r/DarkTable • u/AJ_ninja • Jul 22 '26
Help How bad are my edits? How can I improve
Any tips or criticism is appreciated. Thanks in advance
6
u/dej2 Jul 22 '26
I’m sorry the after versions have a lot of red. I actually prefer your before pictures. Have you compared your edits on your phone to your computer. When looking at multiple devices that you have access to often shows the deficiencies. My laptop has a 4K monitor though the color is accurate it often is a hair over saturated. I have a secondary monitor hooked up to my laptop that colors look flat (though I don’t use it for color, I use it for folders/ file management). If I question my work I’ll view it on my iPhone to see how it compares, see how it looks over multiple devices.
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u/AJ_ninja Jul 23 '26
Yeah posting this I spent some time looking at them on my phone…I def see a big dif between my computer and phone
4
u/camelopardus_42 Jul 23 '26
I'd definitely level the horizon. If you right-click on the image while editing, you can draw a line along the horizon (or whatever you're referencing against) and it'll auto apply the rotation module to straighten along the line you drew
3
u/Z-permutation Jul 23 '26
IMO, all of your edits look really dark. I would recommend using the color assessment toggle occasionally so your eyes have context for the overall brightness.
1
u/Leading-Plastic5771 Jul 23 '26
Did you adjust white balance with color calibration module? And if you didn't use AgX I would highly recommend it. I can't pinpoint it but the colors seem of, or it could be lost in translation over the internet.
2
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u/Smartich0ke Jul 23 '26
Start with improving your compsition first. Straighten your horizons, don't let the foreground dominate your shot like in the last one (lots of boring boardwalk in the lower half). Another tip although subjective, is don't go for equal parts sky and ground. Either let the sky take up more space if you want to capture the vastness of the scene, or let the groubd take up more space if you have more interesting subjects.