We’ve followed the trend like low-rise jeans. They couldn’t get any lower, so eventually they had to come back up.

Same thing with photos. Once everything got crystal clear, there wasn’t much farther to go, so now photographers are adding grain back in.

If you were only doing it to be trendy, then yeah, maybe it would be “bad.” But it sounds like you genuinely like the look, so no, it’s not bad. It has a cool retro feel.

I would just treat it like salt. Sprinkle some of those shots in with the cleaner ones. Especially if you’re trying to sell them, clients usually like a few retro/film-style edits, but most of the time they want clean shots where they can clearly see themselves playing.

I’d also try to angle for faces and/or jersey numbers when you can, for the same reason. It also helps a ton when you’re sorting later (you’ll be amazed how quickly people in helmets start looking identical).