Photograpy color?

[atholon]

Hi guys,

I know some of you are good photographers so I figured I would ask you. What are the best methods to get great color quality in an image? I know about white balance.. but are there more techniques for improving color quality?

[Steve]

just have to get the correct exposure.

other than that a better body and lens.

kind of very easy but difficult question to answer.

[Scott]

Photoshop... Here are three samples that literally took me two minutes to create.. The first is the original I took. Second is adjusting the exposure, brightness and contrast. The third is exposure, brightness, contrast, photo filter (to soften) and then vibrant. Photoshop is really the key to great photos, quickly. This could have been done with a camera also but that would have taken time (and money) and i'm to impatient to fiddle with settings or carry a large camera case around. I get these are not the best samples but I really did them both in 2 minutes..

Original unedited (gloomy day)


Basic edits (miledovercast, little to much contrast)


Little more basic edits... (almost sunny, little to vibrant)

[.Simon.]

Use RAW files unless you know what your doing, it always helps to be able to edit the photos later in lightroom without compromising quality. But like steve said, once you get your technique down, then its just a case of upgrading your equipment.

Also my best tip is lighting. Whether you create it yourself with a small lamp or have to wait for a sunny day, It goes a long way to the quality of the photo.

Even though Scott's examples are awesome, you can kind of notice that its been altered in the final image because the lighting doesn't look quite right (Hope Scott doesn't mind me saying that!)

It's all about looking good when the photo is taken. Post production is great, but you need the best shot possible to start with.

[Scott]

RAW files are generally hard to come by with consumer camera's. Not only that, but they are very large and require large media cards (not really a problem anymore if you have SD cards). I've never had a camera (note, my cameras are all compact digitals) that had RAW capability. The photos provided above are very basic edits in photoshop and are indeed to vibrant and/or saturated but it shows that with the right technique, photoshop is a great tool to enhance your photos.

The point I was really going for was that if you want to take nice photo's strait from the camera, your going to have to do ALOT of studying and practicing. And your probably going to have to get a better camera. I believe Steve has got a nice Cannon that was reasonably priced which i'm sure he'll share the model with you. Now that your married ath you might have some extra time on your hands .. lol. However, I want my camera to be compact but also take decent pictures that I can retouch later to make them look like HQ photos.

Lighting is my arch nemesis in photography. I can never seem to get it right. It is one very tricky skill to learn.

[.Simon.]

Ok then we're talking about compact vs 'full body' cameras ;P I guess it depends which he is using.

I've got a Sony a200 which only cost me about £200 (i say only, but thats cheap for a DSLR), and that shoots RAW and came with a 4gb compact flash card, so there are deals around.

[atholon]

Thanks guys! I tried your suggestions and it does make the photos look way better. I wish we could afford a nice SLR camera... we barely make enough to pay our way through school.

[SilentTrigger]

Lightroom by Adobe is a really great program for photo, it's the best bits out of Photoshop (photo functions) and several more added to it, but it's not cheap

Nikon Capture NX is really great too! I got this when I bought my camera so I'm not sure how much it cost?

[Steve]

sry was unsure if you were asking when taking pics or post process.

[MERMITE]

Originally Posted by atholon

What are the best methods to get great color quality in an image? I know about white balance.. but are there more techniques for improving color quality?

1: Bucks and lots of them,
NO Bucks then get 'em by selling your current work...easy

2: Work with a pro, and work for free to get the "know how"

3: Impress the local camera pros on your quick thinkin and COOL ideas, pros often "Stagnate".

4: I dismiss a turn_key once a month for sloppy behaviour
failing to appease me or my crew, I do it because I can,
(in the hope I find someone who is better than me!!!)

5: NEVER trust technology or software it's new and has very far to go

6:"color quality in an image?..." NO SUCH THING!



"M"

[.Simon.]

Originally Posted by SilentTrigger*MFA*

Lightroom by Adobe is a really great program for photo, it's the best bits out of Photoshop (photo functions) and several more added to it, but it's not cheap

Think again

[atholon]

Originally Posted by Steve

sry was unsure if you were asking when taking pics or post process.

I meant it either way.

[SilentTrigger]

Originally Posted by .Simon.

Think again

About what?

[Steve]

about price i guess

[SilentTrigger]

It's cheap?

[.Simon.]

If your in the know, yeah

[SilentTrigger]

I don't know what you mean with "in the know" but I'll leave it at that