‘Digital darkroom’

[superpippo]

I was wondering under what conditions people edit their shots at home. I have a small room which has a desk with a pc and the room also doubles as book storage, documents etc. It is west facing with a tall , narrowish window and the light conditions change throughout the day. It has a Roman blind which is quite thin fabric and lets a lot of light through.

The room has a central pendant light and there is a small desk light.

Last week I was trying to edit on LR and the light was so bright that I could barely see the monitor screen and subtle edits were impossible. Also the perception of the colours is affected by the ambient light. It is not helped by the monitor being at a right angle to the window light.

Do people generally edit in the dark?
Do you have a light on at night?
If you have a light bulb is it a daylight bulb - I was thinking that this may help.
Any advice welcome.

 

[Box Brownie]

I tend to post process in very low subdued light to no room light. The key for me to calibrate the monitor in the light level under which I will do the editing.

The room has thick blind in case the street light(s) will have an effect.

Up until late 2018 I worked in the dark, then I bought an LED lamp for the pendant socket that is dimable from a small controller that sits on my desk. I can set the lamp to three different colour temps as needed................but leave it at 6000k.

Oh, as needed I have a desk lamp with a 6500k LED bulb in it.

HTH

PS when, on the odd time, I have edited at dusk/daytime I have the blind down...............it is not a blackout blind but has only a small 'frame' of light leakage

 

[superpippo]

I tend to post process in very low subdued light to no room light. The key for me to calibrate the monitor in the light level under which I will do the editing.

The room has thick blind in case the street light(s) will have an effect.

Up until late 2018 I worked in the dark, then I bought an LED lamp for the pendant socket that is dimable from a small controller that sits on my desk. I can set the lamp to three different colour temps as needed................but leave it at 6000k.

Oh, as needed I have a desk lamp with a 6500k LED bulb in it.

HTH

PS when, on the odd time, I have edited at dusk/daytime I have the blind down...............it is not a blackout blind but has only a small 'frame' of light leakage

Thanks, that is useful as it reflects how I was thinking that I might proceed. Initially two main things would be the blackout blind and the daylight temperature bulb.

 

[Box Brownie]

Thanks, that is useful as it reflects how I was thinking that I might proceed. Initially two main things would be the blackout blind and the daylight temperature bulb.

Bear in mind that you do not want the room illumination of any sort shining on the monitor screen! The lowest dim setting I have have available is IMO very low. And I forgot to add I set the screen brightness to 100cd/m2 (or was it 90cd/m2) within the calibration process and I am due for re-cal soon and that will remind me

 

[TheBigYin]

whatever colour temperature of light you use, it'll be affected by the colour of the walls etc that you use... Of course, not everyone may find that a light grey painted room is compatible with domestic harmony, but it's a good start...

 

[superpippo]

whatever colour temperature of light you use, it'll be affected by the colour of the walls etc that you use... Of course, not everyone may find that a light grey painted room is compatible with domestic harmony, but it's a good start...

Yes, couldn’t agree more. Just decorating and hence one of the reasons this question has come up. Grey would be good but not acceptable here[emoji4] plain white is the best that I can come up with. Even then it is noticeable that the cream coloured blind throws a yellow cast on the walls.

 

[Box Brownie]

whatever colour temperature of light you use, it'll be affected by the colour of the walls etc that you use... Of course, not everyone may find that a light grey painted room is compatible with domestic harmony, but it's a good start...

A plus reason AFAIK for editing in minimal light to dark

 

[Brian G]

I was wondering under what conditions people edit their shots at home. I have a small room which has a desk with a pc and the room also doubles as book storage, documents etc. It is west facing with a tall , narrowish window and the light conditions change throughout the day. It has a Roman blind which is quite thin fabric and lets a lot of light through.

The room has a central pendant light and there is a small desk light.

Last week I was trying to edit on LR and the light was so bright that I could barely see the monitor screen and subtle edits were impossible. Also the perception of the colours is affected by the ambient light. It is not helped by the monitor being at a right angle to the window light.

Do people generally edit in the dark?
Do you have a light on at night?
If you have a light bulb is it a daylight bulb - I was thinking that this may help.
Any advice welcome.

Rather than the room conditions, I would have thought the most important thing is to have a calibrated monitor screen.

 

[superpippo]

Rather than the room conditions, I would have thought the most important thing is to have a calibrated monitor screen.

I agree that a calibrated monitor would be good but not sure that in itself would answer my query. To take an extreme example, if I sat in a room with a fluorescent bright light as against a low wattage tungsten then the screen would appear different to me. If I was was editing under those two scenarios then I think that I would likely get two different outcomes

 

[Brian G]

I agree that a calibrated monitor would be good but not sure that in itself would answer my query. To take an extreme example, if I sat in a room with a fluorescent bright light as against a low wattage tungsten then the screen would appear different to me. If I was was editing under those two scenarios then I think that I would likely get two different outcomes

You are using a hardware screen calibrator aren't you?
As part of the calibration procedure with my "Colormunki" calibrator, one of the first things you adjust is the screen brightness, which I have set to 120 cd/m2.
The screen remains at this brightness regardless of whether it is day or night, or if the room is lit by daylight or artificial light (I have switched off ambient light monitoring.)
I don't seem to have any problems turning out correctly balanced edits whatever time of day or night I work on an image.
The thing to make sure of is that, day or night, your screen is not directly lit by either daylight or artificial light which can influence the apparent brightness.
The colour balance should not change with changes in the ambient lighting because the screen image is back illuminated by your monitor, NOT the ambient room lighting.

 

[superpippo]

You are using a hardware screen calibrator aren't you?
As part of the calibration procedure with my "Colormunki" calibrator, one of the first things you adjust is the screen brightness, which I have set to 120 cd/m2.
The screen remains at this brightness regardless of whether it is day or night, or if the room is lit by daylight or artificial light (I have switched off ambient light monitoring.)
I don't seem to have any problems turning out correctly balanced edits whatever time of day or night I work on an image.
The thing to make sure of is that, day or night, your screen is not directly lit by either daylight or artificial light which can influence the apparent brightness.
The colour balance should not change with changes in the ambient lighting because the screen image is back illuminated by your monitor, NOT the ambient room lighting.

Thank you. That has helped my understanding [emoji106]