How I Get the Dark Aesthetic Look on iPhone
I’ve never been into bright, saturated photos. They always look a bit much to me.
The shots I keep coming back to are darker. Moodier. Like something out of a film. And most of them were taken on my iPhone.
Here’s what I do.
I Shoot Darker Than I Think I Need To
When I tap to focus, I drag the exposure slider down before I take the shot.
Most people expose for a bright image and then try to darken it in editing. That never works as well. If you start with the right base, the edit is easy.
I Don’t Try to Light Everything
Shadows are fine. Let them be there.
Some of my favourite shots are mostly dark with one thing lit. A face near a window. A car under a streetlight. You don’t need to see the whole scene. The darkness is part of it.
Colours Stay Muted
Bright colours kill the mood instantly.
I’m looking for soft browns, deep blacks, dull greens. If there’s a bit of colour in the frame, I want it to feel like it belongs there, not like it’s fighting for attention.
The Edit Is Mostly Subtraction
I bring the highlights down. I deepen the blacks. I lower the overall brightness more than feels right.
I don’t touch clarity. Clarity makes things look sharpened and digital. Contrast is what actually makes a photo feel cinematic.
I Always Add Grain
A little grain at the end of every edit. Not a lot, just enough.
It adds to the filmic look. Digital photos can feel too clean and that’s what kills the aesthetic. Grain takes care of that.
I Keep the Frame Simple
One subject. Clean background. Nothing extra.
Dark edits make clutter look worse, not better. The simpler the frame, the more the light and shadow can do their job.
I Shoot at Night or in Low Light
I don’t wait for a sunny day. I look for dim rooms, car parks, stairwells, streetlights. Wet streets are great because the reflections add texture without making the shot brighter.
One light source is almost always better than trying to light everything evenly.
The Easy Way
If you don’t want to dial all of this in manually every time, I’ve got a Dark Aesthetic preset pack on PlatSupply. It gets you to this look in one click.
