Luminous Landscape Forum

Raw & Post Processing, Printing => Adobe Lightroom Q&A => Topic started by: picturesfromthelow on February 13, 2018, 10:29:54 am

Title: Defaults producing too much contrast
Post by: picturesfromthelow on February 13, 2018, 10:29:54 am
Hi,
I've recently begun taking photos of prints, for archival purposes. When I checked the images I realized that they had quite higher contrast compared to the way I perceived the prints with my own eyes (the difference was obvious as I was shooting tethered so I had both the image on a calibrated display and the print side by side). Please note that I'm shooting in raw.
This made me remember that, when Lightroom 4 came out, with all the changes in the develop module, Eric Chan (I apologize if it was not him) wrote that the new develop system had now an embedded contrast increase applied automatically.
I would therefore like to know if somebody has made some tweaks to the defaults in order to neutralize this contrast boost, just to have a more natural, flatter image to start with, as I much prefer to add contrast on my own.
Returning to my subject, I made some testing and it looks to me that by setting Contrast to -45 makes the image perceptually much closer to the print.
Title: Re: Defaults producing too much contrast
Post by: Jeffrey Saldinger on February 13, 2018, 10:56:32 am
Perhaps it will help to scroll through the "Profile” choices in the “Camera Calibration” panel of the Develop module.

For my Nikons, there are many choices with quite a range of possible starting points for further work in developing the image.  “Camera Neutral” gives the “flattest” look.
Title: Re: Defaults producing too much contrast
Post by: picturesfromthelow on February 13, 2018, 11:04:45 am
Perhaps it will help to scroll through the "Profile” choices in the “Camera Calibration” panel of the Develop module.

For my Nikons, there are many choices with quite a range of possible starting points for further work in developing the image.  “Camera Neutral” gives the “flattest” look.

Thanks Jeffrey, I must say that I have never been a fan of the canned camera calibration profiles, as I see them as nothing more than "effects" being applied to the file. I usually prefer to work with dual illuminant profiles made with DNG Profile Editor, which I believe are themselves based on the Adobe Standard profile.
Title: Re: Defaults producing too much contrast
Post by: Jeffrey Saldinger on February 13, 2018, 12:21:19 pm
I do keep my NEFs as NEFs (not converting them to DNGs), and, as I did not say explicitly above, always use “Camera Neutral”, which I understand gives as little in-camera processing as possible. 

Maybe respondents to your OP who have more experience will provide more insight.
Title: Re: Defaults producing too much contrast
Post by: jrsforums on February 13, 2018, 06:21:29 pm
Thanks Jeffrey, I must say that I have never been a fan of the canned camera calibration profiles, as I see them as nothing more than "effects" being applied to the file. I usually prefer to work with dual illuminant profiles made with DNG Profile Editor, which I believe are themselves based on the Adobe Standard profile.

I believe that you are attempting to make “horseshoes” into an exact science. It’s only occasionally you get a ‘ringer’ and then it is rarely repeated. 😀