I came across this recipe from Ritchie Roesch’s Fuji X Weekly blog. There are many versions of the Portra 400 recipe on his site. I’ve not seen an actual Portrait 400 print before and I’m not trying to produce a digital version of this film stock. I initially dismissed it as an over saturated cheesy vintage look recipe. However, I’ve grown to like the look of this recipe. The trick for me to start by over exposing the scene a little and dealing the exposure back manually.
This recipe imparts a subdued warmer tone to the image while retain the classic chrome look. I initially thought a reduction of highlights and shadows is in conflict with my love of high contrast pictures. However, I realised that the warmer tone of the setting helps balance my love of contrasty images without making them too cold.
Film Simulation: Classic Chrome
Grain Effect: Weak/Small
Colour Chrome Effect: Strong
Colour Chrome FX Blue: Off
White Balance: Auto, R:4 B:-5
Highlight: -1 Shadow: -1
Colour: +2
Sharpness: -2 Noise Reduction: -4