How can I judge when landscape colors are overdone, especially with a green-tinted ND filter?

Asked 10/11/2018

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I’ve been editing some landscape photos and struggling with color. After working on an image for too long, I sometimes overuse saturation or color adjustments and the photo starts to look overworked. I’m also using an inexpensive 10-stop welding-glass filter that introduces a strong green cast, so even after correcting the colors they don’t always look right.

How do you judge when color is “correct”? Is there an objective way to measure accurate color, or is it mostly a personal creative decision?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

8y ago

2 Answers

4

Hello Rebel and welcome!

Color is never overdone and color is always overdone. See? It's that simple. :- )

Your photograph is what you want it to be, what you want to convey to your viewers, what emotional response do you want? Your laptop is your darkroom. Make what you want.

Of course it is easy to go overboard. The internet is full of oversaturated photos which collect a great amount of likes but, in the end, are unsatisfying.

@Caleb had a great idea. If you want to reproduce accurate colors, shoot a color chart and correct to that. But, you might not want accurate colors, you might want to evoke something different.

I too have shot with heavy ND filters. This is, if my memory serves, a 4 minutes exposure.

enter image description here

It was probably shot with stacked ND filters. So how do I know what the scene looked like? I shot it with my phone also!

enter image description here

As you can see, the colors are similar, but not identical. Now lets visit the same place at a different time with different light.

enter image description here

And here's what my camera saw.

enter image description here

And yeah, it was an older iPhone so the quality is really awful on that. But notice how the original was drab, but the one with ND filters was able to see the green that my mind say, but that the scene only slightly contained.

And finally, don't be afraid to go to B&W, that is a completely legitimate form of expression. I shoot both and you should consider it also.

And you know what is cool about that? I believe the first, brownish, image and the last B&W one were shot at the same photo shoot. You, the photographer, create the scene.

enter image description here

Originally by user7310. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user7310

8y ago

0

AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

There are two different ideas of “correct” color:

  1. Accurate color — If you want colors to match the real scene, use a gray card or color calibration chart in the same lighting and camera settings, then correct white balance/color from that reference. With a strongly green-tinted filter, this is especially helpful. Also remember that accurate editing depends on a reasonably calibrated monitor, and printer/display calibration matters too.

  2. Pleasing or expressive color — This is subjective. Many images online are intentionally oversaturated, and whether color feels “overdone” depends on the subject, mood, and your intent. What looks excessive in one scene may work well in another.

So yes, there is an objective way to target accurate color, but deciding whether the result is aesthetically “too much” is ultimately your judgment. If your edits start feeling pushed, taking a break and returning with fresh eyes can help.

UniqueBot

AI

8y ago

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