Gritty look, Dreamy look, Classic look, Modern look, Noir look ...

[darkosaric]

So,

many misunderstandings in world in general (also here in APUG) comes from using different definition words for the same thing, or using one word for two or more separate different things.

Often I read about different kind of look on the photo (print): gritty, dreamy, noir, modern, classic... It is hard for me to exactly know what the person thinks when he/she uses those terms, and often there is no attach in the post that would help - probably because he/she is looking to achieve this look, so there is no example to show.

Maybe we should introduce the more precise terminology for those often used looks? Or just write what those terms are for you - so that we can easier know what we are talking about, best with some print of yours as example.

For example: dreamy is when you shoot portrait, natural diffuse light from window, with summar lens @f4-f8, overdevelop a little and print on Ilford multigrade with Ilford PQ developer on grade 2. Gritty is when you shoot portrait with nikkor 85mm lens on TriX with red filter, strong lighting, develop film normally, and then print on multigrade paper with filter 4 or 5 ... or whatever you think.

 

[snapguy]

what about

What about a photo taken with a Nikon F and a Spiratone 105mm f2.5 PRESET lens, overexposed two stops on Super Double X (not the movie film)?

 

[darkosaric]

What about a photo taken with a Nikon F and a Spiratone 105mm f2.5 PRESET lens, overexposed two stops on Super Double X (not the movie film)?

That is for sure classic look, must be .
Joke on the side - it is hard to exactly define all those "looks"...

 

[TheToadMen]

Posting examples might help to understand. "One image says more than a thousand words".

For a "dreamy look" I often think of the Pictorialism style from 100 years ago with its diffused lenses and techniques.

 

[DannL.]

The problem with using specific equipment, processes, developers, film etc; as part of a description, is that you're probably the only person reading the description that has seen that combination used. For example . . . . both "summar lens @f4-f8, overdevelop a little and print on Ilford multigrade with Ilford PQ developer on grade 2" and "portrait with nikkor 85mm lens on TriX with red filter, strong lighting, develop film normally, and then print on multigrade paper with filter 4 or 5" mean very little to me. Those phrases describe the process used. But, neither phrase describes the appearance of the image.

 

[Moopheus]

noir,

Guys in darks suits, with hats, sometimes face down on the sidewalk with a dark stain trickling away. Dames in furs with a cigarette in one hand and a drink in the other. Or maybe a gun. Smoking.

 

[snapguy]

dame

A dame with a heater or a roscoe in her dainty mitt waiting for a tough-looking guy with a buzzer to take her to the clink. A neon light is flashing in the darkness "coffee five cents"....

 

[OptiKen]

The sky is blue.
While there are literally hundreds of shades of blue and as many different names for the type of 'blue' the sky may be, to most people, the sky is blue.

Blue is what the eye sees. Dreamy, noir, modern, classic, etc., are what the heart sees.