Density

Density is how deep and rich an image sits: the controlled weight of its shadows and its saturated colors, not merely how dark it is overall. A dense image feels grounded and filmic because its saturated colors carry appropriate weight — purer colors sit a little darker, the way they do in the real world — while a thin image looks pale and washed out even at the same exposure. Density is one of the components you read when you deconstruct a reference look, alongside contrast shape and palette.

First used in: 2.9 · Look development I — analysis