Change Colours Using 3 Methods

In this tutorial I add some drama and interest by changing the colours in the sky and reflections. This mimics shooting a sunrise or sunset in the opposite direction to the sun. I use three different methods to change colours to achieve similar results. The result is a little surreal, but that’s what I was after with this edit.

One of the best ways to create mood and drama in our images is to work with effectively with colour. This doesn’t mean increasing the vibrance or saturation of colours. But, modifying colours so that they are more natural. Or, pushing the process to create something that may not be as realistic. This tutorial modifies the highlights in an image using three different methods. The RGB channels in a Curves Adjustments Layer, a Selective Colour Adjustment Layer and a Hue & Saturation Adjustment layer.

Often when editing images we want to fix or enhance colours. Usually our first port of call is to use saturation or vibrance to achieve this. Although these tools have their place, quite often what we actually need to do is modify the colour rather then increase the Vibrance or Saturation.

In this tutorial I use Lights luminosity masks to target areas that I want the adjustments to affect. Then using the three adjustment layers, I modify the colours to achieve a similar result with each. It’s important to have multiple ways of achieving the same result in Photoshop. Often one will yield better results then the others.

I use only 3 methods of adjusting colour in this tutorial. There are other ways we can also adjust colour. But, these will often yield the results I’m after, and that I would use 90% of the time.