If not anything, Polaroids can be the new trendsetter for this year. Many people have been seen using the Polaroid effect on their pictures on Instagram recently. This is a good sign for the social media content creators and netizens to get the forecast about the trends that they can follow to stay up to the pace with other people. With these passing years that have been spent in lockdown, people are mostly leaning towards the thought idea of clicking more pictures as a sign of preserving these moments as memories. Honestly, that is the very real meaning of photographs. But with whatever is happening around us, people have found this keen interest in turning their normal photographs into something with more dense touch in it, more like a nostalgic feel. That’s why they are even on Instagram, and you will find a lot of people, mostly teens, are editing their normal photos into such polaroids to get that nostalgic touch and want to sustain it.
From a photographer’s point of view, I can say that photographs do take us to a different time zone once we take a look at them after a certain period of time. Let it be a pre-wedding shoot or a marriage ceremony where the bride threw her bouquet towards her bridesmaids, or a birthday party where the little baby boy or baby girl doesn’t even have any idea that they are being captured and documented on their one-year-old birthday. These moments are the things that we live for, and so to make them even more memorable, photographs are a must. Additionally, just as a vibe check and more emotions, people either take photos from a Polaroid camera or edit their photos into looking like a Polaroid. Lastly, it is all about what matters to you the most and what makes you happy. So now let’s jump into the process :
VISUALIZE YOUR POLAROIDS
In the first step, there are a lot of types of polaroids, and now it is on you which one is the one that attracts you the most. Are they the vintage ones or the dark retro shots that are quite trending with the teens? Don’t worry if you are confused and can’t choose between them, and it’s never a bad idea to want more.
IMPORT THE IMAGES
Organize all the pictures you want to turn into polaroids digitally. The film effect is available in a lot of picture editing apps, so it won’t be a problem for you to achieve that effect for your pictures too.
APPLY THE POLAROID EFFECT
Here’s the real deal, you might get ready-made Polaroid effects to choose from, but you can customize and create your Polaroid preset or filter, whatever suits you.
Here’s a list of some photo editing apps where you can find your ready-made or tailored made presets;
VNTG ( Vintage Photo Cameras): This app is the first of creators who want to turn their photos into polaroids in just one tap. This app comes with several ready-made Polaroid effects, whether it is the mask or the light leaks effect. It also has a variety of grainy films to give your photos that authentic vintage look. It is very easy to use as well, and the accessibility is top tier and very time friendly. And as per the recent updates, this app doesn’t contain any in-app purchases, which means it is totally free and can be easily found in any app store, whether it is Play Store or Apple App Store. Now let’s find out what app is our next stop,
VSCO: Vsco is also one of those creators’ most favorites. Here you will find a lot of filters, and each has a different and uniqueness. You can’t choose one over the other. The filters here are well-segmented, and it is very easy for the user to pick and apply them to their picture. Now let’s talk about the main filters for which we came for, M3 and P5. These filters are your champions in case of turn a picture into a wonder. Both have a very similar effect to the real polaroids, so even if you can’t afford a real Polaroid camera, for now, go ahead with these effects! What’s stopping you from having your own polaroids?
You can adjust the amount of the effect or, let’s say, the strength of the filter according to the real settings and configurations of your original photo. It has some in-app purchases, but it is not necessary that you can’t work without the premium features. You can just take the filters and apply them to your pictures and export them to some other apps for further edits, Easy right?
Do you know the best part? The filters that you will need in this process are totally free. M3 and P5 can be available instantly, and if you are facing a problem, they have their own community where other artists upload their works with the filter mentioned under the post, which might be a great help for you if you are new to this business.
HUJI/ KUJI/ FUJI CAM: These apps are more or less very similar to each other. But obviously, there are certain differences in their accessibilities.
Huji Cam offers a one-time shot where you can not import pictures but can click and instantly get the results with the default or manual set configurations. There before you click, you can enable or disable certain default effects like grain/dust, light leaks, or the HUJI effect. Huji offers you the choice of applying the vintage effects without the colors actually.
Whereas Kuji Cam or Fuji Cam offers you more similar options. Here you can import your favorite pictures to get the Polaroid effect. Or else, other settings are pretty much similar to the Huji Cam other than the fact that here, you can change the filters. I mean, this app comes with a wide variety of Polaroid filters which are very exciting that you won’t be able to resist yourself trying them all.
LIGHTROOM: This is the only app where you can create your own Polaroid preset, with all the possible changes you want to make in the apps above. Simply play with the lights, color gradations according to suggestive editing guides that are available on Pinterest in a hefty amount.
ADD THE POLAROID FRAME: The very last step will be achieved once you apply the Polaroid frame. You can do that in all those photo canvas apps like PicsArt, Snapseed, Inshot, etc., or you can find those Polaroid Frame templates on many online editing websites. And after you do this last step, you will be ready with your very own polaroids. I hope this article satisfied you with all the answers to your quests.