Color Space Part 2 : Getting Control With Your Color
Now that you have tested the waters with color space, hopefully you have had some success. In last month’s article, “Color Space and Your Photography,” I discussed how to get control back into your workflow using different color spaces. By expanding on this, creating custom camera profiles and calibrating your monitor can get your images displayed the way you want. Seeing the difference in your color photography is a huge step you can take to be ahead of the curve. As we all know, separating yourself from the competition is crucial. Before we jump into specifics, I want to start by checking your camera settings and getting you on track before shooting. Then onto creating custom profiles for your camera and computer monitor.
For a custom workflow in color photography, you need to get away from using auto white balance in-camera and in post-production. The camera manufacturers claim that their sensors can accurately balance a multitude of lighting conditions; although this is correct the majority of the time, it creates inconsistency and wasted time editing. For example, if you are shooting in low light or with an incandescent light source, the auto white balance tends to cast a color across the image to adjust for it. You might have also used the preset options, including incandescent, fluorescent, daylight, flash, shade, cloudy, etc., but these are approximations of color temperature, and don’t accurately balance the light.
