RAW Photo Editing Basics: Fix Dull COLORS the Right Way!

[@MarkDenneyPhoto]

🔥QUICK QUESTION: Do you prefer Color or Black & White photos most?

[@Smillii]

Great video! I usually color. I do shoot B/W when it's mid day and light is harsh or weather pushes my preference more towards that.

[@makudonarudokairu]

Color !

[@mchume65]

Color, but sometimes I'll do B&W on landscapes if it is a cloudy day. I did that in Yosemite a couple years ago.

[@Vor1954]

For artistic images, black and white. For color images that can be somewhat boring, even with color adjustments, then I convert to B/W.

[@rdbimages]

I see the world in color and I am thankful for that so color is my preference. Also, B&W flowers (my favorite subject) are usually rather bland. I am anxious to try out the workflow you demonstrated here. Thanks.

[@davidmurray5330]

While there is lots of useful info in this video, the most important and first step you should take to Fix Dull Colors in RAW photos is to change the Profile setting (at the top of the Develop controls, above the White Balance section). By default the Profile usually defaults to Adobe Color. Change it to Camera Standard or one of the other Camera-specific profiles. If you don't see Camera Standard and other camera-specific profiles in your popup list of Profiles, choose the Browse option in that popup list, find the Camera Standard Profile, and click its Heart icon to add it to your favorites. Applying the Standard Profile, instead of Adobe Color, will make the RAW file have more saturated and appropriately hued colors, and more "pop". Once you do that, you can use the other techniques described in this video, but you'll need fewer and smaller adjustments to get good looking results.

[@PixWaxGB]

Brilliant! I love this and hate it! Love it as I tested it on a photo of a Swan I took a month back and it made such a difference to my original post work. Hate it, as I am now looking at a library of over 2000 photos and wishing I knew what you told us in this video a lot earlier. Your teachings are making a huge difference to my learning and you don't over-complicate things! Thank you

[@mustangshelby2740]

Now I am less confusing , I re-edit my old photo and now look more better and realistic and less looney look .

[@eskay2250]

Thank you Mark. I have just had an aha moment with your explanation of how to use calibration. Much appreciated 👍

[@hamsterneckliving]

Ditto

[@bobvogel6844]

I’ve struggled for years to take the “dullness” out of my RAW images and this turned out to be the magic key! Thank you!

[@1502Jinx]

I tried out your colour workflow today on two images and was really pleased with the results. I have to say that my colours always seem to be over saturated and I could never get the greens to look natural. But today - success. Thank you.

[@fjperras]

Was somehow hoping to hear about your use of Nikon Z8 during your last outing. But otherwise, it was great to see the colour calibration in action. Thank you for sharing.

[@gussa23]

I'll probably trying this! Thanks! Another step to slip in while in black and white is to dodge and burn, it is easier to see where the bright and dark spots while not distracted by colors 🙂

[@kphotographyonline4537]

Another great video Mark.

[@brucedelorme5026]

Your tutorials are always enlightening and independent. Easily followed and you descriptions and explanations are fantastic. Thanks Mark

[@raymondjobin7673]

Love this! There seems to be no end in the variety of ways to work with color in Lr. Thanks for another wonderful tutorial.

[@KellyPettit]

Very clear explanation of the calibration tool. It controls the RGB in each pixel. Brilliant. I finally understand. Thank you always, Mark. I've downloaded the course and I am grateful for you educating us.

[@davidseibert5268]

An outstanding video. You have explained color adjustments in an easy to understand method. Many thanks

[@belagaspar929]

Great video as usual. I enjoy watching your videos for they are all very educational. Thank you.

[@MarkDenneyPhoto]

Thanks so much!

[@ksnmurthy4476]

A fantastic content filled tutorial. No one has done like this. This is unique. ❤

[@francisbuckley3539]

Thanks Mark, it's always good to watch your videos.

[@marcelvG1967]

You are an awesome teacher and this video is exactly where I am in my learning of Lightroom! Thank you for putting this content together!

[@raygraham109]

Excellent Video Mark, very well explained. I also like the fact that you continue to show the 'before' and 'after' effects very regularly throughout the video, many KZbinrs miss this important aspect when instructing. Thank again, Ray from London UK.

[@caroleneame4974]

Thanks Mark. This was such a clear explanation and demonstration of these tools.

[@Weezot97]

Awesome, thank you! As to your question about color vs. B&W, I just have to say that while I love both, the majority of photos that I frame and hang up are all B&W. Apparently my preference is for B&W then!

[@jamesvoiss7122]

Thank you, Mark! This is the best clarification of these tools I have yet seen!

[@MarkDenneyPhoto]

Wow! Thank you!

[@mustangshelby2740]

Thanks Mark, good session . I followed your method and now understand the concept of coloring , why and where to start to set the reference in the global calibration then follow on with the mixer . Just using the 2 panels adjusting color that nearly complete the whole editing . Before I keep playing all Cal , mixer , grading or curve , this gives me headache and never achieve the color you want as there is no reference setting yet , makes your editing in circle and mess up the pix which becomes fake or not realistic .

[@carlreid4161]

Fantastic explanations throughout Mark some great visual cues too to help remind us when editing, I’ll think Global when adjusting Calibration and Local with the Colour Mixer, both tools I avoided by the way but now I’ll feel more confident. The zigzag from one colour to the next is a great aide memoirs too. Brilliant and thanks for sharing Mark.

[@hekkebeeb]

well Mark Denney this sure is an eye opener to me. Can't wait editing my photo's like this way 😃

[@itsthecarbusiness3940]

The Calibration tip is Awesome! Thanks!

[@sutv6754]

Thanks Mark. Another great lesson. Looking forward to next weeks video.

[@susanfirth2279]

Great video Mark. I really like the way you explain the sliders and impact and show the before and after. Easy to follow along.

[@MarkDenneyPhoto]

Glad it was helpful!

[@hymanlevy2265]

Raw Photo Editing Basics - Great Video

[@ashvarma2486]

Great video. Many thanks for sharing

[@davidcottee3464]

Thanks Mark. You just keep helping us learn!

[@Susan-mb7xz]

Another great video. Thank you for the simple explanation

[@btriol]

I’m not sure I’ve ever commented on a KZbin video before. Im a photographer since the early 60s in grade school, Photoshop from v.3. Photoshop World a bunch of times. Great tutorial, very nicely done. Watched it twice, gave it a Like!

[@MarkDenneyPhoto]

Thanks so much!

[@dennisfrederick9304]

Great video Mark. I've been using the calibration section since your video on it a while ago. As you stated i rarely touch the vibrance slider now. You've probably made my edited picture results much better with your Lr tips. Thanks for the great information.

[@tmeeten3195]

Fantastic - thank you very much for such sound advice. Very much appreciated.

[@simon.b71]

Great knowledge Mark, love it.

[@MarkDenneyPhoto]

Thanks Simon!

[@tarekseven6080]

That's a fantastic tutorial Mark , thanks a lot !!!!

[@hamsterneckliving]

Thank you! Holy cow! Learned so much. I think I finally understand what color calibration and mixers do. Thanks!!!!!!

[@AW-do9kf]

Once again, great advice and inspirational images.

[@MarkDenneyPhoto]

Thanks so much!

[@impactnazz]

Brilliant eye opening lesson on how to colour one’s images

[@larryrudnick1519]

Great technique - never saw that before. I use the Calibration section all the time also but never tried tying it to the Color Mixer like that - very cool method. Thanks

[@justray65]

Great video as usual. I enjoy watching your videos for they are all very educational. I am learning lots from you. Thank you so much for making these videos...

[@MarkDenneyPhoto]

Great to hear!

[@alexdonnelly2950]

Hi Mark, I am new to Lightroom & Photoshop I've opened Lightroom but I don't seem to have a develop module that you select. I do see some of whats on your screen, ie Light, Color, Effects, Detail and Optics but I cant find the calibration section. Can you advise, thanks

[@timwilk5404]

This was exactly what I was looking for. I had some decent landscape photos from a bucket list trip that were flat despite my best efforts. This process brought them back to life! Problem now is, I've got to go back to hundreds of other photos and do the same 😅. Thank you Mark. Love your style and videos.

[@sjps94901]

Interesting to see this approach to color. In my experience with Fujifilm raw files, the color Calibration section rarely makes my photos look better, so I almost never use it. I will have to experiment with your technique of boosting calibration saturation, and then zero-ing out the individual colors.

[@beolba1]

Very helpful tutorial Mark.

[@chesterjohnson4504]

One of, if not the best videos regarding color adjustments. I am going to try it!

[@MarkDenneyPhoto]

Thank you!

[@caljackson3940]

Mark, great video. For me it unlocked the door on color processing in LRC. However, there are other steps in post processing that need to be done; white balance, black - white points, texture, clarity and dehaze. Should these steps be performed before making color adjustments?

[@cookpeter48]

Your various instructional videos are very useful and you have natural flair as teacher. Question not related to content of this video per se: you are using Apple monitor for editing vs others that are often recommended; eg, Benq, LG and so one. Could you comment on your choice of video monitor for editing?

[@gert-janvs5708]

Hi Mark, I very much like the tip on how you bring in the 'local adjustments' with the color mixer starting with zero saturation, after the calibration. That is an eye-opener for me. Question: you do not use the sliders for Aqua, Blue, Purple and Magenta in both photos. Maybe I think too hard: Is that just because these colours are virtually absent in both pictures? Or is there indeed more to it? Thank you so much.

[@mchume65]

I've been working on not over editing my photos. Especially the dehazing function. Now I make slight adjustments to my photos compared to what I used to do.

[@apeel2008]

I noticed that you did not select a camera profile (eg Camera Landscape or Adobe Landscape for example) at the beginning of your edit. Is that because you have it set during import? Or was it part of the basic exposure and tone adjustments that you did not show I. Detail. If you do use these types of camera profile settings, which do you usually prefer … the Adobe versions or the Camera versions. I use a Canon 70D and can never decide when, or which profiles to select at the start. They seem to have a dramatic difference in your starting position. Any recommendations?

[@kushi1515]

That was a really informative video, I will definately try this out on my next photos 👍🏻

[@MrFreakwent]

Fantastic.

[@rlfisher]

Interesting and novel use of the Color Mixer saturation panel.

[@johnschweser1193]

on the second photo, a beautiful photo, you did some work in the masking section. What are those adjustments. BTW, thanks for the videos. They are very helpful.

[@lilleulven5450]

Great explanation. I tried the Calibration tool in LR on my images a few weeks back. However, it seems that using Camera Landscape as a profile rather than Adobe Color (Basic Section) already does (most of) the work that you are doing with the Calibration tool.

[@iandisney4872]

I only have the Chromebook version of lightroom not the fully featured one used in this video but I assume my comments would apply to both. I use Fuji APSc cameras and when I import my RAW files there is a drop down menu option in LR that says "as shot". As you may know Fuji has approx 19 different simulations and so if you shoot in say Provia it will import in Provia. So Mark commented that often RAW files look flat when imported into LR and that is not so if you are a Fuji shooter and as a result less modifications are required sometimes very few. Also because the options in my version are far less it's much easier to understand and use.

[@davidkrye]

Great video. I always learn something from your videos. I did notice the Sony Walkman 2 waterproof! I did a lot of marathon training with one of those!

[@JoeHudspeth]

Good stuff! Thanks.

[@ourPPA]

Thanks for the shout Mark! Amazing step by step video too. 📸

[@MarkDenneyPhoto]

Thanks so much!!

[@ourPPA]

@@MarkDenneyPhoto You're welcome! 😊

[@thelundproject]

Color calibration hues are so fun to push around and honest was one of the biggest changes to my editing workflow

[@MarkDenneyPhoto]

Agreed!

[@Suhailkhan53]

Awesome video.

[@lee-annecarpenter6844]

Fabulous video! I have Lightroom but I don’t have the section called calibration! Is this an upgrade? Or hidden somewhere I don’t know. TIA

[@scottpearson7858]

Thanks Mark.

[@evanchristiephotography]

Great video thanks. It reinforces a lot of what I do as well. However, curious that you didn’t touch on Lightroom’s new Point Color 😊

[@johnyoung1606]

Thanks Mark !!! Very Informative,, Really Learned a lot !!!!!!! :) :) :)

[@hamishmctiaigh4363]

In terms of sound synthesis you could call it "additive synthesis" method, i.e. starting from the bottom up, as opposed to "subtractive", taking the max value of everything and reducing each element down

[@RandyRanson-d5x]

Thanks great lesson.

[@MarkDenneyPhoto]

Happy to do it!

[@HenkVanetie]

Thanks Mark...

[@Digipat.cuisine]

So good. You made me better. Thank you 🎉

[@MarkDenneyPhoto]

I'm so glad!

[@FranzGraf]

Thanks Mark!

[@es0terra]

Nice. What camera profile were you using in LR? This can really impact how your colors and luminance look.

[@elhp3818]

You are good! Thank you 🙏

[@MichaelTyrrell-fo8uk]

Hi Mark, I'm just getting started with photography and enjoy taking bird, animal it nature shots and I've opened up lightroom and it is daunting, do you have a video of even the best steps to just import your photos but to store them onto a hard drive and not your computer/laptop?

[@fabriziobues5786]

hey Mark, fantastic as usual. but... have you switched to Nikon ? 🙂

[@lsagidullin]

May I ask you, why boost saturation in camera calibration in every channel and not just boost overall saturation and then work with HSL? I’m just curious :) btw awesome video, thank you!

[@marieb5556]

Could you do a video showing the order you do adjustment or if you already have share a link please?

[@TimvanderLeeuw]

I'm curious, do you find a difference between the Fuji and the Nikon in how colours come out in the raw files in Lightroom? And in CaptureOne?

[@mjmdo07]

most helpful

[@AlanBulava]

Mark , I just finish one of you video. I have a slight problem. I am partially color blind with red and green . what would recommend.

[@sequoi_]

@MarkDennyPhoto are you still using Capture One or have you transitioned to LR completely?

[@MrMike8228]

Thanks great video.

[@danneukirch4486]

Sorry you probably have had this question lots but straight away noticed you were using Lightroom- have you stopped using capture 1?

[@jamesv.wilkerson30]

Do you find the calibration saturation adjustment to be sensor or photo dependent? In other words, do you find the saturation adjustments to be the same for every picture because they were taken with the same sensor? Could this be set up as a preset?

[@bbiggs]

This was a great tip. Thanks

[@MarkDenneyPhoto]

You bet!

[@steveratzlaff7012]

This seems a bit different from your previous episodes, where you end here, are you considering the two examples complete and print ready or, are you going to complete with "the seven things to complete a photo?"

[@timmz_ographyandrewtimms8963]

Superb thank you

[@KellySedinger]

My version of Lightroom doesn't have a Color Calibration tool, apparently? Is this only on Classic? Did they move that functionality someplace else?

[@hamsterneckliving]

Thanks!

[@trancer03]

I just use saturation and vibrance and it's done. Easy.

[@gordonelwell7084]

Great tutorial. Too often we just blunder around until we find some slider somewhere that gives us a better image. With this, I will know where to start. Good explanations!

[@MarkDenneyPhoto]

Thanks Gordon!

[@kevinkimball715]

How is calibration related to white balance?

[@marciastraublund5213]

I have a question about Bits. My camera takes 14 Bit Raw. Lightroom will process in 8 or 16 Bit TIFF A JPG is 8 Bit. I post up to 9405 x 6336 Jpgs on the internet . My question is: Since JPGS are only 8 BIT am I wasting my storage space by first processing them into 16 Bit TIFFs, and then converting into JPGs? Will the quality of the JPG be the same converted from an 8 Bit TIF and a 16 Bit TIF?

[@gunsentry8349]

Are you editing your RAW files in Lightroom exclusively now or along side Capture One, Do you have any issue with worming on raw files in LR?

[@chrisd9312]

I don't understand why my Lightroom panels are different than yours?

[@discojon66]

@chrisd9312 are you using classic?

[@chrisd9312]

Yes Classic

[@timothykieper]

Wondering if it is time to move on from Adobe software ??

[@MarkDenneyPhoto]

What do you have in mind?

[@guycl2381]

I like both, but it's very dependent on the subject ... Kind regards, Guy

[@travelthenrepeat]

In what ways are you all monetizing your photography?

[@jimmiebrewer5776]

Just turned you off because of ads 😢

[@artefia-photo-video]

Great techniques, thanks a lot for sharing Mark.