Almost universally, it’s agreed that one major mistake many a photographer makes in post processing is over-saturation. From skies to eyes, to everything in between, boosting saturation to far beyond unreasonable limits seems to be a common Achilles Heel for some photographers. It’s an effort to make their images more eye-catching, and it’s understandable at times if someone has just begun to use a piece of editing software – that they like to see the photo transform before them and pop out. The decision to keep it that way though, is all too often misplaced.
[REWIND: Cheetyr | The Searchable Shortcut Cheat Sheet For Photoshop]
Anyone who shoots wants their photos to stand out; to be appreciated, acknowledged, or simply to instill a sense of pride. There is no shame or harm in that. But truly, if you want your images to stand out, over saturation is not the tool to get the kind of attention you want. That said, taking an image, and manipulating the tones, saturation, vibrance, etcetera, can make it really stand out if done properly. They key is knowing how to do that.
While there is no one who can instill a sense of taste, and your opinions and artistic license are your own, this episode of Phlearn will teach you a way to take your image and make the colors within, pop. Using a few different Photoshop basics in ways you may not have thought of before, Aaron Nace walks you through the editing of 2 different photos where he uses hue/saturation sliders to pick particular colors to enhance, and shows you how to use the sliders in a sort of masking way. The end result is essentially a quick tutorial that teaches you an equally quick, and effective way to choose a specific color range and make those colors, and your image, come to life. (I aways advise to use discretion and err of the side of less instead of more).
As always, if you are a fan of Aaron’s teachings (and who isn’t?), be sure to check back here for updates, and follow along with Aaron on YouTube and Phlearn. You should also consider becoming quickly adept at Photoshop with the Phlearn Photoshop 101 & 201 sets as they are extremely comprehensive, and will have you quickly doing things with Photoshop you may have otherwise thought too complex, or didn’t even know you could do.
Source: Phlearn
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