How to EFFECTIVELY Add CONTRAST In Darktable

In this Darktable tutorial, I intend to demystify the process of adding contrast by showing a variety of simple and complex ways to add contrast using various Darktable Modules. I will demonstrate such modules as: Sigmoid, Diffuse or Sharpen, Color Balance RGB, and the Contrast Equalizer. I will show you how to add contrast effectively in Darktable Vs Lightroom.
My Photography Website:
nicklongphotography.com/
Video with Darktable Basic Workflow Tutorial:
• Is DARKTABLE Secretly ...
Article on Local Contrast:
luminous-landscape.com/contra...
00:00 - Intro
01:46 - Sigmoid/Filmic RGB
04:40 - Local Contrast - with Diffuse or Sharpen
06:28 - Color Balance RGB
08:57 - Contrast Equalizer
11:38 - Outro

[@maggiem1323]

I love the passion from this voice in the desert. While so many youtubers urge us to spend on LR, you urge us to try a bit harder to uncover a diamond in the rough which is Darktable. I have spent countless hours with DT and still learn a lot from you. DT offers monstrous options unlike LR and you help us slice through it. Thank you. Your hands and whole body shakes and wakes us from the stupor, sleep, and boredom induced by many youtubers and we certainly appreciate it. Bless you.

[@deepskypics]

Sometimes the hard road is the best because you get the steering wheel! DT is a diamond in the rough isn’t it 💎. It makes my day to here the the passion I have for photography and making videos is felt. I do put a lot of effort, thought, and time into making videos that are hopefully helpful, informative, engaging, and a little bit funny. I’m glad my efforts are going somewhere.

[@ak4good]

Useful examples, thanks! Does help clarify 👀 the many different options Darktable has.

[@deepskypics]

Your very welcome! Glad you enjoyed

[@terrybrooks395]

Great thanks, I was struggling with finding where to add contrast and learned more than I bargained for, cheers

[@deepskypics]

Hahaha! Of course mate! Thanks for watching & commenting!

[@DylanPStephens]

Thanks Nick , another great video with good practical tips on helping us to demystify DarkTable. I’m going to have to watch this a couple more times to figure it all out but that’s ok, I enjoy watching.

[@deepskypics]

Dylan, you are most welcome! Thanks for always watching and leaving a comment. And of course, if I could be clearer about anything let me know as that’s good feedback.

[@DylanPStephens]

@@deepskypics thanks, it’s more about the complexity of DT and the different approaches that you can take rather than your presentation, I have no complaints about how you explain it, all good here mate, keep them coming!

[@deepskypics]

@@DylanPStephens that is good to know Dylan! Thank you. I have some more ideas up the pipeline 👌

[@Eigil_Skovgaard]

Amen, I love those tools. I use Sigmoid more and more with its color grading addition. But in some cases Filmic RGB have the extra sliders you need. Another kind of contrast 'tool' is the rather new option to dodge and burn with the additive brush to create a painterly contrast. It's very easy to shift between two instances of Exposure, one darkening, the other brightening, e.g. with 10 to 20 percent opacity on the brush in continuous mode.

[@deepskypics]

Sigmoid is my favorite module I’d Darktable. I like the consistency it brings. The smooth preset I have been having excellent luck with. I’m certainly familiar with using exposure + make to create contrast locally instead of globally, but I haven’t tried it with the brush. That will be tonight’s entertainment 😀 Thank you for telling me about that!

[@Eigil_Skovgaard]

@@deepskypics There is more to my suggestion. Among others I got it from Andy Astbury's video: DarkTable Brush Mask Relighting with Sum Mode Masking - Simple, Easy & EPIC! - where he shows a great example.

[@deepskypics]

@@Eigil_Skovgaard Eigil, just added it to my watch later! Thank you!

[@sonjamedic634]

Thank you very much! So many powerful options. I'm going to have a closer look at the contrast equalizer, never used it before. Btw: your pictures are beautiful!

[@deepskypics]

You are so welcome! And thank you for the kind words about my photos! The contrast equalizer is kind if a niche module, but it works really well for photos that could benefit from pulling out more texture or when you want to have control over the flavor of contrast.

[@lxhk3595]

One thing I only learned with DT was the power of contrast on the different levels of detail. And Darktable gives you such an incredible control on contrast. Thanks for pointing this out.

[@deepskypics]

OMG yes haha. Control galore, options paralysis haha!

[@conloubser]

Great video, thanks! Will go try out your suggestions right now.

[@deepskypics]

You are most welcome! Thanks for watching and let me know if you have any questions.

[@danielspenner3683]

If you use the contrastequalizer, try it in blend mode "difference" first: by dragging the nodes heavily up and down you will be able to pinpoint the exact level of detail, that you want to adress. Then reset the Module and do your contrast-work using the nodes of choice. This way you can avoid undesired side effects like halos.

[@deepskypics]

Never tried this. Thank you for tomorrow nights entertainment

[@biking-places]

this is great, thanks for posting

[@deepskypics]

You are most welcome! Let me know if you have any questions.

[@The_Monkey_King]

Thanks also Nick. What about Tone Equalizer? Boris Hajdukovic seems to use this module effectively to adjust contrast through adjusting the dynamic range of the highlights, mid-tones and shadows. At least, that is my limited understanding as a novice.

[@deepskypics]

My guy Boris! From my experimentation, I usually side with methods in first half of my video when adding contrast, but you can very much use the tone equalizer to add contrast! Give it a try snd see if you like the result. The good thing about having multiples options is being able to pick the ones you like the best and incorporate into your workflow and having different tools for different jobs. Now that I think about it, I could have mentioned it in my video after putting out a video on the tone equalizer. Haha

[@archaja]

Thanks for the video! Would like to see a vid about removing parts of a foto which are disturbing (i.e. a sign in a landskape). And to improve your videos you shoud do something against the "pops" in the speech. Sometimes it helpes just to be 5 cm more away from the micro.

[@deepskypics]

Your welcome! A video about removing undesirable objects is an excellent idea! Thank you. And, o can do to be more mindful of plosives too. Sometimes I don’t notice it till the editing stage, but there’s some audio post processing tricks to learn to remove it

[@LucaOrlandi]

Thank you for the suggestions, I would like to see the same for B&W image processing

[@deepskypics]

B&W! Now that’s something I haven’t thought as much about. That’s a suggestion. DT of course has great B&W tools. One thing you can I try is using the B&W film LUTS part of the collection I linked in the video I made before this one. The Ilford Delta 100 LUT is goodness. Each LUT has its own look with a different contrast profile.

[@robertbrooks5888]

Could you stop the thing with your hands while talking, and change the angle of your camera? It's as if you are looking down on us and this is condescending.

[@deepskypics]

Mate, I want to thank you for sharing something real with me that you were experiencing. I can’t guarantee I will change my approach, but I will embrace the feedback.

[@maggiem1323]

​@@deepskypicsI honestly feel that you are rather looking down at us WITH GOOD INTENTION. You are pulling us out of the deep deep well of darktable and photo editing ignorance towards the light and your fist pump says lets do it. Keep at it. Your passion is infectious. Your knowledge is invaluable. "Don't shoot the messenger" perfectly applies in this case especially when he is trying to help you.

[@deepskypics]

@@maggiem1323 your reply made my morning! I’m glad that my passion for photography and in general is inspiring! With the whole looking down thing, it’s funny, it’s at that slight angle so my background with the light snd glass looks really nice and photographically pleasing. I’ve found that when I watch videos that are droning and boring I click away so I wanted to be more passionate and engaging here ✊

[@emrg777]

@@deepskypics Just be yourself...that is such a silly comment...

[@deepskypics]

@@emrg777 hey thanks friend! That’s exactly what I’m gonna do. I’ll never be able to please everybody no matter what I do, and that’s okay, but I gotta be happy with it.✌️