The beauty of photography is being able to capture a moment so profoundly that the image itself represents the moment in real life. That said, color accuracy can make or break your final image. Here are a few tips, from shooting through editing, to keep your colors crisp and sharp.
Set White Balance, White Point, and Black Point
It helps to set these features prior to shooting. Take a few test shots and refine as needed. Then, try to maintain your optimal settings to reduce the editing needed later on. If you move to a new light temperature, remember to readjust.
Neutralize Your Desktop During Editing
It’s tempting to want to brighten your desktop monitor when editing photos in order to feel like you are viewing a well-rounded depiction of your image. However, it can actually be beneficial to neutralize your desktop using your computer display settings. Your perception of the image’s internal color can sometimes be influenced by the external colors surrounding you. Consider reverting to gray hues when editing photos for color.
Utilize Vibrance, Saturation, and Contrast
These three components can be pivotal influences on the final color accuracy of your image. Sometimes, colors viewed in real life simply don’t translate quite right in a photo. This is where vibrance, saturation, and contrast come in handy. They allow you to alter your color characteristics and more accurately reflect the image you captured.
Be Patient
Photo editing and color correction are tedious and, in a way, monotonous. You will have greater color accuracy success when you:
Spot check on multiple devices. Calibration varies by device, so it is important to view your image on several different devices to ensure color accuracy across the board.
Take breaks! You know how sometimes you can stare at a word for so long that it no longer appears to be a word at all? Oftentimes, the same is true for photo editing. It is important to occasionally take your eyes away from a photo and reset your vision before finalizing it.
Struggling with color accuracy, or simply don’t have the time? Duggal Visual Solutions can assist in color correcting your images to perfection. Learn more here.
