Spartan Warrior - Colour Grading

[Manfred M]

Here are a few more shots from yesterday's Spartan Warrior photo shoot.

I have started to experiment with colour grading. This is a technique we see a lot in feature film and television editing where colours are re-mapped to give the product a more moody look. We also see it more and more in fashion and glamour photography.

This is NOT a colour cast; in grading we handle add shades to shadows and highlights. Curves have traditionally been used to generate these effects, but starting with Photoshop CS6, Adobe has included the colour lookup table functionality for colour grading images. By adding color lookup adjustment layers and varying the blending mode and opacity, we can introduce these moods into our photos.


1.





2.





3.

[Urbanflyer]

What an interesting direction for your photography--India to ancient Greece!

[IzzieK]

My favourite here is #2 -- the shape of the light hugging the background made this a good one with the lines she follows with her pose. I am just curious why you shot in matrix here. A little bit of blur in the background could've emphasize the lady more, don't you think?

[Manfred M]

My favourite here is #2 -- the shape of the light hugging the background made this a good one with the lines she follows with her pose. I am just curious why you shot in matrix here. A little bit of blur in the background could've emphasize the lady more, don't you think?

Thanks Izzie - I didn't shoot matrix; I use a single focus point / back button focus in virtually all my work; I focus on the eye closest to the camera and then recompose. She was almost up against the wall, so a narrower aperture / DoF would not have mattered. She was positioned to accentuate the beam of light coming through the trees and lighting up the wall.

As an aside, the only time I find matrix useful is when I shoot a subject that is heading toward me and there I will generally go with the 3D matrix focus.

[NorthernFocus]

The color grading sounds interesting. While the verbal explanation adequately explains the what and how, perhaps a before/after image would show the "why".

[Manfred M]

The color grading sounds interesting. While the verbal explanation adequately explains the what and how, perhaps a before/after image would show the "why".

Here is one example of a after / before grading example.

My thought processes was that a Spartan warrior in front of a wall / fireplace that featured a medieval knight seemed rather odd, so I wanted to accentuate that oddness with a different look that played up to this anomaly. I decided that I wanted a bit of a cool and artificial look to the stonework, while preserving the warm tones of the warrior, so I played around with different grades until I got this one, that I liked.

[Mike Buckley]

What is the difference in your mind between the final results of having done color shading or changing the color cast? I ask because in my mind I see no difference in the results; only the process seems different.

[Manfred M]

A colour cast covers the whole colour / tonal range of the image. Colour grading is generally much more selective and often specifically targets the highlights and and shadow ares, while leaving the mid-range tones intact.

I find that a colour cast and shooting with coloured filters in a studio setting are more closely related; as all colours are more evenly affected.

[NorthernFocus]

Thanks for the examples, Manfred. Now I'm wondering if some of the filters I've been using in On1 are achieved in a similar manner. They're certainly doing something under the hood that I haven't been able to replicate with "standard" processing tools.

[Manfred M]

Thanks for the examples, Manfred. Now I'm wondering if some of the filters I've been using in On1 are achieved in a similar manner. They're certainly doing something under the hood that I haven't been able to replicate with "standard" processing tools.

That's quite possible, Dan. The technique I'm using in these shots is effectively a tone-mapping process where the LUT determines which colours are mapped to new values. I find that the Nik Analog Pro filters seem to do something similar too.

[Mike Buckley]

A colour cast covers the whole colour / tonal range of the image.

I disagree. A color cast can affect whatever part of the image anyone wants; it doesn't have to affect the entire area of a particular color. I've changed the color cast selectively that way many, many times.

[Manfred M]

I disagree. A color cast can affect whatever part of the image anyone wants; it doesn't have to affect the entire area of a particular color. I've changed the color cast selectively that way many, many times.

In that case we are getting into a discussion on semantics.

What you are referring to as a selective colour cast is what I (and others) refer to as colour grading. Terminology does change; what is referred to as "colour grading" today was called "colour timing" when movies were shot on film and involved a chemical rather than digital process.

To me a colour cast is an unwanted effect that is usually due to an issue with either the white balance setting or a processing error. Colour grading is a deliberate remapping of colours / tones that affect the mood of the image.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colour_cast


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_grading

[Mike Buckley]

Let's rephrase that, Manfred: What I and others are referring to as selective color cast is what you and others refer to as color grading. The implication of that statement is very different from the implication of your statement.

The only reason I'm making a point of this is that your first post emphasized using uppercase letters that color grading isn't the same thing as changing the color cast. It seems to me that the result is the same but the method of making it happen is different.

[Manfred M]

Let's rephrase that, Manfred: What I and others are referring to as selective color cast is what you and others refer to as color grading. The implication of that statement is very different from the implication of your statement.

The only reason I'm making a point of this is that your first post emphasized using uppercase letters that color grading isn't the same thing as changing the color cast. It seems to me that the result is the same but the method of making it happen is different.

My initial statement is still appropriate Mike. I had never heard of something referred to as a "selective colour cast" before you brought up the term. I Googled the term and got very few hits. When I Google "color grading photographs" I get lots of hits.

You'll have to explain exactly how you do one so that I understand. Colour grading is different from toning.

[Mike Buckley]

I'm not interested in continuing the discussion, Manfred. That's because I really don't get the sense that it has anything to do with learning at this point.

[Shadowman]

Very dramatic captures.