How You Can Enhance Your Photos With Dynamic Color in Photoshop
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Photoshop is a must-have for virtually every professional photographer.
It's powerful tools enable you to enhance your photos in ways that make them look even more appealing than they do in their unedited form.
But if you're a beginner photographer, leaping into Photoshop can be a little daunting. There's just a lot of tools at your fingertips, and it can be hard to know where to even start.
That's where the video below by Peter McKinnon comes in...
In the video, Peter shares one of his top tips for turning your photos into eye-popping images.
The secret is in the colors.
Have a look at the video above to see how you can enhance your photos in Photoshop, and for a more detailed summary, check out the article below!
Step 1: Select a Photo and a Color
YouTube Screenshot/Peter McKinnon
A great way to bring your images to life is to enhance the colors that are already in the shot by using a color gradient.
To do that, you'll want to open a photo in Photoshop, and make sure that the color pickers in the bottom-left corner of the screen are black and white. If they need to be reset, just hit X and D on your keyboard.
YouTube Screenshot/Peter McKinnon
Next, click on one of the color pickers, which opens up the color palate as seen above.
Select the color you want to use. In this case, Peter has selected red because there are already some good red tones in the shot. Once you have your choice of color, press OK.
Learn More:
Step 2: Create a New Layer and Apply the Gradient
YouTube Screenshot/Peter McKinnon
Now that you have your color picked, create a new layer by clicking on the New Layer button in the bottom-right corner of the Photoshop window.
Then, move to the upper-left corner of the window and select the Gradient Selection Tool.
There are several different options here, but what you want is the one with the transparent background, as shown above.
YouTube Screenshot/Peter McKinnon
Next, press G to open the gradient in Photoshop. Press Shift, and then drag the gradient across the image.
YouTube Screenshot/Peter McKinnon
By pressing Shift first, you ensure that the gradient is applied in a straight line, as seen above.
Pro Photographer Tip: How your photos are printed is equally as important as how they look after post-processing. Find out how to create your own fine art photos here.
Step 3: Blend the Gradient
YouTube Screenshot/Peter McKinnon
In its current form, the gradient is just a big block of red superimposed on the photo. This is obviously not the look we want...
So, in the toolbar, select Blending Mode, and Color.
This allows the gradient to blend with the background, creating a much subtler look in the shot.
Still, the gradient is a little too intense, so you'll need to adjust the Fill and Opacity of the layer.
Using the sliders for Fill and Opacity, experiment with their levels until you get an output that you like.
Learn More:
Step 4: Repeat the Process
YouTube Screenshot/Peter McKinnon
In Peter's photo, he repeated the process of creating the color effect with a gradient on the right side of the photo using blue.
The combination of the red on the left side and the blue on the right side gives the shot much more dynamic color that looks as though color gels and strobes were used on set to create the colors.
In other words, rather than spending tons of money on artificial lighting and tons of time setting all that lighting up, you can mimic the effect in Photoshop in just a few minutes' time.
With that, you have a Photoshop secret to employ in your photos to give them more dynamic color and greater visual interest!
For more insights into using Photoshop to enhance your photos, be sure to check out our collection of articles on post-processing.
