Dark & Moody Colour Grading Adobe Lightroom,
Therefore, getting a black moody color grade in Lightroom involves manipulating the light, contrast, and color balance to create a dramatic, atmospheric look with deep shadows and muted colors. This style often emphasizes a specific subject while keeping the rest of the scene dark.
Dark & Moody Colour Grading Adobe Lightroom,
🛠️ Key Adjustments for Dark & Moody Look:
Therefore, the following are the core steps and suggested starting points for your sliders in the Develop module (or Edit panel in the newer Lightroom CC):
1. Basic Panel Adjustments (Light)
Therefore, the goal here is to establish a dark base and strong contrast.
- Exposure: Reduce it slightly (e.g., -0.3 to -0.7) to darken the overall image.
- Contrast: Increase it (e.g., +30 to +50) to add punch, separating lights and shadows.
- Highlights: Reduce them (e.g., -60 to -80) to retain detail in bright areas and flatten the image slightly.
- Shadows: Increase them (e.g., +30 to +50) to lift shadow detail a bit, which contributes to the “moody” feel rather than pure black crush.
- Whites: Reduce them (e.g., -20 to -40).
- Blacks: Reduce them (e.g., -20 to -30) to deepen the darkest areas.
Dark & Moody Colour Grading Adobe Lightroom,
2. Tone Curve:
Therefore, The Tone Curve is critical for both contrast and the signature “faded blacks” or “milky blacks” look.
- RGB Channel: Create a subtle S-curve.
- In other words, drag the bottom-left point (blacks/shadows) up slightly to lift the blacks, creating the faded/matte look.
- However, drag the top-right point (highlights/whites) down slightly.
- In other words, add a point in the mid-tones and move it slightly up or down to adjust overall brightness/contrast.
Dark & Moody Colour Grading Adobe Lightroom,
3. Color Grading (HSL/Color Mixer)
Therefore, the “moody” aspect often comes from reducing color saturation, especially in less desirable colors like greens and yellows.
- Temperature/Tint: Often, a slightly cooler (blue) temperature or a touch of magenta tint is applied, but this depends heavily on the original image.
- Saturation/Vibrance:
- Reduce Vibrance (e.g., -10 to -20).
- Reduce Saturation (e.g., -15 to -25).
- HSL/Color Mixer (Hue, Saturation, Luminance):
- Greens and Yellows: These are often the colors you want to desaturate heavily and darken. Reduce their Saturation (e.g., -50 to -100) and decrease their Luminance to make them darker.
- Oranges/Reds (Skin Tones): If there are people in the photo, you may want to increase the Luminance of Oranges and Reds to make the subject’s skin stand out against the dark background.
Dark & Moody Colour Grading Adobe Lightroom,
4. Effects:
- Vignette: However, add a subtle dark vignette (negative Amount) to draw the viewer’s eye to the center of the frame and enhance the moody feel.
- Grain: Adding a touch of Grain can give the image an analog, film-like, and more dramatic texture.
In conclusion, remember that these are starting points, and you will need to tweak the settings to suit the lighting and colors of your specific photograph.
