Chat with a gallery owner about my color grading

Had this conversation at a small show in Austin with a guy who runs a digital art space. He pointed out my highlights were all clipping at 245 in almost every piece. Told me to pull back 10-15 points and let the midtones breathe. Has anyone else gotten specific feedback that made them redo their whole workflow?

3 comments

3 Comments

keithbutler25d ago

Tucking your highlights back from the cliff edge really does let the rest of the image breathe, like it finally has room to exist. Once you stop cranking the brightness knob, you start seeing how much texture and depth you were just burning away. It's the kind of fix that makes you wonder how you ever missed it, and yeah, you'll start spotting blown-out skies and faces everywhere now.

patriciah5125d ago

That feedback about clipping at 245 is actually pretty solid advice. I used to push my highlights way too hard until a photo professor told me the exact same thing. Pulling back those 10-15 points makes your images feel way more natural and gives the midtones room to actually do their job. It forced me to stop relying on pure brightness to make things pop and start paying attention to the full range. Honestly, that one small change probably improved my work more than anything else I've tried.

-1

garcia.tyler25d ago

Did you notice it changing how you looked at other people's work too? Like once I started paying attention to where highlights actually landed, I couldn't stop noticing how many "pro" shots are just blasted white in the top end. It made me question what I was even trying to say with a photo when I was just cranking everything up.