LAM · Guides
Real explanations of grading, film effects, and why default phone cameras get Asian skin tones wrong — written by the people who built LAM's colour engine, not marketing copy.
Colour & recipes
Lightroom editing recipes and LAM film looks
Why copying numbers doesn’t copy the photo, what "backlit", "warm" and "Korean" recipes really do, and which LAM look shares their spirit.
Pro tools
Shutter speed: the numbers to know, and a phone’s limits
From 1/2000 s for birds to 30 s for the Milky Way, the 1/focal-length handheld rule, the 180° rule for video — and why a phone can’t shoot the Milky Way in one exposure.
Workflow Comparison
The "double-processing" trap: Shooting default then applying a filter
Why Smart HDR destroys optical contrast, and how pasting film presets later causes double distortion: muddy shadows, waxy skin, and grain over halo edges.
Fundamentals
What "real film" means, and how it's different from an AI filter
An AI filter repaints your photo with a generative model. A real film engine only re-grades the exact pixels your camera captured — no invented detail.
Skin tone
Why Asian skin tones need their own tuning
Most default cameras are tuned on lighter-skin training data. Under warm indoor light, that shows up as red or grey-green casts on Asian skin — a technical reason, not a subjective one.
Film effects
Grain, halation, light leak — what actually makes a photo look like film
Adding noise isn't the same as adding grain. These three effects model three real physical phenomena on real film stock — understanding them is how you spot a fake film look.
Film stock & bodies
What a "camera body" means in a film app, and why LAM ships nine
A body isn't a filter name — it's a bundle of a lens character, a colour response, a grain structure and a default film stock. Here's what actually changes when you switch.
Pro tools
Peaking, zebra, false colour, LOG — what they're for, in plain language
Four monitoring tools borrowed from real cinema cameras, explained without the jargon — and why a flat LOG file is more useful to grade than it looks on its own.
Aesthetics & persona
What LAM's five theme personas actually change
Noir, Sakura, Chrome, Luna, Jade — each one changes layout, typography and a few camera defaults, not just button colours.
Presets & sharing
What is a LAM recipe code?
An 8-character code packs an entire look — paste it under a TikTok comment, and anyone gets the exact same colour in 5 seconds, no account needed.
Colour grading & desktop
Exporting a .cube LUT to Resolve/Premiere
Move colour from your phone to a desktop edit and apply it to other camera footage — and the real limit to know (a LUT can't carry grain or halation).