Thread: Why you should not rely on photographs for color accuracy

These three photos help demonstrate why you should not put too much faith in color accuracy in photographs. My suggestion is to always request a sample swatch. Samples are free of charge and arrive in just a few days.

These photos were all taken the same day, within 10 minutes of each other. These two were outside with my Nikon D40 SLR digital camera. Simply walking around to the opposite side of the piece changes the way the light comes into the lens.



This photo was taken after the piece was moved into my store. This photo was taken with my iPhone Xs Max.



You can clearly see the color shifts. It's possible to correct all these color shifts with Photoshop by having the swatch by the computer, however that is very time-consuming and not something I have enough hours in the day to do.

Always request a swatch before you order if you have any concerns about color accuracy. Even then there will be color shift variances from dye lot to dye lot in pure aniline leathers.

Another add to this thread. Two leathers from the Hancock and Moore swatch set in the store. One photo is taken by my sales counter under the store fluorescent lamps. I didn’t like how it presented so took both up to the front windows to get more natural light on them. See the difference?

This is really helpful, thanks. To add something maybe people already know: colors “change” depending not only on camera and lighting, but also on context. I have a grey rug that looks blue—definitely BLUE—when blue furniture is placed on it, and it looks GREY—deep, steely GREY —when dark grey or black furniture is placed upon it. My antique oak dresser is dark, deep, warm brown, but when placed in certain contexts, other colors will bring out the yellow tones in it. Shopping at home in COVID times, I’ve been taking pics of my own stuff in lighting that mimics the pics in this forum, and pics of samples in different lights, and comparing them all on Pinterest ( no I do NOT work for Pinterest). When one takes into account color variation in leather and all these factors Duane has brought up, it just reminds me that I’m gonna get an APPROXIMATION of color before the leather hits my floor—and like Duane said—it’s like the excitement of opening a present on Christmas.