Color Theory that Photographers Need to Know.

[@seandalt]

Black Friday preset sale is live and all presets are 70% off. Last time I did this sale was 4 years ago. Check them out here: bit.ly/3CNuIbX

[@alrozanski8352]

@@seandalt Hey Sean how are you? Picked up your Travel And Classic Presets, excellent job my friend they are great.

[@atick1367]

Finally I got a video who told from the basics not just telling the colour name which looks good example orange and teal. Many people do this and I am really frustated on them because they never tell how to find that colour combination. Really glad you created this video... Thank you...

[@Kevnslife]

Algorithm on my side today, just what I needed! Beautifully explained G!

[@seandalt]

You’re a legend Kev, thanks for watching and taking the time to drop a comment brother!

[@coleb7644]

I’m compelled to say I know my color theory yet these types of videos are simply amazing. straightforward and graceful education from someone looking at photography as an artist. subscribed

[@chasinglightandtrails]

Excellent tutorial, thank you. I totally agree about taking that break when editing. It’s good to be in the flow but I do find I go more extreme the longer the session, so the break gives me a natural pause to dial it back in.

[@regrr1774]

Thank you so much! It's been almost 5 years since I last really edited a photo and it's something I want to relearn. I went through my old photos and those that I really took time to properly edit are my favorites. I'm looking forward to watching more of your editing tips and guides. Very helpful.

[@seandalt]

Absolutely, I’m glad you found it useful and I appreciate the comment! Just dive in and start playing around, that’s the best way to relearn.

[@Daddelgame]

If you shoot raw, then it doesn’t matter which color space is set in camera. You are choosing this when you convert the raw and when you view it. You can set that in Lightroom. But the raw itself has to be interpreted first before any color space is applied.

[@seandalt]

Correct! This is only relevant for jpegs

[@haloperrydoll]

The most comprehensive and informative video about editing colors. I needed such a structure end summary so much!

[@seandalt]

You're a legend, thank you!

[@whereisjohnnow]

I finally have a better understanding of Color Theory and how I can apply it to photography after watching this video.

[@jcam783]

Yes it would be really helpful to see more color editing videos !

[@MaybeTiberius]

something i am doing with pretty much every colored photo i edit in LR is to completely desaturate it and base edit it as a black and white image to only focus on the contrasts and lightings and such and then once i have a nice black and white image, i ll bring back color one by one to see what color i actually need. found that way easier and simpler than trying to edit a photo with all the colors in

[@seandalt]

Interesting workflow. The problem is that saturation affects light as well. Ultimately color is light, so when you bring those colors back in it’s going to effect the light in your image as well

[@JoshuaMcMullen.Official]

Wow! This was one of the most amazingly effective and concise videos on color theory I've ever seen on KZbin! Well done, my man - that earned a subscribe from me for sure!

[@seandalt]

You’re a legend Josh, thank you for subscribing man!

[@Hailey-ri1qz]

This was an amazing video! Thank you!! And would def appreciate more on how to color grade and editing in general :)

[@lpark8]

So helpful. Thank you 🙏 yes please make more!

[@hazzhall88]

Honestly the best colour theory video I've watched! Super helpful and clear, thank you

[@seandalt]

You’re a legend Hazz, thank you brother 🤙🏼

[@kevindonnelly8862]

From my editing experience I feel like analogus or complementary works best with people and dealing with skin tones and wanting to separate your subject from the background . For more abstract work like nature or street photography monochromatic is amazing

[@seandalt]

Definitely agree with that, monochromatic gives us a bit more flexibility as we don’t have to account for skin tones

[@H9K-c9x]

Shoot in RGB, edit in ProPhoto RGB, and export based on destination (e.g. sRGB for web). Technology changes and you shouldn't be limiting your color space based on what's available now. Best practise.

[@seandalt]

Good advice!

[@NoWahBelair]

Came to the comments with this sentiment. If possible to print in adobe RGB that’s a plus

[@ramujayakumarsreekala]

I have never seen a better video that explains colour as good as you. Really inspired. +1 subscriber

[@seandalt]

You’re a legend man, thank you!

[@lsagidullin]

That's a massive work! Thanks a lot! Even after 10+ years of photography and editing I found it very useful. Your pics are stunning! You also make me missing my Sigma 35 1.4 from the times I had Sony A7-3 :'( wish it come to Canon RF soon (or I will switch to Sony a7-4 lol). And yes, we want more editing videos!

[@seandalt]

What a lovely comment, thank you so much Isa this made my day :) doesn’t Sigma make a 35 art for Canon as well?

[@carlosmozephoto]

Hello Sean! Thank You for the video and your effort of interacting is noticed with your subscribers. This was one of the main reasons to drop a comment (will try to make it short, as possible). The other is the indisputable content of this video. Have been learning how important is color theory, I know my way around LR (technically and being humble), do edit at an acceptable level (but), just can't reach the next level, despite of being really committed. It is hard for me to build a consistent method and I take into consideration every sport scenario is different, e.g. surf (beach location) and motor racing (depending on the race track, time of the year and day, etc.). "Where to start", is still a "Dark cloud" over me. Feel that I'm not far from achieving it, but simply not there yet! I shoot mostly sports and looking to achieve a point where I could read the color pallet from a certain location, edit accordingly, build a preset, as I usually have a quick turn around to delivered images. Please let me know a direction to take, as I have complete already a few courses for the last couple of years, either I'm asking the wrong questions :) on the wrong places, or the level that I am leaning on is not available where I live...really don't know! Thank You ahead for taking the time, despite of having a new subscriber, I am looking forward for future videos regarding color theory\ editing. Merry Xmas. Carlos

[@rogergranquist]

This is really helpful! Color is one of the hardest parts of editing that I struggle with.

[@charley7085]

Thanks for this Masterclass. Subscribed. Keep these types of videos coming. Its a blessing for all noobs like me out there.

[@seandalt]

Thank you Charly, appreciate the comment and the sub! More to come for sure

[@AnnkurKumar]

0:12, which monitor / tv is best for color correction and color grading.

[@debayangoswami2083]

Anything above sRGB 99% rated display should be fine

[@seandalt]

Exactly what he said 👆🏼 The Apple Monitor is pretty epic but you don’t need to spend that much. I have a Dell Ultrasharp and it’s great!

[@juanplus3324]

Thank you. I've always dreaded editing until now. I was "analysis paralysis" with color!

[@seandalt]

Glad it’s helped to ease the editing anxiety! It’s all about understanding the theory behind the tools, but also having a deeper feel for the colors. Appreciate the comment Juan 🤙🏼

[@Jackk7]

Love this Sean, so much help thanks a lot! Where are you headed next and have you got any tips for doing travel photography?

[@tatsyyyy]

Thank you for sharing! That was a very insightful talk about color theory. You made it easy to understand for us noobs.

[@seandalt]

Glad you found it useful man, appreciate you taking the time to comment!

[@ivlog3663]

Great introduction to „the break“ !

[@seandalt]

Haha gotta keep it interesting!

[@harrivenne4505]

Regarding colour spaces, it's not the best to shoot and edit in sRGB. It's important to convert your photos to sRGB before exporting and sharing them, but shooting and editing in a wider space can be beneficial if you work on your colours a lot. While sRGB saves you some drive space, it might result in some artifacts and worse quality, especially of transitions between colours. Remember that LR's native working space is ProPhotoRGB (and it cannot be changed), so it might be a good idea to use the same space in PS to limit a number of colour space conversions and only convert it to sRGB at the export phase. I would also recommend painting your wall behind the screen neutral grey if you spend so much time working on colours and can't get them right. That green wall is messing with your brain.

[@seandalt]

Appreciate the comment, and perhaps you’re right about the colors. I don’t think it will have any significant impact on the end result of a photo however. Regarding the green wall, I actually rarely edit in this setting believe it or not. I only live here in Bali part of the year and prefer editing in another room on my MacBook screen as opposed to the Dell, although it is a great monitor!

[@vitcoria07]

I thought adobeRGB was the best as it had a broader range, so would always use it. This finally solves my colour wonkiness after exporting out of lightroom. Thank you!

[@seandalt]

A lot of people get hungup on that, myself included in the beginning. Glad the vid helped you out!

[@niklasrognaldsen8396]

Thank you🎉 Amazing to learn colors from a master off color grading👍🏼 going to test out tips now:)

[@seandalt]

Such kind words, appreciate it brother! Thanks for watching and dropping and comment 🤙🏼

[@Clorayne]

Sean the stache is 🔥 Ok now on to the rest of the video .

[@seandalt]

You have no idea how much this means to me lol. I’m loving the stache

[@adamalexander2167]

Scrolled down here just to say this! 😊 Of course, great content also and thanks for the video

[@anthonysavarese1415]

Excellent video! Great delivery and clear demonstrations of color. Subscribed!

[@capturedby_STV]

lightroom or lightroom classic which is better for sports photography

[@The_PlagueDoctor]

Looking forward to seeing more!

[@seandalt]

You’ve got it! More to come for sure 🤙🏼

[@tarangrp]

This was genuinely so helpful!

[@seandalt]

You're a legend, thank you!

[@boofla88]

Love this advice. Keen to hear about your color class.

[@seandalt]

Thanks Brendan, still putting the finishing touches on it but will be released very soon :)

[@midlifecrisis920]

This is a masterclass!

[@seandalt]

Appreciate the love! Definitely put a lot of hours into this one haha, I’m glad you found it useful 🙏🏼

[@lauraxgracex]

Thank you so much for this video it's exactly what I needed :)

[@seandalt]

Absolutely! I’m glad you found it useful and I appreciate the comment! 🤙🏼

[@TeddyCavachon]

Contrast is the most compelling attention getter when composing a photo. What contrasts the most with the tone/color/sharpness/texture/pattern of the background will attract and hold the eye of the viewer. So with respect to color a focal point which contrasts in color with the background will have more ‘magnetic’ and ‘tunnel vision’ creating impact than one which doesn’t contrast strongly. Something to be aware of with the green / orange dynamic very common in cinema is that the ROD cells in the eyes which cover the periphery are only sensitive to greenish wavelengths but are 3000x more sensitive to light than the RGB CONE cells mostly concentrated around the optic nerve in the center 2° of the eye’s FOV. What creates the sensation of ‘tunnel vision’ is the brain filtering out the signal from the RODS when fixated on some object. What using greenish lighting as the background tone does is help trigger that ‘tunnel vision’ dynamic so the contrasting orange content in the frame gets fixated on. The dynamic will occur in landscapes with a lot of brightly illuminated green foliage.

[@scenicvoyager]

This was super helpful bro …. I do edit using most of these tools but after watching your video I think I need to look more into that mood or story vibe of the picture that you talked about more in the next images I edit let me see … something tells me it’s gonna change the way I edit my pics

[@alrozanski8352]

Great video Sean , learned quite a few things

[@seandalt]

Absolutely Al, thanks for the comment!

[@Manosgarf]

Awesome sharing this knowledge! Thank you!

[@seandalt]

Absolutely my man, thank you for the love and the comment!

[@winngh]

Impeccable. Love your edits, first time here and subscribed. Am a capture one user though.

[@seandalt]

Appreciate the subscribe, glad you're digging the edits! I need to dive into capture one a little more, but the principles hold true regardless of the software

[@donkey3081]

Thank you for sharing 🥰

[@seandalt]

Appreciate the love, thank you!

[@angeline3147]

Loved your video. I’m only at the beginning of understanding colour now and I haven’t heard anyone explain as well as you do. On a tangent when I looked at that photo with the orange forest it made me think how we photographers skew reality as much as we do sometimes. Should artistic expression trump accuracy of reality? This is the same I guess as makeup making someone look like a different person v enhancing. Should we mask reality ? How far is too much? Does it matter at all?

[@The_NSeven]

I mean color is very subjective and our eyes are far from perfect. I agree that there are some murky boundaries with editing, but using reality as a 'baseline' is a bit problematic as the colors we see only exist in our head - in reality it's just photons with different wavelengths. The camera is a bit more objective when it comes to color, but if that doesn't fit with our eyes, then the photo is basically pointless, right? Then you wouldn't be able to capture the atmosphere you were after. I think the real skill is being able to bridge that gap.

[@samchu5335]

thanks sean. i just downloaded Lr. Editing to me is daunting. At times I don't know where to start. I'm used to using preset jpegs 😁 But I guess it'll take time & patientce. Great video Sean. Very insightful and concise.

[@seandalt]

That’s how we all feel at first! Just dive in, be creative, and have fun. Don’t worry about making it look “correct”. Just follow your intuition

[@samchu5335]

@ appreciate your reply sean ☺️🙏🏻

[@MarcDobby]

This was awesome thank you!

[@kzkingkoopa]

Amazing tips, thank you !

[@brandonwarren9653]

how did you make the reflection of the house so clear in the image of the house with the fall trees

[@seandalt]

Little bit of photoshop. I show how I do it in my upcoming LR course!

[@EmiliaVeloria-q8m]

May i ask if temp is similar to white balance?

[@seandalt]

Same thing! White balance contains both temperate (warm and cool) and also tint (green and purple).

[@V1ZNS.]

I like to edit in AdobeRGB and then convert to sRGB when uploading to the internet

[@seandalt]

That’s works as well!

Great video! It will be nice to get a deeper one with a couple of step by step samples! Thanks!

[@seandalt]

Will definitely dream up some more editing vids :) appreciate the comment!

[@shessudar]

You explain it very well. What a useful video 🔥👍🏼❤️

[@seandalt]

Thank you love ❤️❤️

[@mihailmihov1882]

Excellent video! Thanks!

[@seandalt]

Appreciate the comment my man!

[@mrdmahesh]

Really helpful video!! Thanks!!

[@seandalt]

Absolutely! Thank you for the love 🙏🏼

[@katfoster7732]

Great video, very well explained!

[@seandalt]

Thank you Kat!

[@YB12388]

Perfect advice -- take break 👌 thanks and regards

[@seandalt]

So so important. Thanks for the comment!

[@dylancurcio5388]

Thank you!

[@seandalt]

Absolutely my man!

[@juliopina]

Thank you for reminding me to take a break 😅

[@anhvu7368]

what is your monitor ?

[@seandalt]

Dell Ultrasharp!

[@Dacielyuma]

Genuine question. How did you made that reflection on the water since raw picture didn't have it 16:54

[@seandalt]

Duplicated the top, flipped it and blurred it. I show how I do this in my upcoming LR course

[@Dacielyuma]

Thank you 🙏​@@seandalt

[@vekofoto]

Thank for the video and all the information! That stache stole the show, though! 😁

[@seandalt]

Haha much love, thank you. I’m absolutely loving the stache, here to stay

[@Brunlees]

Amazing tips !

[@seandalt]

Glad it was helpful!

[@cosmicnomad9324]

Thanks! Man u taught us a lot

[@AliColak]

Do you prefer lightroom classic to lightroom CC

[@seandalt]

Classic for sure!

[@lordxerlus3842]

I assume it’s a yes but does a lot of this information carry well to video? Very informative video, great work brother.

[@seandalt]

100%, color theory for photographers is pretty much the same for video. The process of achieving those colors is different though. A RAW file is typically much easier to work with than video

[@aggelostaff8997]

If that is the case, what is the purpose of shooting in AdobeRGB?

[@jacky2152]

Print

[@halimothman7324]

how to apply colour harmony into our photo editing? do we need to adjust manually?

[@seandalt]

Usually it’s in the form of slightly shifting the hues in the image to be more complimentary. For example, if you have a lot of blues and greens in your image, slightly shifting the green hues towards yellow could create a better complimentary relationship. We can also get better color harmony by adding color into the highlights/shadows using the color grading panel, like I show in this video. Many different ways to do it, but I think it’s important to know which colors look good together to begin with, hence the color wheel!

[@CJ5MOTION]

Ta, Totally agree with you.. Very informative. New subscriber here. Thanks

[@vigojansons]

Perfect video

[@DavidFackrell1]

Love the vid thanks!

[@seandalt]

Thanks for the love David!

[@cerulean_sea]

Subscribed for the tips and stache

[@seandalt]

Stache is here to stay 🤙🏼

[@clashwithrow1344]

Ty

[@seandalt]

Gotchu! 😉

[@MartinV.]

Great Video

[@seandalt]

Thank you my man!

[@RikMaxSpeed]

So cool to have a clear exposition of how to use colour, when so many videos are purely about black & white photography!

[@stigfloberghagenphotography]

Great advice 👍🙂

[@seandalt]

Thanks for the love brother 🤙🏼

[@wojt4spes]

Wonder what monitor you are using

[@seandalt]

Dell Ultrasharp 4k. It’s great!

[@Rivarest]

Why does it feel like zac watson is your friend? I can see some similarities in your photos! Anyway thanks for doing this we learn alot :)

[@seandalt]

Haha Zac is a very close friend of mine, you’re right!

[@yashomb]

interesting video... subscribed

[@seandalt]

Thanks for subscribing, appreciate the support!

[@ph_anto]

Very interesting man, but now I’m in a b&w moment

[@zed91]

Doesn't the color you see when editing a photo depend on how well the monitor is calibrated? Maybe proper monitor adjustment should be the first step in photo editing. Also, I think monitors that are manufactured to display colors very accurately are very pricey. Kind of an initial barrier to delving into the whole process.

[@BobN54]

Thanks for a thorough and useful video. I'd just make one point, small but important. The 'L' in HSL is properly 'lightness', not 'luminance'. Why is this important? Because colour is about perception, not light. 'Luminance' is a measure of light (unit, the lux). 'Lightness' is about how light or dark something looks. Luminance, is an open-ended phenomenon. Keep pumping energy into your light source and you keep adding luminance. On the other hand, lightness can never go lighter than white - which is why adjusting 'L' doesn't work the way you'd think if it was luminance, at some stage you can't add anymore, and also as you approach white you lose saturation. The luminance of white (100% lightness) depends on viewing, how much light is illuminating the print, or how far up the brightness of a monitor is turned up. Whatever the actual luminance the eye interprets it as white (within limits). For the same reason when you add white to a colour you make it 'lighter', not 'brighter'. I think it's important to use different words to denote different concepts, otherwise it tends to result in confusion. Understanding that colour is perceptual and not about physical amounts of light is important to both colour theory and photography as a whole. Many otherwise knowledgeable people get it wrong, including the software designers at Adobe, who also got 'exposure' wrong. To be fair to them, they were producing a metaphor based UI, and tried to use metaphors that they thought would work for photographers.

[@seandalt]

This is very interesting, and tbh I had no idea. Thank you for explaining this and making the distinction clear. Makes sense why the adobe designers would use the words they did though

[@BobN54]

@@seandalt Thanks for your positive response. Not every You Tuber does that! I found, when I finally worked this out, that a lot of pennies dropped.

[@seandalt]

Try my best to reply to every comment :)

[@SinCinem4]

how do i get lightroom classic?

[@seandalt]

Adobe offers a license for about $10 a month I think. Totally worth it!

[@Ailandscapes]

Get affinity bro, it’s way more worth, basically light room and photoshop in one. adobe is an evil greed driven company so would never give them a penny again

[@vivienandre2875]

Very instructive! Here my follow :)

[@seandalt]

Welcome to the channel Vivien!

[@sixsixvisuals]

Man I’d love to have you look through my stuff and critique my use of colors

[@seandalt]

Might need to look into setting something like this up!

[@sixsixvisuals]

@ I volunteer as first tribute!

[@alejandrogalvan8456]

Hi Sean, Do you plan to try the new sony 28-70 f2?

[@seandalt]

Perhaps sometime in the future but I don’t have plans to get it at this time. I’m happy with my 24-70 2.8. If I want a shallower depth of field I just use my primes

[@salzkraut8176]

Would be nice to have more subtle examples. All the "sunset" examples are very basic and obvious. What about images with lots of different peoples for example. Also how to handle "semi good" photos where the motive/composition isnt kinda already telling how the colors should look.

[@seandalt]

100% man you raise some good points here. I’ll definitely keep this in mind for future videos. My style is quite dramatic with color, next time I’ll include some others photos

[@LtDeadeye]

But if every combination seemingly has a theory to support it, no combo can be wrong. What exactly is the theory?

[@seandalt]

Well damn you got a point!

[@KlausSN]

Color profiles only affects jpgs

[@seandalt]

Correct, forgot to mention that!

[@timwood6401]

Great information. There was a lot to learn and of interest to me. But ... Slow down, the pace was way too fast for me to follow.

[@seandalt]

Thanks for the feedback, I’ll try to slow down next time. Get excited talking about color 😉

[@nguyenvannhan9039]

I slow speed down to 0.8 then its okay

[@LucidLensStudios]

Don't listen to it. The mustache is a pleasure to look at.

[@Cope_and_Seethe]

Take a shot every time he says "Lean(ing) into".

[@seandalt]

😂😂

[@dentReviews]

the stowe vermont photo looks really nice, but the fake water blur is super obvious...

[@seandalt]

Edited that one quite a long time ago. Definitely could have done a better job with the water

[@dentReviews]

@seandalt still a gorgeous shot.

[@015karthikeyan4]

👍👍👍👍

[@artistwithcameras]

I had to slow down the video to 0.75 because you talk so fast. Relax... Good work.

[@seandalt]

Appreciate the feedback, I’ll try to slow down next time! Get excited talking about color :)

[@AleksandrDederer]

... spend 4-6 hours per day to correct color... That's a reason why I shifted from Nikon to Fuji! :)

[@seandalt]

There’s a difference between color correction and color grading. All that time I spend working in colors is to achieve a more stylized look. Your camera brand really doesn’t matter when it comes to this. But I agree Fuji does have great colors 😍

[@bdluong]

great job but couldnt get over the pronunciation of cyan

[@seandalt]

You got me there. Old habits die hard 🥲

[@gsbbdn]

me *spends hours and hours editing a photo because I can't really figure out the colors* also me *makes the photo bnw to avoid the problem

[@Silleman203]

dude you could be gordan ryans brother

[@seandalt]

😂😂 I’ll take that as a compliment, dude is an absolute unit

[@Silleman203]

@@seandalt for sure its a compliment! Hes the 1 on the mats and you are on the streets ;)

[@UpshamNaik]

Man life sucks when you're colorblind.. I can't enjoy the beauty of these images as much as the rest of you 😢 also makes it much more difficult to edit colors correctly without them looking funky to the majority of people 😂