Plain Light
People first, look second.
Colour
- White BalanceAuto, +1 Red, −1 Blue
- Color+1
- Color Chrome EffectWeak
- Color Chrome FX BlueOff
Tone
- Dynamic RangeDR200
- Highlight−0.5
- Shadow+1
Texture
- Grain EffectOff
- Clarity0
- Sharpness0
- High ISO NR−2
Exposure
- ISOAuto, max 6400
- Exposure Comp.0 to +1/3
Why this recipe
Pro Neg. Hi comes from Fuji's studio portrait negatives. Restrained saturation, a little more contrast than Pro Neg. Std, and skin that stays even across a wide range of light.
It's the least decorative simulation in the menu, which is exactly what you want when there's a face in the frame.
Plain Light stays out of the way. It protects bright skin, gives the shadows a floor, adds a touch of warmth and colour, and leaves the file clean. No grain, no Clarity.
In one line: for when the subject is a person rather than a look.
Use it for people, interiors and mixed light. Anything with skin in the frame.
Every photo here is a JPEG straight out of my Fujifilm X-H2S. No editing, no Lightroom, no cropping. Shot in the Alps, Norway and Scotland, and on a portrait shoot by a lake.
Save it to one of the custom slots (C1 to C7). It takes about a minute to type in, and from then on the camera hands you a finished JPEG.
Shoot it in
Portraits, people, interiors and mixed light. Anything with skin in the frame.
Skip it in
Landscape and strong colour, where the restraint just reads as dull. For colour, Summer Sauce has more to say.
Straight out of camera
No edits. Just the JPEG.
What each setting does
Built from the bottom up.
A recipe is easier to trust when you know why every value is there.
Film Simulation
Pro Neg. Hi comes from Fuji's studio portrait negatives: restrained saturation, a little more contrast than Pro Neg. Std, and skin that stays even across a wide range of light.
It's the least decorative simulation in the menu. That's the whole point when there's a face in the frame.
White Balance shift
Auto, +1 Red, −1 Blue. A fraction of the warmth my other recipes run.
Just enough to keep skin alive, not enough to tint it.
Dynamic Range, Highlight, Shadow
DR200 with Highlight −0.5 keeps bright skin off the clipping point. Shadow +1 gives the frame a floor without hardening it.
DR200 needs twice the base ISO, which means ISO 320 or higher on the X-H2S.
Color
Color +1. It lifts the palette slightly and leaves the rest to the simulation.
Clothes and backgrounds get a little life, skin stays skin.
Color Chrome Effect
Weak. Enough to hold gradation in the few strong colours in a scene, without pulling attention away from the person.
Grain, Clarity, Sharpness, Noise
Grain Off, Clarity 0, Sharpness 0. The only clean file in my cookbook. High ISO NR −2 keeps it smooth without smearing detail.
No Clarity also means no pause after each shot, which helps when people are moving.
Quick start
- Put it on a custom slot (C1 to C7) and set ISO to Auto with a max of 6400.
- Start at 0 exposure comp, go up to +1/3 for bright skin tones.
- Use it when people are the subject. Switch to a stronger recipe for landscapes.
Works on
- All X-Trans V bodies
- X-Pro3
- X-T4
- X100V
- X-S10
- X-E4
- X-T30 II
Older bodies like the X-T3 and X-T30 may not offer every value, so treat it as a direction there.
Plain Light
Thanks for reading.
@danieljschwarzSave it · Tag me · Share it with a Fuji friend
If you try Plain Light, I'd love to see what it does with your portraits. Tag me on Instagram at @danieljschwarz, that's also where I post new recipes first.
Plain Light is recipe 06 in My Fuji Cookbook. The full book with twelve recipes is in my shop.
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