Thread

Zero-JS Hypermedia Browser

Relays: 5
Replies: 15
Generated: 10:20:40
I’ve been sitting on this shot for a while. Took it at the end of summer and was pretty hyped about it, but when I finally pulled it off the SD card and into the tablet… nothing. I kept opening it, staring at it, closing it again. Modern cameras nail detail but butcher colour. Compared to your eyes, they’re hopeless at rendering anything natural, and that gets painfully obvious with vibrant scenes like this one. I still remember how absurdly saturated the purple sky looked when the last light hit the clouds. The RAW, meanwhile, looked flat and washed out. So I got stuck: how far do you push a file to match what you actually saw? Push too hard and it looks fake. Hold back and the moment gets undersold. I’m still not sure this version is “final.” Feels like it’s missing a bit of punch. Not sure yet. What do you think? image
2025-11-16 19:31:33 from 1 relay(s) 6 replies ↓
Login to reply

Replies (15)

Same. > See the most amazing sunset! > I gotta take a picture and send to X! > Looks mediocre > Take a few more > Nevermind
2025-11-16 19:45:48 from 1 relay(s) ↑ Parent Reply
Here’s my (very quick and dirty) iPhone edit. No additional saturation added. Added brightness in highlights and raised the black point slightly. Added a tiny touch of contrast and adjusted white balance (towards warmer and less magenta). Makes it ‘pop’ a bit more without feeling overly saturated imo. image
2025-11-19 14:16:47 from 1 relay(s) ↑ Parent 1 replies ↓ Reply
The problem is this shot was taken when light was already pretty dim. Brightening it too much changes what the actual conditions were (a bit dark and moody due to the cloudy skies). That’s why I was hesitating with the editing process. I can certainly make it pop, but not sure if I want to go down this road. 🤔
2025-11-19 15:20:03 from 1 relay(s) ↑ Parent 2 replies ↓ Reply
Another thing you could try is a subtle gradient over the top portion of the image to retain that dark moodiness in the sky that you mention. That would allow you to bring more light and focus into the foreground, drawing the eye towards those lovely slow-shutter-speed waves and ripples.
2025-11-19 17:39:56 from 1 relay(s) ↑ Parent 1 replies ↓ Reply