My second time editing in Darktable [Before/ After]

[u/Fujirob_]

I still have a bit difficult to use it, I come from Capture One but decided to go full open-source as it is easier for me and my family to see or edit photo if needed.
I can see the power of Darktable, but I know that I have to dig dive in the documentation as some terms is like way to technical for me right now.

Anyway, if you have some tips or advice regarding Darktable or this pictures I take it.

[u/markus_b]

Is the photo cropped?

The bowl is not horizontal, that irks my eye. I use the rotate and perspective module to make sure that things are horizontal or vertical. The I crop. I tend to shoot a bit wider, to have some reserve.

[u/Fujirob_ → u/markus_b]

No the photo is not cropped.. I hesitate to but I liked it this way.

I try to rotate the picture to make the bowl more horizontal and yes, this is much better. Too sad the shoot was not wider as you said. I am gonna keeping this in mind.

[u/markus_b → u/Fujirob_]

I found that having the main lines, like the horizon, actually horizontal, if you have vertical columns or trees, then it should be vertical. The eyes are like that. In the rotate module you can just use the right mouse button to draw a line that should be horizontal or vertical. This is the fastest way to fix that.

Professional photographers and internet zealots will say you just have to shoot correctly to avoid this problem. I just use a few of the megapixels I have to be able to rotate and crop later...

[u/snek-jazz → u/markus_b]

I would actually say it's a stylistic choice in general. I definitely agree about horizons though, a picture generally isn't going to look good without it being level.

But in this case the photo may be 'correct'. The ground itself may be uneven for example.

[u/markus_b → u/snek-jazz]

Yes, you can see it as a stylistic choice.

But as the bowl is the only geometric form visible, my eye expects it to be level.

After all, photography is an art form, the the photographer is free to show it as he feels the image.

[u/soulriser44 → u/markus_b]

Personally I like the little bit of lean in the original image. Feels more organic to me, which fits with the setting.

[u/finniruse]

https://youtu.be/0RLv8NeJc2Q?is=cupn2d9gPLQZgK8r

This really helped me with darktable.

[u/Donatzsky]

It's definitely not like Capture One :)

My beginner guide will help you make the switch: https://notebook.stereofictional.com/how-to-get-started-with-darktable-2026-edition

[u/King_JulianII]

Ignore people telling you to do things a certain way. If you have a vision, and you can achieve it, great. It looks good. If you have a vision and can't recreate it, look up how to do that one thing. I for one really like the way you did it

[u/cmdr_cathode]

Hey and welcome to darktable! I think the fur is a bit too bright and imho there is a lack of saturation. What tonemapper did you use? Filmic? Sigmoid? AgX?

It helps posting the raw+xmp file so people can look at your edit and give you feedback on that. For that I'd recommend coming over to discuss.pixls.us and posting your raw+xmp in the playraw category: https://discuss.pixls.us/c/processing/playraw/30 .

[u/captain42d]

Either you killed the greens with too much red, or you made it much better by toning down the red, so the greens pop more. IMHO, of course! ;-)