H Ξ X

A mistake I notice I make a lot with my photography is my work is constantly oscillating between too birght and too dark as I change how I'm editing it.

Today with a set I got the balance just right and I need to save these images somewhere as a reference to tell future me: just make it look like these ones.

Jul 22, 2023 at 7:10pmWeb
Show threadshinypetJul 22, 2023
@hexlatex Do you have notes of the settings, lighting, lighting setting, and such you used on this shoot? Might be a good way to document and reproduce in later shoots.
Show threadH Ξ XJul 22, 2023
@shinypet so I keep my settings as presets, but they can all be wrong if I then change the camera iso/exposure on the day, which I often do depending on what I'm taking that day!
Show threadshinypetJul 22, 2023
@hexlatex I meant your camera and lighting settings. Use those as reference before the first picture taken to see if they are close to your reference.
Show threadB0LTJul 22, 2023
@hexlatex I highly recommend keeping a folder of reference photos! I do that and I've found it's helped a lot with composition and editing
Show threadSkeeleJul 22, 2023

@boltlatex @hexlatex

I usually use https://www.pureref.com/ when I need to store reference pictures of stuff, not sure It'll be as helpful for stuff like light balance, but thought i'd mention it anyways.

PureRef

PureRef, the simple reference image viewer.

Show threadIceykitsuneJul 22, 2023
@hexlatex Do you shoot in raw, and do you have a calibrated neutral grey?
Show threadπ”₯π”’π”žπ”³π”Άπ”―π”²π”Ÿπ”Ÿπ”’π”― π”°π”©π”žπ”³π”’Jul 23, 2023
@hexlatex I struggle with the same. Very often the edit looks great on my monitor but when I see it on my smartphone not running on 100% screen brightness it looks too dark. πŸ˜’
Show threadH Ξ XJul 23, 2023

@heavyrubberslave Oh I feel this SO much. I'm editing these images on 10 year old computer monitors because I could get them for free, so I have to consider carefully how they're going to appear on literally anything modern.

Though for me, often I'll check them on mobile and notice these white patches where they're overexposed that I just couldn't see when editing. I have a tendency to make my edits come out way too dark as I'm overcompensating for that.

Show threadπ”₯π”’π”žπ”³π”Άπ”―π”²π”Ÿπ”Ÿπ”’π”― π”°π”©π”žπ”³π”’Jul 23, 2023
@hexlatex I think many mobile phones have a higher contrast, which makes bright spots brighter and dark ones darker, destroying the subtile balance in many pictures. I edit mine on a modern monitor with some of the best panel available and very high color fidelity. But this seems to be too much for smart phone displays. πŸ˜