7 Tips to Create Cinematic Photography by Mari Trancoso
Photography is not just a medium. It’s an alchemy. A way of freezing time, trapping emotions, and painting a story with light and shadow. In the age of hyper-realism and endless scrolls, cinematic photography stands as the antidote—inviting us into a world where every shot feels like a frame from an untold movie. It’s not just about the image; it’s about the atmosphere. The mood. The whispers of a narrative that you, the artist, can breathe into existence.
If you’re looking to create photos that don’t just sit pretty in a feed but demand to be felt, to linger like the fading soundtrack of a long-forgotten film, then you’re ready to dive into the realm of cinematic imagery. Here, we’re not just capturing moments; we’re crafting them into something timeless. And lucky for you, Mari Trancoso’s Dualistic and Untranslated presets, available through Unraveled Academy, are your backstage passes to this dream-like world, where mood and emotion collide in cinematic perfection.
So, let’s talk about how to shoot, edit, and live in a frame that breathes cinema.
1. Composition: Framing the Scene Like a Director
In the world of film, every shot is a masterpiece of intention. The composition is more than just placing a subject in the center of the frame. It’s about telling a story through the space between the subject and the world they inhabit. We’re not here to make pretty pictures—we’re here to build worlds.
The Rule of Thirds: A centering of the soul. Put your subject off-center, and let the space breathe. The beauty of cinematic photography lies in the tension of what’s left unsaid, what’s just out of frame, waiting to be discovered.
Leading Lines: A road, a path, a crack in the pavement. These lines are more than geometric—they’re arrows guiding the eye, pointing toward something that feels inevitable. The subject might be at the end, or the line might lead nowhere. Either way, you’ve got the audience’s attention.
Negative Space: Space that feels like it’s holding its breath. Let emptiness surround your subject, because in that void, there’s life. It’s in the spaces between the things that the real drama unfolds.
Angles That Rebel: Get low. Get high. Get strange. Film cameras often break the rules—shooting from unexpected places, changing perspectives to show the world in a way the human eye never could. Be daring. Make the camera see what it’s never seen.
2. Lighting: The Magic of Shadows and Glowing Secrets
Cinematic lighting isn’t about making things visible. It’s about creating a mood—turning your subject into a silhouette, turning the world into a shadow. Light, in its purest form, conceals as much as it reveals. It dances. It tells you what’s important, what’s dangerous, and what’s beautiful.
Golden Hour: When the sun hangs low, and everything is kissed by that soft, golden touch of magic. This is the dream, the glow, the last remnants of daylight spilling onto your subject’s skin. Bathe in it. Let it linger.
Hard vs. Soft Light: Sometimes, it’s harsh. Sometimes, it’s gentle. Cinematic photography knows when to use both. Let your light slash through darkness with sharp contrasts—or let it flow softly, like a lullaby.
Backlighting: There's power in silhouettes. The world behind your subject fades, but their presence sharpens, defined only by the glowing halo that edges them. Think of it as a secret—half-seen, half-known. You create the mystery.
Shadows as Storytellers: Shadows aren’t the enemy. They’re the co-conspirators. Don’t be afraid to let them swallow the frame, let them hide the secrets. It’s in the deep blacks that we find the most thrilling parts of the story.
3. Color Grading: Painting with Emotion
Film is alive with color. From the golden warmth of nostalgia to the cool, detached blues of melancholy, color in cinema is never accidental. It’s deliberate, it’s felt. And that’s where you, the artist, get to play.
Mari Trancoso’s Dualistic and Untranslated presets are your palette for this world of color and mood. These aren’t just presets—they’re expressions. Attitudes.
Dualistic Presets: Rich, deep tones. It’s a look that speaks in whispers, balanced between shadow and light. It’s the art of contrast without aggression. These presets invite you to paint in moody, nuanced colors, enhancing what’s already there without overpowering the scene. You’ll find warmth that doesn’t suffocate and cool tones that don’t distance.
Untranslated Presets: Ah, the raw energy. The unrefined chaos of an era captured in gritty, high-contrast tones. Think vintage film reels, peeling edges, and the drama of it all. The Untranslated presets inject life into your photos with a sense of rebellion—bold colors, film grain, and a saturated intensity that grabs the viewer by the throat and doesn’t let go.
Each preset is your mood ring. And once you choose the one that speaks to your soul, your images will begin to breathe—alive with color, alive with emotion.
4. Movement: Making Time Bend and Break
Cinematic photography is about movement. Not just in the subject, but in the feelings behind the subject. It’s about motion in a still world, time that isn’t frozen, but vibrating. Alive.
Motion Blur: The world is rushing past. Your subject moves, but the background remains a swirling blur of color and chaos. This is the art of time slipping away—the movement of a body, a gesture, or even a fleeting glance. It’s the heart of cinematic photography, where the blur becomes the story.
Panning: Catching motion mid-action. The camera follows a moving subject, and everything else is stretched, distorted, as if time itself is bending. It’s like capturing speed—like grabbing life in motion.
Cinemagraphs: Create Cinemagraphs, or GIFF's as they are known in the world of social media today, for those moments that want to dance forever. A still image with a whisper of movement. Think of it as a haunting—a small flicker of life in a world frozen in time.
Environmental Movement: Sometimes, it’s not about your subject at all. The wind in the trees, the waves on the shore, the motion of the crowd—it’s all part of the scene. It adds texture, it adds story, and it pulls us into a world that’s moving, breathing, never static.
The Dualistic and Untranslated presets will amplify this movement. Whether it’s subtle, or in-your-face, these presets allow you to match the energy of your shot with the energy of the moment. The stillness and the motion blend seamlessly into one cinematic tension.
5. Editing Techniques: The Fine Art of Destruction
Editing isn’t about fixing—it’s about amplifying. You’re not trying to preserve the purity of your shot; you’re trying to breathe life into it. You’re sculpting. You’re breaking it down, tearing it apart, and then piecing it back together to tell your story.
Add Film Grain: This is where the soul of film enters. That raw, tactile texture. A grain that feels like time itself. The Dualistic and Untranslated presets come with just the right amount of grain to make your images feel like they’ve been pulled from another time—imperfect, beautiful, raw.
Contrast and Curves: Push the shadows. Pull the highlights. Cinch the curves until the image feels as taut as a high-wire act. It’s all about tension—creating drama in every corner of the frame.
Split Toning: Warm highlights, cool shadows, or vice versa—depending on the vibe you want to cast. This is the magic trick. You control the atmosphere, and suddenly, your photo has mood—it feels like a scene from a movie.
6. Using presets as a base for your editing
Photography isn’t just about capturing the moment. It’s about making the moment your own—crafting it, shaping it, bending it to tell your truth. What YOU see. With Mari Trancoso’s Dualistic and Untranslated presets, you’re not just shooting photos; you’re making movies—small, quiet revolutions where every frame carries weight.
7. Final Touches: Subtlety as Power
The details that are barely there but somehow define everything. A slight vignette. A soft kiss of light on a cheek. It’s in the restraint, the minimalism—the refusal to clutter. Cinematic photography lives in the space between what’s seen and what’s felt.
These presets are more than tools; they’re portals. They open up a space for you to create images that transcend the ordinary. They help you transform real moments into eternal, cinematic art—where every light, shadow, and frame tells a story that’s uniquely yours.
Get the Dualistic and Untranslated Presets by Mari Trancoso
Head over to Unraveled Academy to grab your presets and start transforming your photos into stunning cinematic art.
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