Underexposure as an intentional style?

[Sharkburg]

I confess I'm not sure what else to call the technique! I occasionally notice photography with a gray, muted quality to the black tones that gives the entire image a faded, low-contrast, underexposed look. It's mostly common in film photography, but I also see the look replicated in lots of dreamy, nostalgic digital work as well. Some examples, going from most subtle to most pronounced:

• Flower wandering
• First bicycle ride
• Waking up in a different city

Is there a more technical way to describe this look and the technique that produces it? I'd love to understand what's producing this look so I can explain it better to other photographers and maybe replicate it in some of my own shooting/editing.

Incidentally, if you wanted to achieve this look when shooting/editing digitally, what would you do? There seems to be more to it than just dropping the contrast on the image.

 

[runnah]

It's more of a soft contrast. The blacks aren't fully black.

 

[71M]

I confess I'm not sure what else to call the technique! I occasionally notice photography with a gray, muted quality to the black tones that gives the entire image a faded, low-contrast, underexposed look. It's mostly common in film photography, but I also see the look replicated in lots of dreamy, nostalgic digital work as well. Some examples, going from most subtle to most pronounced:

• Flower wandering
• First bicycle ride
• Waking up in a different city

Is there a more technical way to describe this look and the technique that produces it? I'd love to understand what's producing this look so I can explain it better to other photographers and maybe replicate it in some of my own shooting/editing.

Incidentally, if you wanted to achieve this look when shooting/editing digitally, what would you do? There seems to be more to it than just dropping the contrast on the image.

Digitally, using Levels, I'd raise the black input, say from zero up to 15 or so. The highlights output also looks lowered from 255, down to ~235 or ~215.

 

[rexbobcat]

Yeah hats not underexposure. It's that matte black/vintage style that has become popular

 

[Designer]

Sharkburg; welcome! Some time ago I wrote out the steps to take to do this to film images, about 6 as I recall. To do this in digital format would no doubt take considerably more work and skill.

 

[Derrel]

It's an affectation that many people in their twenties find to be "cool". For them, the skewed black point is thought to be "interesting". You know, like lip piercings, nipple rings, nose rings, ear plugs, and so on.

 

[vipgraphx]

It's an affectation that many people in their twenties find to be "cool". For them, the skewed black point is thought to be "interesting". You know, like lip piercings, nipple rings, nose rings, ear plugs, and so on.

hahaha...

Although I am almost 40 I do like this look on certain images. Not on everything but some.

I have a few words for it..washed out, Vintage and film look.

 

[Derrel]

It's an affectation that many people in their twenties find to be "cool". For them, the skewed black point is thought to be "interesting". You know, like lip piercings, nipple rings, nose rings, ear plugs, and so on.

hahahahaha…...

But I'm being serious. It's almost universally a noob-marker. Of course, it's almost impossible to tell the lovers of this affectation that it makes them look like sheeple, or that their images will look stupid in another five years...it's a lot like selective color was when it first hit the streets, or overcooked HDR was...it's an "affectation" when it is applied to image after image after image, in an effort to make them look substandard.

It is the culinary equivalent of slathering a $40 beef steak with ketchup; it shows that your tastes are not all that refined...and that you want to apply the SAME "flavor" to everything...no matter what.

 

[TreeofLifeStairs]

It reminds me of the Instagram filters that get over used.

 

[D-B-J]

It's an affectation that many people in their twenties find to be "cool". For them, the skewed black point is thought to be "interesting". You know, like lip piercings, nipple rings, nose rings, ear plugs, and so on.

Hey! I'm twenty... and find none of those "cool."

 

[TCampbell]

Slightly desaturate.
Slightly cut contrast.
Use the levels tool, pick the blue channel and also the green channel (but not the red channel) and slightly nudge in the left edge to darken blues and greens. The reds that you don't nudge over will make your blacks look a bit "muddy" brown.
Done

It honestly just reminds me of the tired and over-used instagram filters that try to create "aged" looking photos. Of course course our REAL photos back in those days didn't look like that and if we did, we weren't happy with the lab.

 

[Ysarex84 78]

To me it looks just like it would sound if Joshua Bell deliberately played his violin out of tune. I see it as a most obvious badge of a fauxtog who can't make a good photo to save his/her life so instead opts to screw his/her photos up even more to disguise his/her incompetence and calls it a "style." Sorry if that sounds a little harsh but I did have my glass of wine already.

Joe

 

[rexbobcat]

This style is also VERY easy to sell. Like, it's crazy how some photographers are so successful (in the sense of them being "popular") when most of their photos are pretty safe and...kind of generic...but when they all have this matte, warm finish, people eat. it. up.

I can't bring myself to do it though. I feel like I ever applied a vintage preset/action to an entire shoot and sent them to a client a little piece of me would die.