New to thread, have a question about color popping

[happyf33tz]

Hi everyone, my name is Seth Jordan Sanchez and I am a new member here!

I live in Murrieta, California, been shooting for 8 months or so. I own PS CS6 as well as LR 4 but usually stick with only LR for now. My question was how can I make my photos have a strong color stand out? I can get colors to pop in some images, but I just don't seem to be getting the same style I find in some photographers I follow off 500px. To show you an example, here are a few photos that give me the look I am aiming for.

http://pcdn.500px.net/5816144/b121c4ae8ad25599cdfa2c4b8a28bd07ea3ee7eb/4.jpg

http://pcdn.500px.net/17079045/2c0d33dbda0826242b1bcb6ceddbc0dfeabd7a5b/4.jpg

And here is one of my photos

http://pcdn.500px.net/17528625/da8871fbe594c890ca7f5e78946a518a98c3a26e/4.jpg


Is it just me? The colors in their work seems to have a more natural looking color to me, yet they have more pop to them. Could it just be the subjects I am shooting that lack that type of color? I shoot birds rarely since its more of a hobby for me rather then it being a career.

My work is all shot with a 7D with either a canon 70-200mm 2.8 IS II or a canon 400mm 2.8 IS

Hopefully you guys can help out with some sort of tip, thank you guys !

 

[OLaA]

On either example I don't see any extensive post work. One thing I notice between the two shots you posted, and your own is that the other two have the birds in front of neutral tones, as opposed to having a solid blue background. Hard to make something "pop" when the whole scene is blue.

Other than that you can play with saturation, vibrance and contrast in LR. I don't think you're going to achieve the results you're looking for with the photo you posted though.

 

[The_Traveler]

search on 'local contrast enhancement'

A similar effect is possible with the clarity slider but I like to do it in PS with unsharp mask because of the better control over where it gets done.

 

[happyf33tz]

Thank you guys for the help. Ya that was the only photo I had on my 500px account to use as a sample, even with a bokeh background that is plain and not colored, the same thing happens to me. I will mess around with it some more though, thanks again for the replies, I appreciate it!

 

[OLaA]

No problem. Like Traveler said they have localized adjustments you can make. If you're more comfortable with LR they have brushes you can use for the adjustments mentioned earlier.

 

[KmH]

even with a bokeh background

Did you know 'bokeh' is not adjustable?

 

[MLeeK]

I have to ask first-what was the color of your bird like to begin with? That blue is pretty intense and it makes me think the bird wasn't particularly colorful to start.

 

[happyf33tz]

It was originally a light brown with a hint of gold on its chest and the hint of blue on its wings. I guess that has to do with the color problem partly (duh). Even with normal subjects I have the issue at times :/ Like the color in other photographs I see that pop look more natural unlike my photos, not sure if there is something I am doing wrong.

 

[Gadfly]

The blue sky completely overpowers the color of the bird. There's no way to fix that in post really, so maybe work on a background with less negative space or which is less vibrant.

 

[happyf33tz]

Got it thank you for the help everyone. That bird was too high for me to get on his level, it was at a local playground on a fence up high so I couldn't get up on time. I'll be sure to keep an eye on what background I choose before capturing a bird again.