Kodachrome

Kodachrome brings back the colour you see when you look through old family slides. Not because nostalgia sells, but because that colour does something to a photograph. Warm shadows, rich midtones, a gentle glow in the highlights. Colours that feel like the sun was in exactly the right place at the right time.

The preset selectively boosts saturation, with emphasis on reds, oranges and yellows. Cool tones are pulled back slightly, which keeps skin warm and lets skies hold their colour without tipping into oversaturation. Contrast sits in the midtones rather than the extremes, so shadow detail stays visible and highlights don't clip. The result has the density of a well-exposed slide without making the image feel heavy.

Kodachrome works well with street photography during golden hour: low sun hitting a building facade, people walking through a lit shopping street, market scenes full of fruit and fabric and movement. Portraits in natural light also benefit from the warm rendering. Skin picks up colour, a white wall behind your subject takes on a gentle warmth. For landscapes with dry grass, bare earth or autumn leaves, the preset amplifies what was already there.

You reach for Kodachrome when you want a photo to communicate immediately where it was taken, in what light, in what mood. Not as style for style's sake, but because the colour supports the content. If you are working on a series in a city in summer, or a reportage at a market or festival, this preset gives the images a consistent feel without making them look identical.

After applying the preset, try pulling exposure down half a stop to a full stop if the scene already had a lot of direct light. Kodachrome lifts highlights, and a slightly lower base exposure gives the colours more depth. Then check the orange hue in the skin tone using HSL and shift it a fraction toward red or yellow depending on your subject's complexion. A small move there makes a visible difference.