amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Hi Jim,

Is your computer monitor calibrated? Have you used a device like a Datacolor Spyder or X-Rite ColorMunki to set its brightness and color rendition?

The reason I ask is because your images appear a bit dark on my calibrated monitor. If you were to make prints from these images, they would likely look a bit dark and "flat" to you, too.

By default, most computer monitors are too bright for "correct" photo adjustments. They also typically have over-saturated color and/or color biases... though, because our eyes adapt to some extent, these are usually harder to see than the excessive brightness.

For example, when I first got the monitor I use now and calibrated it I had to turn the brightness way, way down! I forget the default, but had to dial it back to 20% brightness, to properly adjust my images. The calibration device also ran a series tests and created a profile to control how color was rendered more accurately. I have to rerun this calibration around once a month because monitors gradually lose brightness and shift color rendition over time. After six or seven years using this monitor, I now have the brightness set slightly above 50%... that's how much it's changed over the years.

Too bright a monitor causes you to adjust your images too dark. You won't be aware of it until you make a print or if you view the image on a properly calibrated monitor. It's the same if the monitor's colors aren't accurate... That will cause you to mis-adjust those, too.

In my opinion, a lot of the "control of light" happens in post-processing. What we capture initially is important... sure. But what we do to "develop" it later is also critical to how the final image ends up. There are many software editing programs.... I used Photoshop for finishing work (Lightroom for "quick and dirty" proofs, as well as organizing). Adobe Elements is more of an all in one and more user friendly. There are many others. But none of them are very effective if your computer monitor is misleading you into incorrect adjustments... if it's not showing you the image accurately, you won't tweak it correctly.

I hope you don't mind, I did a little tweaking of two of your images in Photoshop, just to show you the difference. These might now appear "too bright" on your monitor, but I think would be more accurate if printed. (Of course, I wasn't there to see the scene myself... With light in a scene, some of it is open to interpretation.) Black and white images often need some added dynamic range. I wanted to do more on this image, to try to bring out some detail in the dark foliage near the bottom. But I didn't want to blow out the sky detail. If it were my image, I'd do selective adjustments to try to recapture some of the shadow detail. But I just wanted to give you an overall idea of what I think is a "more correct" brightness and dynamic range. (P.S. I also straightened the "Leaning Tower of Biloxi"... That lighthouse is "tipping over backward" in both the color & B&W shots. Ever since I worked building houses many, many years ago I've been ultra sensitive to out-of-plumb verticals and un-level horizon lines.)

I like all four images and intend this as constructive feedback that you can either take or leave, as you see fit. However, I think the images are all nice enough to deserve a bit of extra finishing in post-processing. (P.S. I lived in Biloxi many, many years ago, when I was kid. Our house was about 3 blocks from the beach.... which was great most of the time, except when a hurricane blew in!)

Below are re-posts of your originals of those two images, for comparison with some gently "tweaked" versions...

ORIGINAL

(Download)

SLIGHTLY BRIGHTER VERSION

(Download)

ORIGINAL

(Download)

BRIGHTER, BOOSTED DYNAMIC RANGE

(Download)

J11 Loc: Ocean Springs MS

Thank Y'all for all of the great help on this issue. Co. I have looked at Photomatrix and HDR. Something I am interested in doing. I always shoot RAW and when I Bracket I will take your advice by going +\- two stops. Thanks Linda for the down link. Will be looking at it in the future. Will also check on cleaning my sensor. Burkphoto I like the idea of EBTR and will give it a shot. In the past I have just attempted to do ETTR. Amphoto. A lot has changed in Biloxi since you lived here. Gambling is now legal for one. In 2005 Hurricane Katrina changed a lot of the landscape around here. My monitor is old and needs to be replaced. That is probably a big part of my problem with PP. I plan to purchase a good monitor for PP work in the future. Thanks for fixing my light house. Always thought it leaned a little to far to the right. I will also buy a calibrator to ensure the PP is not effected by the monitor. Once again I appreciate all of Y'all's expert advice on this issue of controlling light. Jim.