Moody Presets
We often have our photography style described as moody. While we wouldn’t like to consider ourselves a one trick pony, or locked into a certain style - we do shoot and edit in a very particular way to get the consistent look that we create.
We also often get photographers asking about our photos and presets. “how can I get my images to be moody?” “Will your presets make my photos moody?”
What makes a photo moody? Is it color, light, darkness, or a feeling?
Whatever it is, as with any aesthetic, a vibe comes from the entire creative process, start to finish. There’s no one trick or gimmick that can give your art a particular feeling. That means, from the planning of the shoot, right through to the final editing of the images you’ll need to consider the light, locations, subjects, colors, time of day the shoot will take place, your tone curve, your tones, exposures —everything.
That said, there are a couple of giveaways that have a certain moody aesthetic that will work talk through here.
You can also see our preset packs available here at: www.chasewildclass.com/presets
COLOR2 - Signature Presets - Shot in the Faroes Island on a very cloudy day
COLOR1 - Signature Presets - Shot in the rain when it was nearly dark.
Moody is not about being dark - it’s about how you use the light.
There’s a myth that moody photograph equals dark photography. It’s not. Moody photography is more about which parts of the image are brighter and which are darker.
If you look hard at our images you can see how we place our subjects in the locations we shoot. You will notice that our couples (specifically their skin) are normally one of the brightest points in the frame. This is super intentional. You’ll need to learn to notice the direction of light to figure this out, but when you do it’s a powerful tool for creating a moody look.
We’ve always been influenced by a certain concept or way of thinking in art. It’s called - chiaroscuro . Chiaroscuro is the use of strong light and shadow contrasts in classical art. A great point to start in building a strong understanding of ‘moody’ light and for finding inspiration would be to dive into chiaroscuro is in Renaissance paintings and in classic cinematography. You’ll quickly notice the kinds of light and locations that are used. As a general rule of thumb, midday light in a green field might not quite be what you are looking for. Try looking for places where light gets absorb - darker backgrounds compared to where you can put your subject. This way your subject will pop of the background, the background will be dark and boom Chiaroscuro.
Chiaroscuro, in art, is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition
In Camera for a moody look
We often get asked if we under expose our images to get the look we have. We ALWAYS (ALWAYS!) expose properly for skin tones. We don’t start shooting a scene until we have our exposure perfect for our couples skin. You goal should always be to expose properly for skin or for highlights to avoid the muddiness that comes from underexposing skin.
A little tip is to use spot meter and meter your exposure on the face of your subject where the hightlights are. You won’t go wrong. Also, shot manually - don’t let the camera decide your exposure here.
Editing
If you have an image that is exposed properly and shot with your subject as one of the brighter points of the image then you are really ready to create some killer moody tones. This is where our presets come in. Here you can really add some lovely tones to your shadows and highlights. You can drop your shadows down and make your subject pop even more. Our presets are perfectly suited to this kind of look.
Preset Pack 1 contains some classic moody tones - it’s a great starting point for you to add your own twist. We are confident you will not only find a beautiful fit for your style, but will have the option of developing something that is truly unique to your brand. Head to our preset page to see some more examples and before and afters.
Before - shot with our couple popping off a darker background.
After - applied COLOR1 and dropped the shadows - added extra warmth.
We hope this has been helpful info for you on creating a more moody look - or just thinking about a style in general. Do flick us a message if you like the content!
Check out our preset offerings below.