How to get clean, vibrant photos?

[Lmphotos]

So I am ditching the excessive photoshop and actions because I know see the beauty in a well done clean vibrant photograph......But, I unfortunately do not come close to re-creating. My skin tones look very gray and washed out, colors are never vibrant and rich. Heres an example of what I would like to learn.

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[Lmphotos]

This is an example of mine SOOC Her skin tones look gray and washed out and the whole thing lacks pop

 

[essentials]

Are you able to provide any details on your gear, or the settings you used to take that photo? Were you using Automatic anything or was that a manual adjustment?

Also, do you take your photos in a raw format and edit them within Lightroom?

 

[amolitor]

Warm the colors up a bit (add some red/subtract some cyan, and add some yellow/subtract some blue, and I added a hair of magenta/subtracted green, but you can do it with a color temperature slider too, if your tools give you one), brighten up the middle tones with a curves adjustment (just grab the curve in the middle and lift it straight up a bit -- leaves the highlights and shadows mostly alone, brightens up the middle values), put saturation a hair up:



You seem to have shot her in open shade, which is why she looks kind of bluish to start with.

Is this sort of in the area of what you're looking for?

 

[Lmphotos]

I have a 5dmark ii 24-105 kit lens, 85 1.8, 50 1.8, 35 1.8. I have one external flash the sigma 610 DG Super. I now shoot in Manual of AV I always meter then adjust settings for exposure. I use photoshop do not have lightroom.

 

[e.rose]

I admire your wanting to get back to the roots of getting it right "in camera", however, you DO have to keep in mind that the photo you're aiming for *is* post processed. It's not straight out of the camera. It certainly is a clean edit, but it's still edited, even if just minimally.

Definitely learn to get good images SOOC, but you'll still need a little post for that slight ... Pop... You're seeing in your "what I'd like to do" example.

 

[Lmphotos]

Warm the colors up a bit (add some red/subtract some cyan, and add some yellow/subtract some blue, and I added a hair of magenta/subtracted green, but you can do it with a color temperature slider too, if your tools give you one), brighten up the middle tones with a curves adjustment (just grab the curve in the middle and lift it straight up a bit -- leaves the highlights and shadows mostly alone, brightens up the middle values), put saturation a hair up:

View attachment 34274

You seem to have shot her in open shade, which is why she looks kind of bluish to start with.

Is this sort of in the area of what you're looking for?

It is better but still that pop to me is lacking that pop or depth. It is in open shade....facing towards the sun I read a whole lesson on it but it def did not turn out like all their tutorials showed. The other photo looks bright and true to colors almost a life life feel.

 

[cgipson1]

maybe put more emphasis on the subjects.. instead of not pretty background? Larger Aperture to blur it more... and maybe (OMG!) portrait format! Fill flash would have helped also...

 

[Lmphotos]

Absolutely. I know post will always be a huge part of photography. Just trying to see what I need to do to get there.

 

[Lmphotos]

maybe put more emphasis on the subjects.. instead of not pretty background? Larger Aperture to blur it more... and maybe (OMG!) portrait format! Fill flash would have helped also...
View attachment 34276

Even with the crop I hate the colors which is what I was asking about......

 

[amolitor]

"depth" is a problem in open shade, since you don't get much in the way of shadows. Your sample above of something you want to emulate definitely has better light, and the skin tones of the people on the balcony are definitely a rich brown. Either they all tan obsessively or someone went a little crazy in photoshop, to be honest.

The image itself has more pop simply because of the white pews, black stairs, and rich brown woodwork. There's a lot of contrast and drama in the background, as opposed to a.. winter field with half dead grass and a blob of snow (I know, not your fault, that's just what the world looks like outside right now!) The white gown, the black accents on the groom's outfit all help out here. The white pews in particular are working, since they really give a sensation of brightness, lightness, brilliance.

 

[cgipson1]

maybe put more emphasis on the subjects.. instead of not pretty background? Larger Aperture to blur it more... and maybe (OMG!) portrait format! Fill flash would have helped also...

Even with the crop I hate the colors which is what I was asking about......

Fill flash would have allowed you to control the background exposure much better... to get some color and pop out there. It would have also allowed better skin tones and POP for the subjects. A reflector would have helped for that matter...

 

[amolitor]

Oops, duplicate post.

Charlie's crop ain't bad. You can burn and dodge a bit to bring some depth into the shadows. Brighten teeth a bit, and desaturate that awful top she's wearing. Brightened the kid's leg a bit, fixed some of the red blotchy on mom's face.

 

[Designer]

This is an example of mine SOOC Her skin tones look gray and washed out and the whole thing lacks pop

Here; from the EXIF:

Flash: No Flash, Compulsory



I think this shot might have been better with fill flash.

It appears that the photographer in the first shot used flash. See the difference?

 

[Designer]

Are you able to provide any details on your gear, or the settings you used to take that photo? Were you using Automatic anything or was that a manual adjustment?

Also, do you take your photos in a raw format and edit them within Lightroom?

File name: 34272d1359416720-how-get-clean-vibrant-photos-mine.jpg
File size: 601803 bytes (5616x3744, 0.2bpp, 105x)
EXIF Summary: 1/200s f/8.0 ISO100 80mm


Camera-Specific Properties:


Equipment Make: Canon
Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Camera Software: Digital Photo Professional


Image-Specific Properties:


Image Orientation: Top, Left-Hand
Horizontal Resolution: 350 dpi
Vertical Resolution: 350 dpi
Image Created: 2013:01:07 02:11:05
Exposure Time: 1/200 sec
F-Number: f/8.0
ISO Speed Rating: 100
Lens Aperture: f/8.0
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: No Flash, Compulsory
Focal Length: 80.00 mm
Color Space Information: sRGB
Image Width: 5616
Image Height: 3744
Rendering: Normal
Exposure Mode: Auto
White Balance: Auto
Scene Capture Type: Standard


Other Properties:


Resolution Unit: i
Exif IFD Pointer: 214
Exif Version: 2.21
Image Generated: 2013:01:07 02:11:05
Image Digitized: 2013:01:07 02:11:05
Shutter Speed: 1/197 sec
Focal Plane Horiz Resolution: 3849 dpi
Focal Plane Vert Resolution: 3908 dpi
Focal Plane Res Unit: i