Even though I love taking photos with actual film, it’s just too easy to whip out my tiny, digital point-and-shoot these days. Now that my tax refund is on the way, I hope to upgrade to a digital SLR—and regain the control I once had over exposure and depth of field—soon. But in the meantime, I’m obsessed with finding ways to cheat at digital photography.

Thanks to Floresita: Things I’ve Made, I found a great how-to over at Layers Magazine. The tutorial explains how playing with the curves function in Photoshop can replicate a film technique called cross-processing, where film is processed in the “wrong” chemicals in order to achieve a vintage-y, surreal, saturated look when it’s printed. Now I can feign this effect with a few tweaks in Photoshop; just don’t tell my college photography professor that I’m using the digital shortcut. Take a look at Floresita’s before and after shots (one set is pictured above), then start making digital prints worth displaying.

Amanda : DIY Projects, Tools, Reinventing X
May 6th, 2008