Marc Adamus
Registered: May 15, 2006
Total Posts: 556
Country: United States
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Conrad Tan wrote:
Marc, question from a newbie.. I frequently go to Yosemite and have a 30D and use my Tamron f2.8 17-50 for these kinds of shots. My questions is, why am I NOT getting the spectacular colors you are getting? Should I be using filters? They are coming out sharp, but very bland in the color department.
Well, there are lots of possible reasons you're not getting the colors you desire. First, you really should be shooting in RAW format and fine tuning your colors with a RAW converter (there are several options here). The RAW format will give you great control over the balance and saturation levels of individual color channels. I do pretty much all of my color corrections in RAW. Learning to maximize the potential of a RAW converter does take some time and practice though.
To answer your question about filters, you should only use graduated filters if you need and/or prefer to use them to control the range of light within an exposure. Controling the range of light and obtaining proper exposure throghout is key to maximizing color. A polarizing filter can also help in some situations too. A polarizer reduces reflected light such as the sheen on moist foilage which can adversely effect color saturation. A polarizer will help 'pop' the greens in spring foliage, cut through haze to some extent and help add definition to textures such as skies and water when properly rotated. I do not prefer to use other filters such as blue and gold, enhancers, colored grads, etc. these days. It's too easy to adjust for these effects in RAW.
Last, some of these images did not undergo any color enhancement. #4 looks almost exactly how the camera recorded it, only cooler. Same with #3. It can take a lot of time in the field to obtain results such as these. Great light like this is a pretty rare occurance. Usually I go ten or more trips into the field in the magic hour to capture light like you see in any one of these. PS and RAW work can only take you so far, and it's really not very far. There's no substitute for simply capturing a vibrant scene to begin with.
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