The easiest way to tell is to look at someone elses pics next to yours on the same monitor. You can then see for yourself. In saying that I do think your pics are dark.
They look good to me, but I have an LCD monitor. I will look next time I have my calibrated CRT on.
I guess they only look good on LCD monitors. Thanks Mocabela.. i thought it was just me.. i'm going thru my portfolio using my CRT in the office. They look terrible :(
Stand back a few feet, squint a little, does the grey box within the gamma box disappear? If not, you probably need to adjust the gamma your monitor is displaying. You say it is at default, but the 'default' for each monitor varies widely, so calibrating it is best. Working under a different gamma (even the so-called default for the monitor) instead of the standard 2.2 will cause your images to appear lighter or darker on a monitor that is standardly calibrated.
BTW: that site is great for fully calibrating your monitor's white and black points along with the gamma.
I guess they only look good on LCD monitors. Thanks Mocabela.. i thought it was just me.. i'm going thru my portfolio using my CRT in the office. They look terrible :(
I just checked them with my calibrated CRT monitor, and while they are of course slightly less defined and maybe a tad darker in parts because there is less contrast/definition with CRT vs LCD, your photographs look perfectly fine and lovely to me.
I use dual display and have the CRT and LCD side by side, so I can see the differences in colour, etc., with everything, but overall I don't see too much darkness at all with either monitor.
Just me, though. I'm very picky about my display. :)
I just checked them with my calibrated CRT monitor, and while they are of course slightly less defined and maybe a tad darker in parts because there is less contrast/definition with CRT vs LCD, your photographs look perfectly fine and lovely to me.
Thanks Mocabela :D i was going thru your portfolio seeing how your pictures look since you use an LCD aswell (they're remarkably well toned and very pleasing btw).. i'm still in the office using a really really old 15" run-of-the-mill CRT. The brightness and contrast are on full and my pictures still look sooo dark. Now that you mentioned that you use dual displays, you have the advantage to see what they would look like on either type of display unlike me :( I guess i should check what they look like at the office before uploading :P
As i mentioned earlier, the funny thing is when i have my photos developed they look exactly (well, almost) like they do on my flatpanel.
i'm still in the office using a really really old 15" run-of-the-mill CRT. The brightness and contrast are on full and my pictures still look sooo dark.
Adobe Gamma is how I counteract the funkiness of my CRT monitors. For that matter, I use it to perfect my LCD display as well :) Since it is a work computer you may not have that available, though. I think we all get people saying our photos are too dark, and then ones who say they are overexposed. I've seen people completely contradict one another in comments on the same photo. So I wouldn't worry about it too terribly much, unless it really seems to be the majority.
I think we all get people saying our photos are too dark, and then ones who say they are overexposed. I've seen people completely contradict one another in comments on the same photo. So I wouldn't worry about it too terribly much, unless it really seems to be the majority.
Yep, point well taken.. was just worried that maybe the majority found them too dark. As with my current submission, i think about 3/10 of comments so far say that its too dark.. well without giving too much away, i guess it should be pretty easy to spot my submission :P
Well, it is also possible the color-set you work in has something to do with it. Always save the final image in sRGB, as that is basically the web standard. This thread discussed this in more detail. It is less likely this is the cause of your concern, but it is worth looking into just to make sure.
BTW: Do not worry overly much about how others see your images. Use the link above and set your white and black points to give you the full range and compensate for gamma if needed; then if someone still tells you your images are too dark you know one of two things. Either you and they have different tastes in images or their monitor needs to be calibrated.
After you calibrate your monitor you can be certain it is displaying properly without resorting to subjective comparisons. But, as was mentioned earlier, changes in the lighting in the room your monitor is in can have a big impact on how it appears. If you work under several different light settings (such as day and night by a window) it is probably worth-while to make more than one profile.
Thanks David. Anyway, i work with the lights off... i only have time to fiddle with my photos at night. My monitor has this ambient light sensor so it dims the screen according to lighting conditions. That could possibly be the problem as well... but when turned off, the photos still look the same only much brighter. Anyway, i'm home now and trying to calibrate this flatpanel properly.
TFT screens are a lot more tricky to calibrate. Viewing on mine, all your shots look OK ... which is to say, darker than some, but I think most people produce images that are too bright. And before anyone shouts this is from looking at thngs with simultaneous TFT and CRT system, both calibrated.
One thing though, i wouldn't work with the lights off completely - after all, few people are likely to look at your shots that way. And definitely turn off the light sensor thing - fine for typing, but how on earth are you to know what it's doing whilst you're image editing?
One thing though, i wouldn't work with the lights off completely - after all, few people are likely to look at your shots that way. And definitely turn off the light sensor thing - fine for typing, but how on earth are you to know what it's doing whilst you're image editing?
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Turned off light sensor but i'm having a hard time calibrating this thing :( And, let me rephrase that, i work with only my desklamp on (which is about 10ft behind me). Anyway, another thing with this particular flatpanel.. viewing range isn't as broad as others. So from some angles it look either darker or brighter.. yikes! Maybe i should invest on a CRT just for DPC :(
