My first post in this forum!
Am relatively new to photography and am trying to learn using Darktable. I focus on shooting portrait of family and friends from daily life. I’m in the process of finding my “style” and preferences for editing these photos.
For now I like:
a not too saturated look
with soft contrasts (Usually only adding coarse contrast using the tone equalizer and a little local contrast)
and I like crushing the blacks (usually reduce midtones in color balance)
This is my recent edit. DSCF6669.RAF.xmp (33.8 KB) DSCF6669.RAF (55.2 MB) Would love some tips/tricks and even more your take on the editing/style for inspiration.
Lovely shot and rendering, looks natural and ‘film like’ (whatever that means!) . Reading the above I think you have pretty much achieved what you want, I don’t think I could improve on it…
welcome to the Forum!
This is a beautiful photo! I like very much how the face of the woman and the child is illuminated. Combined with the woman’s smile it creates a very nice soft atmosphere.
@Toand007 Welcome! I am loving the facial expressions of your photo. I find the darkened / dirty window edge to be distracting. Perhaps, reducing it would make it less so? Another source of tension is the twig that is close to the baby / toddler’s face. Softening it may make it seems less threatening. I like the Chinese lantern crafts in the background.
PS One way to find your style is to do as many Play Raws as possible. We have lots available!
Welcome to the forum @Toand007. Interesting username! Interesting that you didn’t opt for Toandfro (since you are searching for a style !!! ).
Here is an attempt using RawTherapee 5.8. DSCF6669.jpg.out.pp3 (12.1 KB)
Your description fits what I’m often going for. I just try to go easy on the crushing-the-blacks part and I also lift the black point quite a lot trying to find the sweet spot for a smooth contrast.