VSCO Before and After

VSCO pack 1 review portrait

[Warning: moderately geeky post to follow. :-P]

When I was poking around all over the internet looking reviews of VSCO’s six film collections,  I found a whopping three options that showcase vsco before and after examples of the Lightroom presets. And none that showed the same photo with many different presets.  One showed VSCO before and after images from Film 05, another had a collection of VSCO before and after images from  in general and – oddly enough – the Visual Supply Company website had plenty of images showcasing the after but no options to see before and after (that I saw — I would love to be proven wrong, of course!).

I’ve played with VSCO for several months now and love it! Using Pack 01, I’ve showcased some of my favorite presets (no additional tweaks or edits) to display how much extra pop a little tweak can achieve.

vsco before and after-800

After processing a couple shoots exclusively with VSCO Film 01, I am here to say “WOW” and “why didn’t I buy a pack sooner?!”  I first heard of VSCO through I’m Kristen Photography, started dabbling in VSCO Cam  after Bradley Roy Photography  kept referencing it on his Instagram feed, and fell in love with the app after watching most of the @Hopeshare images come with a #vscocam reference.

(Aside: Do not pass go, do not collect $200: GO DOWNLOAD  the (free!) app right now for your smartphone!!  It will revolutionize your ability to turn iPhone photos into works of art without the cheesiness factor of most of the instagram filters. )

The Lightroom presets from VSCO are – granted – a tidy investment at $119 per pack (there’s six packs! that adds up to almost a whole new lens!), but at least from my first pack, VSCO is well worth the pennies.  Each preset is designed to create the look of a specific type of film, has a plethora of tweaking options, and is usable and beautiful and functional and fast! 

Instead of manually tweaking the color on each image from Cassie’s shoot this weekend, I picked a film preset that suited the setting and mood, applied it across the series, and – wow! boom! done!  Creating a selection of five images with eleven different presets for this before and after review of VSCO Film 01 took longer than culling and processing the three hour portrait session.

I am a staunch believer in the power of good photography in-camera, but I’ve always relied upon the functionality of Lightroom to allow for color tweaks and white balance adjustments.  My standard routine is to up the blacks, add a punch of contrast, and cool (or warm) the image.  Having VSCO in my arsenal, however, has allowed for a balance of creativity and pragmatism in my post-processing toolbag.

I don’t know which pack I’ll purchase next, but I’m sure whichever it is will be swell!

If you’re a VSCO user, which pack is your favorite?

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5 Comments

  1. I have packs 1, 5, and 6, with 6 being my current favorite. After you buy your first pack you get a loyalty discount which decreases the prices of future purchases pretty substantially.

    I loved seeing how each different preset changed the mood of the shot. Great post Jennifer!

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