Get a retro flavour with light leaks

Turn back time with our free light leak effects, and create an on-trend look from yesteryear

In this age of instant, one-click smartphone filters that apply an indiscriminate effect to a picture, it’s a real joy to take a little extra time to customise your shots when you want to take a different creative direction. Retro and lo-fi finishes allow you to wind the clock back a few decades, but a homogenous effect will seldom offer the discerning photographer the control and fine-tuning that considered shots require.

Light leaks – a ‘happy accident’ that fogged the film by inadvertently exposing it to light – can give a real sense of age to any modern shot. In this issue’s download, we have 32 different effects to choose from. Offering single-edge and double-edge light leaks in both horizontal and vertical formats, the specially created files will add a retro charm to any shot – but to get an authentic 1970s look, they are best combined with some cross-processing.

Here I’ll show you how to do both techniques, so you can pep up your pics with some time travel!