One of the most important processes in photography post production is color optimization. Digital cameras give you the option of producing accurate colors or altered ones that make everything look like it was shot at Disney World. Even so, I believe I'm not alone when I say that "digital color" lacks the feeling of film color, and that's why post processing has to include a bit of color work.
There are a lot of things you can do to the chromatics of an image, from simply reducing or enhancing saturation, to letting a filter or a preset change the entire look. The chromatics of a photograph can greatly alter its mood and how the viewer perceives it.
One of my favorite things to do, especially for commercial work, is to selectively modify colors. Partially changing hue and increasing or decreasing saturation can do wonders for the final image. Of course, selective altering of colors might not work with every photo and every combination of colors. Needless to say, this procedure is not going to turn a bad photo into a good one by splashing a little more vibrancy everywhere.
It's simply a technique that works very well for fashion, portrait and glamour photography, but other genres can benefit as well.
(Success Tip:The easiest way to learn photography when you have little time to spare)
There are multiple ways of doing it, depending on how difficult it is to isolate certain portions of the photo. Larger areas are obviously easier to select, but it also depends on how they border with other areas of the frame.
Photoshop expert Aaron Nace from Phlearn has just the right technique for selecting and changing colors in Photoshop. Enjoy!
Learn more about Photoshop from these recommended books:
- The Photoshop Workbook: Professional Retouching and Compositing Tips, Tricks and Techniques
- Professional Portrait Retouching Techniques for Photographers Using Photoshop
- Digital Photo Retouching : Beauty, Fashion and Portrait photography