I don't have any film cameras, but some of the presets accurately mimic film styles and are based on them too, so if I want a film style photo I just end up using them.
Qafi Islam is building his photography from a different starting point. No film camera, no complex setup. Just a sharp instinct for how a moment feels, and the tools to translate that vision into something real.
Using VSCO presets as his primary workflow, he's not chasing technical perfection. He's chasing accuracy to his own perception: editing photos the way he actually saw them, not just the way the camera recorded them.
In this conversation, Qafi breaks down how presets help him work faster, experiment with film-inspired color, and start building a style that's unique to his approach, even before landing his first big opportunity.
1. What VSCO editing tools do you use regularly?
I mainly use VSCO for the presets.
2. What keeps you coming back to presets?
I can't live without the presets because I use them to get the looks that I want on my photos instantly instead of spending too much time on manually editing them.
Like for example, I don't have any film cameras, but some of the presets accurately mimic film styles and are based on them too, so if I want a film style photo I just end up using them.
3. Have presets changed the way you think about color?
They didn't technically change my photography style, but they did help me in changing my editing style by showing me how different colors can stick together and make a photo beautiful.
4. Has anything you've seen on VSCO sparked a new direction for your work?
Watching other people use the Halation and Bloom tools inspired me in taking photos of lights and stuff, like traffic lights, but I’m still just getting started.
Editing tools show me how different colors can stick together and make a photo beautiful.
5. Can you describe your photography practice in a couple of sentences?
I always think my photography approach is a bit different from others, though I'm not sure it is. What I mainly follow is how a subject looks to me and my eyes.
A yellow rose under sunlight sometimes looks orange to me, but to my phone's camera and other people, it's still yellow. So I take and edit the photo to match what I actually saw.
There are multiple reasons on my passion for photography but one of them is being able to capture moments and memories that I will be able to look back to and another one in being the only photographer in my family.
The best tools can be the ones you already have
Qafi uses his eye to see first, then a camera. Presets help to translate that vision into something consistent, intentional, and recognizably his. VSCO's film-inspired presets aren't just saving him time, they're showing him how color works. How tones interact, how a look holds together across a set, how instinct becomes something repeatable.
That's the foundation. Build it with presets. Refine it with color tools. Deepen it with effects like Bloom and Halation when the work is ready for that layer.
Because a consistent, recognizable style is what actually moves you forward, not the equipment. It's what turns experimentation into a portfolio, and a portfolio into work clients can see, trust, and hire.
I take and edit the photo to match what I actually saw.
