Vibrant Portra 400 on my Fujifilm X Pro2

I’ve been trying a Portra inspired recipe on my Fujifilm X Pro2, using it for photographs in London and at Frinton on Sea. The reference I used calls it Vibrant Portra 400.

It isn’t a recipe I created. These are the settings I’ve been using, shown through the subjects I tend to photograph: patterns, people, architecture and everyday details.

The examples are camera JPEGs, with the selected crops used here. Putting the two places together gives a broader view of the results than showing just one type of scene.

Vibrant Portra 400 on my Fujifilm X Pro2. Callum Ecobichon

The settings

Film Simulation: Classic Chrome
Dynamic Range: DR400
White Balance: Daylight
White Balance Shift: Red +2, Blue −5
Highlight: −1
Shadow: −2
Color: +2
Sharpness: −2
Noise Reduction: −4
Grain Effect: Strong

For these photographs, I used Daylight white balance and Shadow −2. Those are the specific settings I chose from the alternatives in the reference.

London examples

The London photographs include stone, concrete and smaller patches of colour. Red trousers against a wooden door, warm light around a staircase and autumn foliage beside a curved building give you three quite different examples.

I like having those subjects together because the photographs still reflect what I was looking for during the day. The recipe is part of the result, alongside the shapes, the light and the people within the frame.

Frinton examples

At Frinton, the same settings appear in rows of colourful huts, open sand and quieter views towards the water.

The beach huts are the most colourful example in this selection. The timber supports and lone figure by the sea show simpler scenes, where the arrangement of lines and space does more of the work.

Those differences are useful when looking at a recipe. You can see it across several subjects, rather than deciding from a single photograph.

Trying the look

The Portra name describes the inspiration here. I’m sharing the settings and examples so you can decide whether you like the look, rather than claiming they exactly reproduce Kodak Portra film.

Save the settings if you’d like to try them on your own photo walk. The separate London and Frinton stories include more photographs from each place, with the patterns and everyday moments that drew me to them.