Maximizing Colour during Post-Scan Editing

Version 1.1, Page 5, ©2002 by Dale Cotton, all rights reserved.

Another problem with the image as it stands is that the sky is too dark to be believable in conjunction with the intense sunlight streaming in from stage left.

Fig 12. Sky adjustments

• 15. In the same way select just the sky. Use Hue/Sat. to de-saturate and slightly warm the sky. Use Curves to brighten the sky.

The image now pretty closely resembles what I beheld that lucky morning. Yes, Ma Nature loves pure chlorophyll green all summer long, and the greens we now have are what this scene would show at mid day. But the picture was taken (not made) at dawn, not at mid day. This gives me the excuse to warm up the greens to match the redness of dawn sunlight.

Fig 13. Warm the over-all green

• 16. Use Hue/Sat Master channel to shift entire image toward yellow.

Looking critically at the image, I'm still not satisfied that I've re-created the full glory of the original scene's impact. A bit more drama is needed...

• 17. Add a Curve adjustment layer. Add a slight S curve to the RGB channel to increase contrast.

But now the colours look a bit too gaudy...

Fig 14. Reduce over-all saturation.

• 18. Add a Hue/Sat. layer to slightly reduce over-all saturation.

Fig 15. Done.

In this case the final image serves more to recapture something of the glory of the original scene rather than going off in a new direction.

I mostly shoot Reala, for its fine grain and wide dynamic range. Not being the swiftest of photographers I've been shooting it at its rated speed of 100 ISO. Thanks to photo.net I recently learned that those in the know rate it at 50 or 80 to improve its colour performance. On reflection, I'll probably stick to the rated speed when shooting contrasty scenes like this, rather than sacrificing any exposure latitude at the bright end. This leaves me with initially lack-luster colours ... but with Photoshop handy - who really cares?