Help with Getting Bold Colors

[Zen685]

I'm just getting started in this hobby and I'm shooting with a Canon XSi and stock IS lens. I'm having a hard time getting the bold colors to come out like I see in more experienced photographers photos. I've noticed I can get good color when I have a ton of light but most of the time the color is just dull. Is this because my lens doesn't let in enough light or do I need to make some adjustments within the camera?

 

[RobNZ]

Hi Zen, sounds to me like your not doing any post production. Most shots need at least some minor tweaking to get the best out of them.

Do you have an example?

 

[iolair]

I have noticed a fair difference between the kit 18-55 lens and my 50mm 1.8 ... more to do with the optical quality than the aperture though I think.

Yes, post-processing can bring out the colours and get the effect you want, especially if you shoot in RAW and use Canon's DPP software to get the best exposure out of your images.

Perhaps if you posted one or two of the examples you're disappointed with and details on how you took the photo (exposure details, lighting used) then we could give more specific feedback.

 

[Zen685]

I'm shooting in RAW and doing my post production in DPP. I may just need more practice editing. Any suggestions on some basic post production steps? I'm working on getting a photo uploaded. I'm new to this forum and I'm having a hard time. I keep uploading it and it never shows up in my gallery. It just says processing.

 

[Zen685]

double post

 

[Zen685]

I shot this earlier this evening. It's beach chapel in Guam. I used the stock 18-55mm IS lens that came with my XSi. It was shot at 30mm, f8, 1/500s, ISO 400 (this was auto),

 

[desertdave]

I would the colors are big and bold in that shot. Would have made a nice bracketed image also, that would have kept the highlites from blowing out. I like it mucho,

 

[JBLoudG20]

Here is a *real* fast edit. I'd do a bit more to it, but just wanted to show you what an extra (literally) 3 minutes in lighroom did:

Edited curves, tweaked some saturation in the blues and greens, painted some exposure adjustments to the bushes and the clouds (would work a bit better if I had the RAW files).

EDIT: Hmm it looks a bit more saturated here than it did in my lightroom. I'd probably bring it back a bit, but I'm lazy You get the idea, though.

 

[freeze3kgt]

i was having similar problems and read up on some tips to help with that.... but not sure if it will work on your camera


again not sure with the xsi, but on the t1i you can have 3 custom picture styles and i made one with my Sharpness 4, contrast0, saturation 4, color tone 2

not sure if that makes any since but i seem to get more vibrant colors out of that set up and im sure if you are able to make custom picture styles you can come up with something better!

are you shootin in landscape mode by chance? because that seems to make the colors pop more.

 

[table1349]

Quick thought here. Have you hardware calibrated you monitor? If not then you are pretty much wasting you time post processing other than sharpness.

 

[JasonLambert]

Quick thought here. Have you hardware calibrated you monitor? If not then you are pretty much wasting you time post processing other than sharpness.

I call BS! :thumbdown: :x :thumbdown:

If it for your own personal viewing pleasure, making the images look good on your monitor is good practice. Just remember that if you go to print an image it may be off a bit from what you thought you had and other monitors are going to show it slightly different. Unless your monitor is WAY off you are probably going to be pleased with a print for personal use.

 

[BuS_RiDeR]

My two cents...

I used Gimp and did a bit of color enhancement... very quick edit. Just to show what a little PP can do...

 

[Zen685]

Bus Rider: What exactly did you do in GIMP? I just installed the software and I'd like to give it a try.

 

[ghpham]

Nothing is wrong with that original in terms of color....you could always boost the in camera saturation as well, without having to do PP.

 

[BuS_RiDeR]

Bus Rider: What exactly did you do in GIMP? I just installed the software and I'd like to give it a try.

Not much really... From within Gimp I went to the "Color" menu, then the "Auto..." option. I chose "Auto White Balance" and "Color "Enhance" from here and I was satisfied with the results so I left it at that. I think thats all I did to this image.

Obviously there are times that require more or less PP. But I am not an expert at this stuff and of course it is easier to edit the RAW image.

I stick to the basics (brightness, contrast, saturation, white balance).

I hope that is helpfull for you.