Trying Out That Lindsay De Marco Look
So, I kept seeing these pictures floating around, you know, the ones with that really specific vibe? Found out they were often inspired by someone called Lindsay De Marco. Or at least, that’s the name people kept throwing around. Decided I’d give it a shot myself, see if I could figure out how they get that look.
First thing, I just started looking closely at the pictures people tagged with that name. Tried to break it down. What was actually happening in those photos? Seemed like a lot of it was about the lighting, kinda soft, maybe a bit hazy? And the colors were often kinda muted, not super bright, but not quite black and white either. Looked like film, maybe?
Okay, so I grabbed my camera. Didn’t have any fancy film gear, just my usual digital setup. Thought maybe I could fake it. Went out late afternoon, when the sun gets low – golden hour, people call it. Tried shooting towards the light sometimes, let things get a bit blown out, thinking that might help with the softness.
Then I got the photos onto my computer. This part was tricky. I started playing with the editing software. Big step here: I dropped the saturation way down. Made everything less colorful. Then I messed with the contrast, lowered that too, trying to get rid of really deep blacks and bright whites. Wanted everything kinda flat, you know?
I fiddled with the color balance too. Pushed things a little towards the warmer tones, yellows and oranges, even in the shadows. Saw some examples that had slightly greenish or blueish shadows, so I tried that on a few. It was mostly guesswork, clicking sliders back and forth.
- Dropped saturation first.
- Lowered the contrast next.
- Warmed up the overall tones.
- Played with adding a slight tint to shadows.
- Added a bit of ‘grain’ effect to make it look less digital.
Honestly, it took ages. Click, undo, click something else, undo again. I spent a whole evening just on a handful of photos. Some looked okay-ish, kinda close maybe? Others just looked… weird. Muddy. Like I’d just messed up the colors completely.
My takeaway? It’s not just one simple trick. It’s probably a combination of the actual shooting conditions – the light, the subject, maybe even the lens – and a very specific editing style. Trying to copy a ‘look’ like that from just seeing pictures online? It’s harder than it seems. You don’t know their exact process. Maybe they use special filters or presets I don’t have. Maybe that Lindsay De Marco person spent years getting it right, and I’m trying to crack it in one afternoon.
End result was… well, I got some photos that look different from my usual stuff. Are they ‘Lindsay De Marco’ style? Probably not quite. But it was an interesting experiment, trying to dissect a look and replicate it. Made me think more about light and color, anyway. Still got a lot to learn.
