Saturation

sunlioness · Jun 15, 2008

I'm in a dilemma every time a process a photo in photo shop.
I know that in photography keeping the realistic touch is sooooo important but I've always loved strong colours. Every time I start tuning the a/b curves on Lab I always find myself faced with the same question:
Keep the photo and the colours realistic or make the it to be exactly the way I like it to be although a bit exaggerated?
I put this as an example:

I love the colours in this pic but a few friends say that it's too obvious the image has been altered.
In other words, on my way of becoming better should indulge in my own taste's urges or grow inside the limits of the "rules" that make a good photo?

Mav · Jun 15, 2008

There are no rules in art. Do whatever looks good to you. Heck, I say turn the colors up even more.

I'd leave the sky as is or even back it off a bit, and then really try to crank up the colors on the buildings.

Smith2688 · Jun 15, 2008

It only appears to be over the edge in the sky area, especially where the sky is bordering the buildings and the bird. The CA seems to be brought out a bit by the saturation increase.

sunlioness · Jun 16, 2008

abraxas said:
If you have any doubts what-so-ever, follow the crowd--You know what I'm saying?

Not really.

Thanx @Mav, you're the man!

Crosby · Jun 16, 2008

Break the rules, thats what they are for.

Alex_B · Jun 16, 2008

Crosby said:
Break the rules, thats what they are for.

There are no rules, so what is there to break??

It is true, that you can se that this image was altered. But just ask yourself, what effect do you want, what do you want to create. If you want it to be candy colours, then make it candy colours (although some, including myself, will not like it then, but that does not matter), if you want it to show as much of the scene as possible, without hiding things in the shadows, then brighten up the dark parts. If you want it to be intense in colour and give a certain mood, push the contrast.

If it is over the edge or not, is always a question of taste. Speaking of film, fuji velvia has much more saturation than this image

So I consider it at the edge, but not over the edge on my personal scale.

Oh, and accurate colour reproduction only matters in commercial product photography and skin in portraits. In most other situations it is all about the impression of the image as a whole.