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The
Digital Difference
Images shot digitally without post-processing rarely are as
lively as the original scenes. This is due to a digital camera’s
relatively natural color representation and the contrast. I’m
sure those qualities are desirable for portraits and other subjects,
but I usually prefer something closer to Velvia when it comes
to outdoor photography.
One of the ways I accomplish this is with my computer using
an image-editing application, which in this case is Adobe Photoshop.
Although some photographers might use the Hue/Saturation tool
to increase the strength of the colors, I prefer the Selective
Color tool instead. I access this by going to Menu > Image
> Adjustment > Selective Color. This control allows me
to adjust red, green, blue, cyan, magenta and yellow as well
as white, black and neutral. The major difference of Selective
Color compared to Levels, Color Balance and Hue/Saturation is
that you have total control over every individual color in your
image.
Making Changes
For a sunset image, I’ll make adjustments to the red, yellow
and occasionally magenta colors if there’s a twilight glow
to the sky. Selecting Reds and Yellows, I move the yellow and
magenta sliders to the right, increasing the intensity of these
colors. Where magenta and yellow are characteristic colors of
the golden glow, blue is the opposite; so I move the cyan slider
to the left to enhance the warmth of the scene by reducing the
cool, bluish tint. The black slider could move in either direction,
depending on whether I want to make those particular colors
brighter or darker.
Use your judgment as to how much to move the sliders before
the colors cross the line from being optimized to extreme, when
they start appearing unnatural.
Controlling
Color
The hallmark of Fujichrome Velvia, besides the high contrast
and overall saturated colors, are the eye-popping greens. To
get that look through Selective Color, I select Greens. Since
green comes from blue and yellow, I drag the cyan and yellow
sliders to the right while moving magenta to a negative value.
The foliage increasingly starts to glow as I slide black to
a negative value on the left. I also select Yellows and experiment,
since it could impact the green.
To add contrast, I go to the Selective Color tool and choose
the neutral color. I then move the black slider to the right,
anywhere from 1 to 10. The result is an overall darker image
with less grays and punchier colors. To make my blacks have
the thick black quality of Velvia, I select Blacks and move
the black slider to the right as well. Usually 1 to 4 is plenty,
but it’s all a matter of taste. For white clouds, for example,
select Whites and slide the black slider to a negative value.
No matter your reasons for shooting digitally, saturated colors
and strong contrast can be achieved. Even better, you have much
more control than you could ever have imagined with film. |
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