What's Halation & How to Add Halation Effect in Lighroom, DaVinci & Capture One
- Apr 18, 2024
- 9 min read
Updated: Nov 13
If you’ve been shooting with film, you know there’s one characteristic of film that digital can’t capture natively - the halation effect. This effect is reserved for film stocks without an anti-halation layer. So, even if you've nailed the color aspect of film on digital (through film presets, color grading, LUTs or PowerGrades), you might also want to add a bit of halation to complete the look.
And today - we'll go over some methods that I use to emulate the halation effect in footage. Be it video or stills.
Table of Contents
What is the Halation Effect in FIlm?
Halation is a glowing halo that appears around bright highlights when shooting with film cameras. It happens when light passes through the film emulsion, reflects off the back of the film or the camera’s pressure plate, and bounces back into the emulsion - creating a soft, diffuse glow around bright areas.
Let’s break that down a bit more.
Halation is a diffuse optical effect that happens inside film cameras. When light hits the emulsion and passes through it, some of that light doesn’t get fully absorbed. Instead, it reaches the back of the film, reflects off the pressure plate, and bounces back into the emulsion. That reflected light creates a halo around bright areas, especially where highlights meet deep shadows. In other words, the light “bleeds” a little into the darker parts of the image.
The name comes from that - halation literally refers to the halo-like glow that appears around intense highlights. You’ll often notice this halo having a reddish-orange tint. That’s because the red-sensitive layer of the film sits deepest in the emulsion stack, so it’s the first to catch that bounced light. It’s a subtle effect, but it’s one of those quirks that gives film its unique, organic character... something digital sensors don’t naturally do.
In this image that was shot with the Cinestill 800T, for example, you can distinctly see this red halation effect.
What's really interesting? This slight glare can also subtly appear in low-constrasty & mid-tone areas with some red tones. Like in this Goodfellas still.
Black and white film can show halation too, though it looks a bit different. Since there’s no color separation in the emulsion, the glow doesn’t have that red or orange tint — it just appears as a soft, white haze around bright spots.
Film Halation - Past & Present
This effect has existed ever since film stock was born, so it's also present in black and white stocks, yet heavily analyzed and emulated in color.
If you're wondering why we don't see this effect as much on modern film stocks, well...Most modern film stocks have a remjet layer (ECN-2 films - aka Kodak Vision3) or an anti-halation layer, but even so, you might notice some halation effect when shooting with these, it will just be subtler.
In the 19th-20th centuries, halation was actually considered a defect. Photographers saw it as a “parasite” that interfered with accurate image reproduction. It makes sense: if you were trying to photograph natural scenes or stars, a glowing halo around bright areas could ruin and blur the shot. In astrophotography, for instance, halation made it nearly impossible to capture a weak star next to a very bright one.
I just find it fascinating - we are now trying to recreate the artifacts of film photography, to add a halation effect to our digital shots, yet back in the day photographers tested many methods to get rid of this “evil” or “collateral image”.
Still, it’s a fine line. Too much halation can overpower the image or make highlights look blown out. The magic is in restraint: you need just enough glow to bring warmth and depth without stealing the scene.
And that’s why anti halation layers were born. Most modern film stocks are packed with this anti-halation layer.
Except for a few. 🔽
Film Stocks With a Strong Halation Effect
CineStill 800T
The infamous film stock that made gas stations the main character of photos. CineStill 800T
is basically Kodak Vision3 500T motion picture film, but with the remjet layer removed. That missing carbon backing is what allows light to bounce off the pressure plate and create the signature red halation glow.
That’s why it’s so noticeable in night scenes with bright highlights: streetlights, neon signs, or reflections.
P.S. - I’ve created a CineStill 800T film recipe for Sony cameras that you can use to get the look on your JPEGs. To this day, it’s one of my favorites. If you want to achieve the Cinestill 800T look in post-processing - check out the CaptureOne & Lightroom film presets!
The Washi F 100 B&W-Film 135/24
Another one I found - the Washi F 100 - suuuch a dreamy, ethereal vibe that the halation provides. Here are more shots with it. My girlfriend shot a roll with it - super excited to see the outcome.
CineStill 50D
The CineStill 50D produces a subtle halation effect. With some shots, you’ll get halation with others, not so much.
Worthy Mention - The Infrared Efke IR820 Aura 120 mm (discontinued)
I stumbled over this infrared film while going through a book - and it got me super intrigued. It looks so eerie, psychedelic even.
Take a look.
The aura that you can see in bright areas gives the whole image a unique mood that really caught my eye.
The Film Halation Effect In Movies
In the past, halation was considered a flaw: something photographers and cinematographers tried to eliminate. But some creatives embraced it, experimenting with the glow and other optical artifacts to add character to their images.
Even today, halation shows up in cinema: sometimes deliberately, sometimes as a happy accident. One of my favorite examples is Christopher Doyle’s work in “Fallen Angel”.
Another great example is Atonement (2007) by Joe Wright. The film has a painterly, impressionistic feel, full of bloom, soft light, and subtle halation that enhances the mood and depth of each frame.
MONODES has a great article on halation with soo many examples that you can study.
Halation in B&W movies - examples
Let's also take a look at examples of halation in black-and-white movies.
Casablanca (1942)
Notice how bright areas and reflective surfaces softly bloom into surrounding shadows, giving the image a subtle halo and depth.
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Highlights in this film glow gently around edges, creating a moody, atmospheric quality that helps define the noir style.
How to Add Halation in Digital Format
All the previous examples I’ve shown come from movies or photos shot on film. But you can actually emulate the halation effect, even if you shoot digitally.
There are a few ways to go about it.
1. Use a Diffusion filter
The fastest way to add a halation effect on digital is using a diffusion filter on your lens. These filters soften highlights and create a subtle glow around bright areas, mimicking the organic scatter of film halation.
Tip: Combining a diffusion filter with post-processing methods gives you the most organic results.
The Black Pro Mist by Tiffen is the most popular, but I haven’t had a chance to try this one out yet.
The same brand has a couple more filters using a Black Halation Diffusion system. If you’ve tried these, you can share your feedback & shots on the Sony Film Simulation forum, I’m really curious about the outcome!
I use the 7artisans black mist diffusion filter - it provides a soft halation, that you can then accentuate in post. And it's super cheap!! Highly recommend it. Check out these shots 👇
SOOC shots - Agfa Precisa film simulation w Sigma 24 mm f2 Contemporary & 7artisans Black Mist filter
2. How to Add Halation in DaVinci Resolve
If you’re looking to add halation to your video footage & you are a user of DaVinci Resolve, I suggest using their Halation add-on.
Note: This effect is only available in DaVinci Resolve Studio (paid version), not the free version.
Here’s how to do it!
First off, color-correct your footage.
Then, add another node at the end of your tree. That’s where our halation effect will be. Adding a new node at the end of the node tree for the halation effect ensures it applies as a finishing layer without interfering with previous corrections.
Navigate to the Effects Library
Go to the Color tab → Open the Effects panel (top-left) → Search for "Halation".
Drag the halation effect onto the desired node to start analyzing and adjusting the halation settings.
Choose the color space processing to match the space you have shot in.
Dial in the Halation settings.
Here's my go-to starting point.
Secondary Glow submenu
Let’s start with the Secondary Glow sub-menu. The main gist of it is lifting the Strength and pushing the Gamma to the max. And make sure you don’t overdo it with the Spread level. But that will leave you with some nasty-looking footage, so you’ll want to change the halation color to desaturated red or orange (pure red looks artificial) so I go for something less vibrant.
Dye Layer Reflection menu
For a more organic look, make minor adjustments in the dye layer reflection by tweaking strength ( I usually bring it down by a bit) and gamma settings (which you can lift if you want halation in low-contrast areas). Explore spread levels to control bleeding effects.
In the Isolation sub-menu - modify the threshold to match the clip's highlight points and adjust film saturation for subtle enhancements.
3. How To Add Halation In Capture One
If you don’t know how to add the film halation in Lightroom or Capture one, I’ve created a simple workflow that you can follow. You can watch the video or follow the instructions below.
Here's how I do it in Capture One.
Activate the Brush setting by clicking “B” and customize the Brush Settings.
Adjust the opacity of the brushes to control the intensity of the red halation effect. Utilize the brush menu to modify size, flow, and opacity settings according to your preferences. I usually go for a softer brush. Then, start painting over high contrast areas where halation would naturally appear on film.
Adjust the “Red Curve”.
Go to the “Curve” menu and click on the red channel to crush the white point. 👇
Smooth out the edges.
I personally don’t like the hard edges between the bright and darker areas. Film produces softer edges. Soo - to replicate that
Create a new layer in Capture One and copy the mask from the first layer.
Turn up the brightness
Go to the Curve settings → RGB → create blownout highlight by creating a ridiculous S-curve.
Adjust the opacity.
Pro tip - Adjust the Luma range to refine the effect to match your desired look.
4. How to Add Halation in Lightroom
Now, let's add halation in Lightroom. It's pretty much the same process.
Step 1: Create Your Brush Mask - First, open your image and go to the Masking panel. Select Brush and edit size, flow, feathering and density.
Step 2: Paint Over Your Highlights - Start painting over the areas where halation would naturally occur. This means painting over the highlights and the edges where bright lights meet darker areas (like a bright window, a neon sign, or the sun hitting the edge of a subject).
Step 3: Adjust the "Red Curve". - Go to the “Curve” menu and click on the red channel to crush the white point.
Step 4: Adjust the Luma Range to refine.
If you want to skip all this setup and just add halation directly, I made a set of 12 Lightroom halation preset brushes and Capture One style brushes. These also include blown out highlights and light leak brushes. You can do it manually, but you save a lot of time by using the brushes.
Here's how to use them in Lightroom.
First off, you'll have to install the brushes.
Next up - go to Masking -> Brush -> Select the effect brush you want out of the bunch.
Then, adjust brush settings like flow, feather & density.
Use the red halation brushes to paint in areas of high contrast and the blown out highlights brush to smooth out edges.
Halation - From Flaw to Quirk
Halation started out as a flaw, a "collateral image" that you get rid of. But over time, it became a quirk of film that some want to incorporate in their work.
And since digital cameras can't produce halation, I thought I'd give you some tips and tricks to help you emulate it on digital formats.
Hope you enjoyed this one! If you'd like to see more posts like this one, subscribe! I am in the process of writing more articles with tips and tricks.