Paige & Bobby and their glamorous wedding party. The glorious sunset made the icy weather worth it! :)
Good Afternoon!
How is everyone today? I've been really absent for the past week, editing meticulously for my darling clients. It's wonderful fun, since I love the editing process, but I do miss posting a lot of pics during the day and interacting with my clients.
Today I wanted to talk about color in photography. When I first started out, I realized I could change my camera's color settings to reflect the type of photography I was doing (i.e. landscapes, portraits, black & white city scenes, etc.)...I'd read on more than one blog of a pro I admired that they always used "Standard" for everything. So without so much as experimenting to see what *I* thought, preferred, wanted...I changed my camera's setting to "Standard" and left it that way...for a year. Yup. Turned out that wasn't what I wanted at all...and when I found myself in the editing room regularly changing the color tones because they weren't what I'd seen in my mind's eye when I recalled the scene, it never occurred to me that I should change it internally so that it was what I wanted from the get go.
Pretty silly, right? It wasn't until I was bored on a long road trip enroute to a photo session that I started playing with the settings and photographing my purse as it sat on the dashboard in front of me. It was this bright, beautiful shade of turquoise, but as I photographed it on "Standard", it wasn't giving me the color that I actually saw. So I tried "Portrait". Still not quite right. Then "Landscapes"...prettier, but still no cigar. Well, then I turned the dial to "Faithful" and lo and behold...it was exactly the shade of turquoise that my eyes were registering!
I decided that I would use that setting for my portrait session that afternoon. Well, it turns out that was exactly what I'd been missing all along! The colors were perfect, and I cut down a lot of time hand blending the colors in my digital darkroom! What a goose I was, creating all this extra work for myself for absolutely no good reason.
The message of this story is twofold. One, never rely on what someone else thinks is the best setting for YOUR images. They have a different aesthetic and process, and what works for them may not work for you. Two, and more important, is know thine camera. If you're spending a lot of time doing post processing on something as basic as color, then recognize that you need to start getting the image you want in camera first. And that means trying different settings, and practicing practicing practicing until you get into the groove that's right for you.
Thanks for listening! Please remember this is the day to ask all your photography-related questions. And always know that you can email me questions or contact me on Facebook if you're seeking advice/tips/help.
I hope you're having a grand week so far. Shout out to my sweet friend Mandy, who is having a tough week and could use a hug...so here it is. Feel my virtual arms wrapping around you and squeezing SO TIGHT! :) Love you, girlie girl! :)
Happy Tuesday,
McCall :)
How is everyone today? I've been really absent for the past week, editing meticulously for my darling clients. It's wonderful fun, since I love the editing process, but I do miss posting a lot of pics during the day and interacting with my clients.
Today I wanted to talk about color in photography. When I first started out, I realized I could change my camera's color settings to reflect the type of photography I was doing (i.e. landscapes, portraits, black & white city scenes, etc.)...I'd read on more than one blog of a pro I admired that they always used "Standard" for everything. So without so much as experimenting to see what *I* thought, preferred, wanted...I changed my camera's setting to "Standard" and left it that way...for a year. Yup. Turned out that wasn't what I wanted at all...and when I found myself in the editing room regularly changing the color tones because they weren't what I'd seen in my mind's eye when I recalled the scene, it never occurred to me that I should change it internally so that it was what I wanted from the get go.
Pretty silly, right? It wasn't until I was bored on a long road trip enroute to a photo session that I started playing with the settings and photographing my purse as it sat on the dashboard in front of me. It was this bright, beautiful shade of turquoise, but as I photographed it on "Standard", it wasn't giving me the color that I actually saw. So I tried "Portrait". Still not quite right. Then "Landscapes"...prettier, but still no cigar. Well, then I turned the dial to "Faithful" and lo and behold...it was exactly the shade of turquoise that my eyes were registering!
I decided that I would use that setting for my portrait session that afternoon. Well, it turns out that was exactly what I'd been missing all along! The colors were perfect, and I cut down a lot of time hand blending the colors in my digital darkroom! What a goose I was, creating all this extra work for myself for absolutely no good reason.
The message of this story is twofold. One, never rely on what someone else thinks is the best setting for YOUR images. They have a different aesthetic and process, and what works for them may not work for you. Two, and more important, is know thine camera. If you're spending a lot of time doing post processing on something as basic as color, then recognize that you need to start getting the image you want in camera first. And that means trying different settings, and practicing practicing practicing until you get into the groove that's right for you.
Thanks for listening! Please remember this is the day to ask all your photography-related questions. And always know that you can email me questions or contact me on Facebook if you're seeking advice/tips/help.
I hope you're having a grand week so far. Shout out to my sweet friend Mandy, who is having a tough week and could use a hug...so here it is. Feel my virtual arms wrapping around you and squeezing SO TIGHT! :) Love you, girlie girl! :)
Happy Tuesday,
McCall :)
Handsome Michael & Lovely Paula at the US Botanic Gardens for their e-session. :)
The amazing, marvelous, and stunning Erica & Rich, whose vintage fab wedding you'll be seeing on the blog in a few weeks! Dancing fools! ;)
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