Ektachrome

Ektachrome has a quiet confidence. No warm glow, no vintage amber. What you get instead is cooler, more restrained, almost clinical at first glance. And yet every image starts to feel like a frame from a film. That is the character of the original Kodak Ektachrome slide film, and that is what this preset is built around: a light blue-green cast that gives photographs a cinematic distance without making them feel cold.

Technically, the preset works from the shadows outward. The deep tones pick up a subtle blue-green shift, while the midtones stay mostly neutral or cool slightly. Highlights are pulled back rather than pushed, creating a soft contrast that feels deliberate. Colour saturation sits a touch lower than Lightroom's default, so colours register without competing for attention. Skin tones remain usable but take on a measured, slightly muted quality, the kind you see in photojournalism from the 1970s. Think National Geographic spreads shot on location. Think the opening reels of Apocalypse Now.

The preset suits street photography in hard daylight with sharp shadows. Architecture responds well to the cool palette, especially concrete, glass, and steel. Landscapes under overcast skies or in morning mist translate naturally into the film aesthetic. Portraits in open shade or diffused light work well too, though skin tone may need a small nudge in the HSL panel depending on your subject. Ocean light, fog, empty car parks, a face behind glass: Ektachrome turns them into something considered.

You reach for Ektachrome when you want to step away from warm, saturated edits. When you want a photograph to hold back a little, to give the viewer room to sit with it. The preset suits photographers who let images speak quietly. It also holds a series together well, because the consistent colour cast creates visual coherence across a set of images without any extra work.

One practical tip: Ektachrome responds well to getting the exposure right before you apply it. Bring your image to a neutral exposure first, then drop the preset in. If vegetation reads too cool, use the Colour Mixer to shift the greens slightly warmer. Small moves go a long way with this one.