Quiet Life
My everyday colour recipe. I shoot a lot in nature, and like subdued, earthy tones, with richness directed towards light and pops of colour that appear naturally. This lets a cloudy day retain its melancholy, or a colourful flower take centre stage as it ought.
I feel like this reflects how I draw, too; subdued tones with pops of creativity and life springing up from unlikely places, regardless of surroundings or circumstance.
This look has been my default baseline in Lightroom for a few years, so I translated it into a Ricoh recipe so I can get the look straight out of camera.
| Setting | Configuration |
|---|---|
| Image Control | Negative Film |
| Saturation | +1 |
| Hue | -1 |
| High/Low Key | 0 |
| Contrast | +1 |
| Contrast Highlight | -2 |
| Contrast Shadow | -2 |
| Sharpness | -1 |
| Shading | 0 |
| Clarity | -1 |
| White Balance | Daylight |
| WB Shift | A1, G1 |
| Highlight Correction | On |
| Shadow Correction | Low |
| Peripheral Illumination Correction | On |
| High ISO Noise Reduction | Off |
| Exposure Compensation | 0 EV by default; adjust per scene |
| HDF | Off by default; use deliberately |
| File Format | RAW + JPEG |
Quiet Mono
My black-and-white variation of the same idea. Deep blacks, lots of greys and softer highlights, without crushing everything into a gritty high-contrast look. Quiet and atmospheric, but still full of detail and life.
More contrast than the colour version, as removing colour allows for the volumes and shapes do more of the talking.
I use this one when shapes have something specific to say.
| Setting | Configuration |
|---|---|
| Image Control | Monotone |
| High/Low Key | -1 |
| Contrast | +2 |
| Contrast Highlight | -3 |
| Contrast Shadow | -2 |
| Sharpness | -1 |
| Shading | 0 |
| Clarity | 0 |
| Filter Effect | 2 |
| Toning | Off |
| Grain Effect | 1 |
| Highlight Correction | On |
| Shadow Correction | Low |
| Peripheral Illumination Correction | On |
| High ISO Noise Reduction | Off |
| Exposure Compensation | 0 EV by default; adjust per scene |
| HDF | Off by default; use deliberately |
| File Format | RAW + JPEG |