About Daydream
The freedom of digital.The magic of film.
Daydream Film is a photo editing app for iPhone that gives your photos the film look, by developing them the way real film would.
Why Daydream
Real photos of real moments matter more than ever.
People will always want to take pictures. Moments are unique, and nostalgia will only get more important.
Now AI-made images fill every feed. That makes real photos of real moments worth more, not less. Your photos are never used to train AI.
AI remakes a photo. Daydream develops yours.
Who it's for
You don't need to know film to love how it looks.
Most people who love the film look have never shot a roll. That's who Daydream is for.
Pick a film, and your photo comes out developed. The light, the grain and the color change the way they would on real film. If you want to go deeper, every part of the look is a control you can tune.
The question
Why does film still look better than digital?
I've shot both. Hundreds of rolls of film and thousands of digital frames. No matter how good the sensors got, digital never felt the same.
Most people shrug and say that's just how it is. I couldn't accept that. Silver crystals catching light. Dyes forming in layers. Light scattering through the film and glowing back as halation. These aren't mysteries. They're equations, and equations run just as well in code as in chemistry.
Film's beauty is just physics.
The journey
Physics, then photography, then code.
01The physicist
I started in theoretical physics, trying to understand why light behaves the way it does. Somewhere along the way I realized I didn't just want to understand beauty. I wanted to make it.
02The artist
So I picked up a camera. For seven years I worked as a creative director, colorist, photographer and film director. I learned what makes an image feel right. Then I wanted to build something of my own.
03The engineer
So I went back to university to study computer science. Code was like physics: logical and precise. But with code, you could build things.
Physics taught me why. Photography taught me what. Code taught me how.
The films
A colorist's eye in every film.
I bring my taste as a colorist, filmmaker and photographer to every film: an authentic film feel, grounded in real film color science, tuned to stay usable in every kind of light.
The founder
Shane Labelle
Physicist turned filmmaker turned engineer. Daydream is a one-person company: I make all of it, from the film engine and the app to this website, the photos and the videos.
So every film comes from one eye, and when you write to Daydream, you're writing to me. I also share my own photos and what I'm building on Instagram.
Try Daydream Film
Join the free iOS beta and develop your first photo today.