PP Tip • Tonal Taming vs Saturation

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For too many, the very easy chosen way to improve
the look of an image is to happily swing the saturation
slider. The problem being that this very last tweak is
performed much too early in the PP suite of tweaks.

Of versions 2 & 3, one was applied tweaks to the mid-
tonal range and, the other, a nice blow of saturation.
Can you say…
  1. which one to the three you prefer
  2. which one was toned not using any added saturation and
  3. which one was saturated
Look carefully!

I have chosen this picture for this thread because
of its great TR (tonal range) and potential.
Use here was duly, properly authorized by its creator.

1
As posted
Dale%20Opp.jpg


2
Dale%20spp.jpg


3
Dale%20bpp.jpg


​
 
I like all 3 :D
 
The second is saturation, the third is levels/gamma... at least that's how it looks to me.

But I can't say either is "better"... depending on what is done with the image the third image has a bit more out of gamut range (i.e. art gloss print). How they view on the web/different monitors is even more variable. And depending on personal taste, one might prefer the original.
 
I was recently on an airliner, and out of the window was a deep crimson sunset. My instant reaction was that it was way over saturated. But it wasn't a picture. It was real, and happening right there. If I'd taken a picture, people might have thought I'd gone nuts with the saturation slider.
 
ianp5a said:
out of the window was a deep crimson sunset.
Click to expand...
•

I have not yet experienced such sight but I know
that, in the higher atmosphere, sunlight "travels"
without the "filtering" effect of the thinker air down
at see level.

So you did not take that shot?
 
I was sat on the opposite side of the plane unfortunately.

I asked the pilot to turn the plane around so I could see it. But he just made some comment about not being MH370 and carried on on the same heading.
 
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Levels operating globally on all three channels will adjust saturation any way.
 
sk66 said:
Wouldn't that be "similarly?"
Saturation is +/- grey, and levels(luminance) is +/- black/white...
Click to expand...

No. Adjusting levels or curves will change absolute colour values obviously as you are adjusting RGB values.
 
Pookeyhead said:
No. Adjusting levels or curves will change absolute colour values obviously as you are adjusting RGB values.
Click to expand...
Interesting... I just checked and even just a saturation adjustment (in HSL) also affects the color brightness value. I guess things are a little more intertwined than I thought.
 
sk66 said:
Interesting... I just checked and even just a saturation adjustment (in HSL) also affects the color brightness value. I guess things are a little more intertwined than I thought.
Click to expand...


Of course. You're merely making RGB adjustments, no matter which tool you use.


There is a way to not change saturation when changing contrast. Will post it up later.
 
In addition to David's link, here is a fantastic video by Dan Margulis demonstrating an effective yet simple workflow on how to use both RGB and LAB modes to Pp both contrast and colour independently for the same image. Skip to 10:00 for his walk through, although the entire video is certainly worth watching, providing a very basic introduction to some the advantages of using LAB colour over RGB in Photoshop.

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KhfRynutmQM
 
Yep.. that works well too.



Watching that again, it seems a bit long winded to achieve the same results, but works well.
 
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Neil - Dan Margulis is *THE MAN*. I cannot recommend his books highly enough, he's an absolute diamond. So glad that someone else out there has also discovered him!

in shots 2 and 3 it looks like the blue channel has clipped? Distracts me a bit. I'd have saturation masked it before an adjustment to reign it in a little bit in the already-saturated areas.
 
Denyerec said:
Neil - Dan Margulis is *THE MAN*. I cannot recommend his books highly enough, he's an absolute diamond. So glad that someone else out there has also discovered him!.
Click to expand...

Indeed. I've just purchased his early edition of the 'Canyon Conudrum......' re LAB color space. Excellent read and introduction into LAB.
 
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