Color : True or Boosted?

[garris3404]

What color settings do you use? Do you use natural/true colors or do you boost the colors (saturation, etc)? Where do you set the color? In the camera or post-processing

 

[MICKEY88]

natural....

I prefer to boost saturation with post processing if I feel the need

 

[boBQuincy]

I keep most of the settings as neutral as possible but also usually use RAW which ignores all of the settings anyway.
Camera settings are tricky, no two camera models do it the same and *all* of them heavily process the image when creating a JPG. A saturation setting of "0" on one camera may be equivalent to a "2" on another, there are no standards, even with different models of the same brand.

This is one of the main reasons why I consider "straight out of the camera" to mean almost nothing. Since I usually set the camera for RAW I process almost all of my images, but I prefer subtle colors and my processing is often less than what the camera would do.

 

[jann1033]

i have been shooting raw as well but usually i boost it very slightly pp. usually the preset settings, in camera and post processing, are to drastic for me( who wants orange photos?) so i use the "as shot" white balance and then boost a tiny bit in saturation in the raw conversion

 

[tinksdad]

I also shoot RAW and tend to boost the color slightly in post if I think the individual photo lacks the luster I saw in person.


I played with the in camera settings and didn't like what it gave me with varied subjects. For instance, shooting landscapes you might like more saturation than shooting people. I could never remember to change the settings. Now, I just shoot normal and adjust if needed after.

 

[0bli0]

in camera i set everything to zero - sharpening, saturation, contrast, etc. but since i shoot everything but team sports in RAW, the camera setting is pretty much irrelevant.

i spot pick the white balance (using something that is known to be white or grey) which adjusts the relationship between red, green, and blue channels. if i have no reference colour for the lighting (like a landscape or macro), i'll manually adjust white balance (best guess) and often slightly bump blue and green channels (since the Canon CMOS tends to be very red sensitive).

i make a slight levels adjustment at the low end and high end (like a contrast enhancement, but leaving the mid-range alone.

if i'm exporting to jpg, i usually convert from Adobe colour space to srgb (or embed the colour space profile) and increase the saturation about 2 or 3%.

all of this is done through Aperture as part of my workflow. it's very quick and easy and it allows me to post-process thousands of images pretty quickly.

overall it depends on my subject - and who will be viewing or buying the photos

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Do you use natural/true colors

I don't think there is such a thing. Cameras vary in the saturation levels, color biases, etc. The default settings for most cameras are not "true" or "natural."

I shoot in RAW and adjust the saturation as needed on a shoot by shoot or even photo by photo basis. Sometimes I try to make the colors look accurate. Sometimes I try to over or undersaturate them to improve the appearance of the picture or to change its story or emphasis. My kids seem to where clothes with very saturated colors, so sometimes I mute that color a bit and saturate the others. It's different every time.