Daydream Basics

Night Photos With a Film Look on iPhone

Shane Labelle

October 26, 2026 · 3 min read

Night is where the film look shows most: cool shadows, warm lamps and a red glow around every light. Daydream Film's Nightcall film brings that look to the photos you take after dark.

People under umbrellas on a rainy Times Square sidewalk at night, neon reflected on the wet pavement — Before and after Nightcall, a real Daydream render. Drag the line. Photo by Zeeshaan Shabbir on Pexels.

Before and after Nightcall, a real Daydream render. Drag the line. Photo by Zeeshaan Shabbir on Pexels.

The look

What night film does differently

The night film look most people picture comes from tungsten film, made for lamplight. Three things give it away:

Cool shadows, warm lights. Film balanced for lamps turns the dark parts of a city blue and keeps every lamp and window warm.
Red glow around lights. Bright light passes through the film, bounces back and spreads into a red halo. It's called halation, and CineStill 800T is famous for it. What is halation?
Grain. Night film is fast film, and fast film has visible grain.

Before and after Nightcall, a real Daydream render. Drag the line. Photo by Andrey Grushnikov on Pexels.

In Daydream

Nightcall, the night film

Daydream Film's Nightcall is an original look inspired by CineStill 800T. It sets a tungsten white balance of 3500K, 15% halation with a wide 35% spread, and ASA 800 grain, so all three parts of the look arrive with one tap.

It works best on photos with light in them: street lamps, neon, headlights, a lit window. Halation only appears around bright light, so a photo with no lights in it gets the color but not the glow. More on Nightcall

Before and after Nightcall, a real Daydream render. Drag the line. Photo by Julien on Pexels.

Step by step

How to do it

Bring a night photo into Daydream Film.
Tap Nightcall.
For more glow, open the Lab, then Atmosphere, then Halation. Push Strength to 25% or more, or lower Threshold to 80% so dimmer lights glow too.
If the shadows feel too blue, open Color, then Temperature & Tint, and warm the Temperature toward 3800K.
Save. Your original photo stays as it was.

Finishing touch

Choose your grain

Grain is set by film speed, like picking a roll. Nightcall starts at ASA 800. Go up to 1600 or 3200 for a grittier, pushed-film night, or down to 400 for a cleaner one: Lab, then Texture, then Film Grain. Film grain, explained

Before and after Nightcall, ASA 3200, a close crop of a real Daydream render. Drag the line. Photo by Juan TM on Pexels.

Good to know

Nightcall is built for night. In daylight, its tungsten balance turns everything blue, so for daytime photos start with Daydream or Nostalgia instead. Which film should I pick?

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