|
 Back when you were shooting with film, your film choice was dictated by the look you wanted. Your ISO was probably a given, but the tone was another matter. If you were doing a documentary project on a gritty subject, you might opt for a high-speed, grainy black-and-white. If you were shooting a flower bed or a gorgeous natural landscape, you’d probably choose a film known for its rich, saturated colors. But when you’re shooting with a digital camera, the camera controls the color much the way film used to, and any deviations from the camera’s default color scheme are up to you.
When Fujifilm’s Velvia was introduced 15 years ago, it was nearly an overnight success. Studio and nature photographers loved its warm, saturated colors, and high contrast; more naturally toned films seemed pale in comparison. Now that many digital cameras default to such natural tones, you may find yourself longing for more oomph, more pow, more pop.
More sophisticated digital cameras offer a variety of image quality adjustments, but you can’t make a good simulation of Velvia simply by moving Photoshop’s contrast and saturation sliders to the right. So we’ll bust out our old friend Channel Mixer, and make some adjustments to Curves as well.
If you’ve never used these somewhat complex and powerful tools, don’t worry. I’ll tell you exactly what to do, and if you record your steps as an Action, you’ll never have to do it again. So follow along once to practice. When you’ve got it, do it again and record the Action as you go. (For help on making an Action, see July’s “Cheat Sheet” on PopPhoto.com.)
Now you can follow along at home:
Click to download IMAGE 1 and IMAGE 2
PC Users - Right Click > Save Target As...
Mac Users - Control + Click > Download Link to Disk
1) Pop the colors. Duplicate your background layer. Then use the Channel Mixer, which I wrote about in my May 2005 column (“I Hate Hue”) on converting digital files to black-and-white. We’ll use it to individually saturate each of the red, green, and blue channels that make up the color in the image.
Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Channel Mixer, and give the layer a name. You’ll see the data for the red channel first; where it’s at 100%, bump that up to 144%. To keep the light even, knock the other channels down –22% each. Now use the pulldown menu to address the green, and do the same: increase the green to 144%, decrease the others –22%. Finally, repeat that on the blue channel by upping that color and lowering the others. Then click OK.
|
