New episode: Adjustment and usage of tone equalizer
I have again postponed the series about color harmonies because I find this topic about tone equalizer very important since I had a lot of questions about usage.
I hope that now nothing else comes in between. 
Yet another great video!
Itâs a great idea to use several instances of tone equalizer and shift the mask so that the part of the histogram you want to edit in each instance is comfortably positioned in the -8 to 0 EV range.
I have always tried to adjust the mask exposure/contrast sliders so that the whole image falls within the -8 EV range, but it can be difficult to obtain a satisfactory result in this way. The bar showing the mask histogram span is somewhat âjumpyâ meaning that a small change in the compensation sliders can make the bar jump from one side to the other.
I have tried to edit some of my problem photos using your technique with good results.
I really recommend this video.
Thank you Boris. I am using your explained combination of two tone equalizer modules quite often for reconstruction of contrast in bright areas (like shirts, snow or sky). This because filmic RGB and similar modules by definition can decrease contrast in bright areas. Of course you can overdo this, but with careful editing especially the details of clouds in the sky can look very impressive.
New episode: Color harmonies part 1:
Yes, yes, yes
Hello Boris. As usual another great episode, and thank you for that.
But I would like to know, is there any other procedure to achieve the same result easier and faster?
the same result? What do you expect to be simpler or faster? If you fear the channel mixer you might get similar results using colorbalancergb - but thats not faster or simpler. If youâre dealing with masks, then you do it because a one size fits all simple approach doesnât work.
If you donât need the same result but just put a little bit color sauce over the image, you can handle different colors with color zones in one module instance âŚ
Itâs your choiceâŚ
If I knew, I would have shown it in the video. @MStraeten has mentioned a few possible ways as alternatives.
Color balance rgb with hue slider and 4 ways tab would possibly be easier to use but with many more instances and maskings.
I canât imagine simpler and faster solutions from a logical point of view because itâs not just about simple global color adjustments but taking into account the context of the scene. So without multiple instances and masks that canât be achievable.
And this is one of the strengths of darktable, that you can use very sophisticated color adjustment and masking functions to make precise changes. However, these must first be mastered.
Thank you Boris, I was just asking for any alternatives, maybe I used the wrong words.Sometimes
we can achieve the same result using a module we know better.
Not exactly the same, but color zones can be used for a similar purpose - shifting hue, saturation and lightness of specific colours.
Boris, I have tried applying the color harmony techniques to this Play Raw:
I found I was limited in room to move colors, so I donât feel I accomplished much. If you had the time, I would be interested in seeing what you would do with it.
The colors offered by the scene are excellent for analog complementary color harmony because the hues of the main motif, the horses, expand very nicely through the orange grass in the foreground without disappearing in this hue.
So on one side of the palette we have a series of analog warm colors that are nicely contrasted by the blue of the sky and the water in the background.
Trying to get comfortable with the process but finding that the color âflaresâ are not very readable (either log or lineal). This makes the process itself difficult to learn. Below is from a very saturated image.
When display samples on image/vectorscope and restrict scope to selection"options are active in global color picker, the brightness of colors in vectroscope is decreased to see the points. If you turn off these options, the colors become brighter.
Also, I will recommend medium gray for the background, because it makes the colors easier to see. White or black background distorts the contrast and intensity perception of the colors.
I feel I understand the logic of the steps except the original color calibration. I white balanced it, but your final selections from that point were a movement of hue up into magenta and a slight decrease in chroma. What did you see or what goal did you have that you took that course of action?
Never mind. To just play around, I started from scratch and did the white balance immediately. That gave me your final selections automatically. My first attempt was out of sequence because I think you compressed the history and that moved color calibration from its original spot to later in the history, and white balancing at that point gave me a different result.
White balance is an important (first) step. It is not always necessary, especially if you want to keep a certain look, but it helps to balance the colors of the scene first, before going on to further adjustment/modification.
Well, I used the colour harmonies in the vectorscope for the first time after watching your tutorial. Iâd discarded this shot previously but I think the colour work, and a hell of a lot of contrast twiddling rescues it somewhat. Thanks Boris.
The first thing I saw when I clicked it to enlarge was the two people up top - gives a wonderful sense of scale. Looks like the light was tricky but like it a lot actually.
Yes, light was contrasty. Always end up on these walks at wrong time of day for photography. Looked murky SOOC and into Darktable and wasnât sure if the figures stood out enough. I like that pics in DT initially look quite flat as gives a lot of opportunity for taking them in different directions but maybe sometimes it makes me a bit too conservative in how far to push them as they start looking quite colourful compared with the starting point
This is, in my opinion, the most important insight that anyone who wants to get serious about photography has to reach at some point in time.
