no way replicates the original technique! Im off to utilise this new knowledge
That's a really nice effect. Not something you see very much of on websites today. I've got the perfect website design for that! Thanks, great post.
Here was my attempt. the process I used is similar, let me know what you think.
Behind my link, an alternative script-fu for the GIMP to achieve the Lomo effect. Comments welcome!
to whoever sayd lomos are for those who cant use photoshop thats rubbish
1) this is called the lomo effect, no lomo users no lomo effect,
lomo is about spontinuity and i personally think people who create it on photoshop are pretty lazy not to go and shoot not knowing whats going to happen, tis the point of it.
to whoever wanted to know how to do it on paintshop, the cross process on the time machine tured up full creates quite a lomo-esk effect
i may be a lomographer but i know a couple of things
im trying to do the lomo look and its not workin past the 3rd layer step where you add a layer on top of other 2 and fill in with black...its not workin. im usin photoshop cs version 8. thanks
great tutorial! before i read this, i've always wanted to have a holga but now i don't need one. hee thanks!
I must say that your tutorials are always well-written...
Great tutorial, works well on the images I have taken. It suits SOME subjects well and I'm a sucker for a retro look anyway!
wow,dude that took 5 yrs out of my life when i was 6 yrs old and didnt know how to run anything on the computer and now i own one of the most visited websites in US
I really don't understand it. A crap result taken on a crap camera. What is the point. If your Canons and Nikons produced results like these then you would be extremely unhappy, so why would you want to produce crappy results, just because you can.
Great tutorial - simple to follow/fantastic results. Funny though, reading through the comments I get the impression that SOME people just love to complain/over complicate & ultimately contradict the greater scheme of things, including themselves....strange wasn't that what this tutorial was accused of!?! Sure LOMO is fun/easy and yes I own a series of Lomo-esque cameras myself, but I also LOVE having the freedom and convenience to manipulate any photo I like, achieving results that are never ever guaranteed with an actual LOMO camera. At the end of the day I'm an artist who draws immense satisfaction from both digital and manual photography. I mean, who said you couldn't do both.......
Thank you so much for posting for all to use. I have been searching for how to achieve this look for some time. Directions were very easy to follow. A couple of things don't seem the same in Elements 7, but it was easy to take an alternate path to get the same look. Here is my attempt http://www.flickr.com/photos/centerstagestudios/3243968685/ Now I just need a take a better image.
One word...COOL!
Love it! Thanks for sharing this great tutorial!
Any way to do this in Aperture? Thanks!
Frank can I just say thankyou you are a lifesaver! I've been half-heartedly searching for a Lomo/Holga camera for a few months on ebay but didnt really want to spend $200 just for something I would be using more for side projects and hobbies, this is an absolutely fantastic tutorial, one of the most well explained and helpful tutorials I have come across of recent times, also can I say thankyou for another reason, I am entering a local photography competition tomorrow which I won last year so I have a bit of pressure on me to produce the goods again and I was sitting here looking at this plain, boring image thinking god what do I do with this. That was until I stumbled across your tutorial and now I couldnt be any happier with the image!Thanks mate hope to hear back from you!
Dude you're awesome, thanks for the tip.
I really like this effect and can't wait to try it out. Thanks for posting this tutorial!
I remember reading this when it first cropped up on good-tutorials.com back in 2006 and I have been using it ever since.
It completely opened my eyes to experimenting with the other colour sets in Photoshop. LAB produced some incredible results and I use it all the time.
Thanks for the great tutorial! heres some pics i was able to make using it. let me know what you think. thanks!
Here's my try, Thanks for the tutorial.
Great tutorial! The reds seem to keep most of their color, at least in relation to the background, which seems to fade away. The look is spot on. I wonder whether people prefer this more for a sense of nostalgia, or out of taste for the effect itself?
Great tutorialand look.
Thanks for the tutorial!
Here's the result on my end: http://flickr.com/photos/saraolive/3152912292/
I like having the action script in two parts, the part up until the flattening and mode change, and then the mode change and sharpening in another script. That way you can edit the levels, curves, and black opacity to fine tune it to the particular photo.
Select the Vignette, then record it from there, that way you can also fine-tune the vignette area.
Great article.. thanks for sharing!
great article, i can create my first lomo with your tutorial & i love it. thanks.
sorry ! i didn't Lomifed my picture. -- despit following this ~~. making the vignette is not useful, useing gradeitent tool is better.
Guys, I hate to rain on your parade, but why not just posting a FREE "Photoshop Lomo Action"?? Besides, if you got a full version of Photoshop (CS2 and up, that is), there is no need to limit yourself to one look. Write yourself those actions for every mood and style, and then run all your images through one or another. However, it is not "lomography", it is "pixophrenia". You know why the former is much more popular than the latter? Full version of CS4 is currently $699, although there are workarounds.
nice. i mean its really good to have those photos done in a more authentic manner but your's is a great option also for those who fancy computers.
but it's altogether fitting to play by the rules.. photgraphy is about capturing light.. i mean " photgraphy"
..haha, i'm such a hypocrite... i've been dying to buy myself a professional cam, that's why..
to Dax Xylnos' comment
maybe it is fake, but thats the idea of it! unfortunetly not everyone has the right equipment, and its up to personal opinion what u want from your photography!
and as to part(b) of your answer, thats the most ignorant and narrow-minded thing i've heard said about photography! cowards who hide behind their computer?!? what a load of crap, theres many different types of photography and digital imaging is one of them, if u dont like it then thats fine but people still take a lot of pride in going out and taking the photos, then they use the results of their photography for further development. A applaud the people who still use film cameras but whether you like it or not this is still photograhy, and its done by some very talented photographers!
cool effect.I lov the look.
this digital imitating is
a) fake...it loses the true spirit of actually doing something photographically...
b) for cowards who want to play it safe behind their computers.....it;'s not about photography or photographers....
thanks. this is an awesome tutorial :D
Worked beautifully, even though I have GIMP.
here's my effort.
WOW!!!! LOVE IT!!! I really know only basics in photoshop but you explained it to me that well that i managed to do it. it just looks GREAT!!
Thanks a lot!!!
Stephanie from Austria
This is an amazing tutorial. I went out and got Photoshop once I saw this because it's such an amazing difference! THANKS A MILLION!
Whether or not this follows rules or guidelines of Lomo photography, it still is an art to achieve such results utilizing other technological resources. While it may seem more reasonable to purchase a Lomo camera and just shoot with that, it may be beneficial to the art to continue to explore further. This way of processing is just another set of tools in the photographer's box. Some people get hair replacement surgery and some people aren't too scrupulous to find out where the hair came from. Some people leave long comments too! Interesting article.
Stefan, Isn't one of the rules of Lomo photography to disregard all the rules?
BTW, good tut.
I Love that and I've kept the Lomo philosophy ...
I shoot without thinking,It's to shoot anything,from the hip ... with my digital camera.
well... Thought like worth to try to work on real lomo images to make `em even more colorful and lomo-like :) but... no. it becomes kinda overcontrasted and lots of nuances disappear. (Yes, I did my best, being careful)
Still the technique works for some folks above, so great. Let's just not forget that lomo isn't only about colors, surprise and shooting from the hip. It's also about sharpness. For example, old Diana pictures look sharper in the center - maybe this is a good idea for the additional processing step :)
good article, thx, very usefull and simple.
Love the tutorial! I used it for a pic it took of my niece I took during the wind storms that hit the Midwest coming up off of Ike. It already had a very creepy sort of lighting and color too it, so it was great for this Lomo effect. Turned out beautiful! Thanks!
I don't have photoshop but I'll try it in SeaShore. I think that photo is much improved, really looks great. Don't understand the hate towards the use photo editing software to emulate Lomo photo but hey, there's always gonna be haters.
Superb tutorial! I love this technique. Thank you!
Great tutorial! Easy and fun to do! Awesome results!!!
Thanks a LOT!!! ;)
This was a fun tutorial. I think I'll definitely be trying it again. Here is my first attempt at the Lomo Effect.
Thank you so much for this tutorial! :-)
very nice tutorial, thanks!
Thanks....easy to understand and right to the point!
really insigthful!
I've been itching to try lomo photography for quite long time already but i'm out of resources and time.This will really help me take the step...:)
it's amazing...
i like this effect,, but for me photograph it's about make apicture, not take a picture..
so you made a picture verry well
Good tutorial! The lomo effect is great, I always desired my photos to look like this kind of photography.
I understood everything, because it's been written clearly and then I tried to make my own lomo-stylized photo.
It's here:
Photographs produced by Lomo cameras are amazing....but, I think you just found the ultimate replacement.
"Regardless, photography is still a process in which a medium lies between the artist and the final result. I don't think there is anything negative about it."
Well put, and completely true.
Props for this tutorial, I've been looking for a long time! Yay for stumble!
do you have steps for CS3?
this one is much like the one on this tutorial, as for the colors:
Lovely tutorial. This effect really does wonderful things for cars, and it's perfect for isolation and getting a nice, dirty feel without losing detail. Thanks for sharing this (and don't listen to the nay-sayers :)
and this one :)
here are another few:
Mine is here, I liked it :)
there is a much easier way!
under layers go to the half circle button and click black and white.
then it creates a new layer that makes the photo black and white.
set it to overlay, and you've got the same effects!
Fantastic. Here's my first try: http://www.flickr.com/photos/morningstone/2655079504/in/photostream/
Here's my first attempt:
Thanks for this wonderful tutorial!
Thx for sharing!
Here's my first try on how-to-lomo-your-pictures:
omg. I don't understen it. :( effect is great but I can't do it.
Thank you for posting this! At the moment, I don't have a budget to get a LOMO camera. But i'm very hopeful. I may just have to stick for this one before i can get the real one. ^_^
this is way too cool dude.. comes in handy!
here's what I did:
Thanks for this tutorial! Will try it and see if get the effect I am after.
not bad. but i got better technique than u did here..
lomo cam is only for people who couldnt use photoshop properly.
GREAT job! thank you sooo much! this was the best tutorial yet!!!!! THANK YOUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
thank you for the tutorial. I've tried mine. and it came out perfect.
My work (with vintage effect) http://the89s.deviantart.com/art/Vintage-and-Lomo-86367634
Thanks a lot for your wonderful and informative tutorial, it helps me so much for my next photosession :-) Best regards from Germany Sue
is there such thing as a lomo digital camera
I don't see how this process is slower that actual lomography. It goes pretty fast. Film cameras go through chemical development processes before the end product. Photoshop is a digital version of that development process for digital photos. Regardless, photography is still a process in which a medium lies between the artist and the final result. I don't think there is anything negative about it.
Concerning digital and film...I have a Diana and a Smena as well as a digital rebel that I just ordered a lensbaby for. I like to use all my cameras. The film cameras are great and really fun to use. Film is more work but really fun getting back....like opening a present cause you don't know exactly how the images are gonna turn out. However, digital offers instant gradification and more control than the real toy cameras. It's all great. To me, its about creating great images and having fun. Weither its digital or film, the final product is what matters to me. Let people have fun and quit trying to push your own preferred process or personal creative convictions on others. (to those who like to do that) No one wants a plain ole digital image. Of course we want them to have character and style. Photoshop is such a brillant software. Use it up.
very nice, thanks man :)
Thanks for the tuto, I've used for first time with the lomo effect, and I love it, congratulations and thanks
Here the result, I hope you like it
Stephen is a lomo snob.
this is a cool tutorial!
I'm here for exactly the reason posted by Daniel in his last post.
Here's my first lomo, using another technique though:
In all fairness tho, it did take a quite a bit of creativity and retro engineering. I'll give you that. Besides, if you cant get a lomo but you HAVE to have that look,....
isnt this alot like acid washed levi's or those rediculous perma dirty jeans? "oh look dahling!, with a mere 300 dollars , I can look just like the little people , but without that icky feeling of being so unclean!"
For everyone who doesn't understand why some people like "fake it digitally, allow me to explain.
1."official" lomo cameras should cost in the single digit dollar range most of them, but you can't buy them for less than 50. I can go to the local dollar store and buy a no flash, no focus, 35mm cheap plastic camera and get "lomo" shots with it fairly easily. You still have to deal with the hassles of film though. Doing the effect in photoshop allows you to take any digital camera, even a point and shoot and then get a lomo-esque photo with it. It doesn't even have to hurt the lomo spirit. You can stil lshoot from the hip and not think and all that.
Awesome. Would massively appreciate a similar tutorial for paint shop pro though, any idea where I might find one? Have been looking but with no luck...
Two techniques for Photoshop Elements users can be found here:
Can you post a similar turotial for those of us who use Photoshop Elements? Thanks so much!
This tutorial was rly awesome ^^
And very easy to follow :)
Thx a lot for sharing ^^
Great tutorial, thank you! You can see the results of my efforts with it here: http://philippaphotography.blogspot.com/2008/02/different-lomo-effect-tutorial.html
i did it and it worked perfectly, but i dont have jpeg under the image types for saving???
i love this, thanks so much!
Wow, I love this technique, it worked well for me! I really like the Lomo look but don't know if I'll get the camera, so this alternative is really appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to share!
Thanks. This is a great tutorial!!
I have one question how or what steps would you take to make 35 mm slides or film from digital pictures? I can not find it anywhere
I almost bought a lomo, but instead got a nice SLR for a gift. I did this tutorial with awesome results.. I still might buy a lomo for kicks, but now i can create the effect from my digital images. thanks. any other tricks?
I thought i was good at photoshop, but there's obviously a lot more to learn.
Its funny i posted my first lomo on the local digital web site and members said it looked more an HDR than lomo :)
really cool effect dude. I searched a long time for a decent tute with a decent effect like this one.
Finally someone who explains why you have to do this , do that , ....
Can someone please help me re create this in paintshop pro.
@Stephen - lomography is expensive, the cameras cost a bomb considering what actually goes into them, and running film through them damn near makes me cry, why shouldn't people use digital to replicate the same effects??
I have an LC-A+ and a holga, and hate the associated costs (love the images from them both though), and would love to get some of the pictures from my Nikons looking lomographic - will try this at some point soon...
Silly to criticize others for making art. Just because they don't use the same tools as you doesn't mean they're wrong. Open your mind already.
Aha! I have a Lomo Photoshop Filter action that may help speed things along (or screw them up worse) ;)
my work ;) http://www.flickr.com/photos/gorananicic/2091330309/
Thankyou Frank, it was a pleasure to try out.
Great write-up! I love this effect, but i do have one question. You mention in the beginning, "I do have one suggestion though, create an action script once get this down, it will save you a ton of time." What is an "Action Script"?
Nice effect. This totally cool!
Nice tutorial. Thanks for the Photoshop help!
I agree, digitally recreating flaws that are part of Lomography contradicts the whole reason of Lomography in the first place.
It doesn't make sense why you would go to such trouble to emulate something that's ridiculously easy in the first place.
Stephen, your dislike of the photoshop Lomo technique is easily understandable, and the solution is obvious: don't do it. Your sanctimonious lecture to everyone else about what they should do, however, is annoying. Do you like people issuing disapproving dictates on your photographic work? I didn't think so.
10 on the Coolness scale!
Thank you
So how can I take my Lomo images and make them look like they were taken with a Nikon D200?
Thank you for the tutorial. I immediately tried on one of my photos and it's amazing. It also motivated me into getting a real lomo camera to play with.
hey! what a coincidence. i have recently discovered lomo and fell in love with the crazy colours and feel.
but i didnt get one as i already have a digital slr (and gone kinda broke for the other stuff i bought for it .. ha ha..)
then i googled (i love googling and that's how i found this site too) to learn how to lomolised my pictures. i found some great sites on this. the steps i used although the pretty similar but they are easier. but it's up to which ps u are using i guess...
one great effect...
thanks man...
Oh wow. This brings back memories...This was the post that caused me to return to film. (But I still shoot digital as well.)
I don't like this.
It takes away from the whole spirit of lomography.
The whole point of lomography is to use a lomo.
It's to shoot without thinking.
It's to shoot anything.
It's to shoot from the hip.
Turning photos taken by a dslr into lomo look-a-likes is just wrong.
It's like dressing up a modern sports car and trying to pass it off as a classic.
If you want to shoot lomo then go buy a lomo, they are cheap.
And trust me, theres no sustitute for an actual lomo.
I have really been looking for something like this for a long time, I'm going to give it a go, thanks!
sorry, there's the photo
I used to do this all the time before I got an LC-A but this is a new approach to the effect that I've never even tried before. Nice.
This article was run on istockphoto.com a little over a year ago. Luckily, by the same author. :)
Love this effect.
Hasn't this been run before here?
Very cool effect. The colors really "pop".