# How to get these kind of tones?



## nerwin (Jul 27, 2016)

I follow this photographer on Flickr and I'm trying to figure out how she gets the greens to look muted and not so yellow. I tried and tried in Lightroom and I couldn't get any of my greens to look like hers.

I don't want to copy or anything, but there is something I like about the way she processes her photos and I would like to explore it a little to see why I like it so much. Also would be nice to know how to do this for future processing.

I'm going to say there is some desaturation involved but some of the colors are still punchy. I tried to mess around with the HSL and even the tone curves to see if I can get it close but failed.

Here are some of the shots I'm talking about.

1. Sabbaday Falls

2. Fenway!

3. Breakfast is my favorite part 2

4. Back to Kancamagus

5. John Hancock Tower - Boston

6. Somerville, MA

Any help would be appreciated.


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## jcdeboever (Jul 28, 2016)

Why don't you ask the photographer? Hard to really guess without seeing the original.


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## nerwin (Jul 28, 2016)

jcdeboever said:


> Why don't you ask the photographer? Hard to really guess without seeing the original.



I'll give it a shot, but I find that not many reply back on Flickr. I just don't want to come across as someone trying to copy her style because I don't want to, just simply learning and hopefully pulling an element out of it that I like. For all I know, she's using a preset.


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## Braineack (Jul 28, 2016)

*short answer: *clip your blacks.

the histograms are left heavy, but extend fully to the right...

*long answer:*

When I process, one of the first things I do is adjust the blacks level.  I will slide the blacks to a point to where they are just clipping, and possibly push it further if there's not useful information.

then I will next grab the whites slider and pull it up until I'm barely clipping whites.

She probably does something similar, but then alters the curves or shadows to then darken those mid-range tones.  I also think a lot of her shots are slightly underexposed, where I like my shots to be a bit brighter.  I love rich deep blacks in shots, but I don't like big blocks of black where you should be seeing color.  Like the nose of the dog in that one example shot.

her white balance is also on the cool side, were I prefer very warm.  I also always push my WB 1000K or so to the yellow.

here's a random shot of mine, where I went back in dragged the blacks down on the curves layer and moved the mids a bit with the levels slider:






I tired to keep the whites at the same level, so the scene still looks bright and sunny as you'd expect, but overall the image is darker since i richened up the darks and mids.


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## nerwin (Jul 28, 2016)

This is something I've been working on myself which I think works really great for city/urban type shots but once I apply this to a landscape it makes everything look like its autumn. Haha. But I do like it and proud of myself I created it. 

Original RAW



 

Processed by me


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## The_Traveler (Jul 28, 2016)

I think what you are doing is the opposite of what I think she is doing.
She is pulling the dark tones down and you are raising the dark tones.
Your original shot looks a bit underexposed because of the bright sky and glare from the street.


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## KmH (Jul 28, 2016)

Yep.
Setting the black, white, and gray points are fundamental initial edits.


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## nerwin (Jul 28, 2016)

I think I'm going to give up and say it's a Canon thing. Lol.

I'm just struggling trying to find my own style, maybe it will come with time. But I'm just tired of jumping over the place...I just want to make something that works for me which I can stick with and build upon as I grow.


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## vintagesnaps (Jul 28, 2016)

I agree with Lew, looks like it would help to work on getting proper exposures. Might be at least partly why you're struggling with edits.


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## nerwin (Jul 28, 2016)

I seriously don't see how it's that underexposed. How many stops? a 3rd? Big deal lol. I took this shot 5 years ago and the sky was white anyways because it was cloudy, there isn't anything to recover. I don't mind the sky is blown out, doesn't bother me. 

If it's that dark to everyone else, then my monitor must too bright but it's calibrated. 

I didn't really ask to get my photo critiqued, I know I'm not that good. But thanks anyways. haha.

Thanks for trying to help, I appreciate it. But it just doesn't matter since we all are different. All I really wanted to know was how to mess with the greens but I'll figure it out on my own.


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## DScience (Jul 28, 2016)

Mind if I try to edit?


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## DScience (Jul 28, 2016)

Because it was a jpeg file that I had, the sky is messed up but in general this is what she is doing.


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## nerwin (Jul 28, 2016)

DScience said:


> Mind if I try to edit?



Here's the RAW file. Go for it. Erwin-120611-5506.NEF


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## Tee (Jul 28, 2016)

nerwin said:


> I think I'm going to give up and say it's a Canon thing. Lol.
> 
> I'm just struggling trying to find my own style, maybe it will come with time. But I'm just tired of jumping over the place...I just want to make something that works for me which I can stick with and build upon as I grow.



Finding my own style took a few years, using actions other people made, and mimicking styles I liked.  I think it's part of the process of finding your own way.  What I took away from emulating others was learning how to do things in photoshop and understanding how the mechanics of photoshop worked.


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## Braineack (Jul 29, 2016)

DScience said:


> Because it was a jpeg file that I had, the sky is messed up but in general this is what she is doing. View attachment 125223


I wholeheartedly disagree here.  Did you even look at the example, or the rest of her Flickr?!?!

A dull gray, heavily vignetted image is NOT what she's doing.


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## nerwin (Jul 29, 2016)

Well I got some info from her and she is pretty much using a filter she got, at least in the photos I shared. Other than that, she said that she adjusts the blacks/shadows and sometimes highlights and that's it.


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## OGsPhotography (Jul 29, 2016)

# nofilter.

Good job reaching out, at least you know she is just copying someone else. Realizing that took me a long was in not worrying about emulating.

Your doing great Nerwin! Keep practicing in post, its not easy but you will develop a style and it will take time. learn techniques not actions ir filters or presets.


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## nerwin (Jul 29, 2016)

OGsPhotography said:


> # nofilter.
> 
> Good job reaching out, at least you know she is just copying someone else. Realizing that took me a long was in not worrying about emulating.
> 
> Your doing great Nerwin! Keep practicing in post, its not easy but you will develop a style and it will take time. learn techniques not actions ir filters or presets.



Thanks, but I won't ever develop my style if I'm always in a rut.


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## Braineack (Jul 29, 2016)

Turn to HDR!!!


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## nerwin (Jul 29, 2016)

Braineack said:


> Turn to HDR!!!


 
Okay, you asked for it.


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## robbins.photo (Jul 29, 2016)

nerwin said:


> OGsPhotography said:
> 
> 
> > # nofilter.
> ...


You will.  Just call your style "shooting from the rut".  Bam.  Problem solved.

Sent from my N9518 using Tapatalk


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## astroNikon (Jul 29, 2016)

When I first started shooting I was underexposing all the time.
Then after Derrel, et all showed me the way I began to proper expose items.  

Then I started learning more about the colors and how just a plain image is kinda drab for people.  I initially learned by using the "AUTO" setting in lightroom.  Then learned to do all the changes manually, then learned a little about curves, etc.

I actually pull down my blacks in many shots because I like it that way.  But I understand what is going on in those photos for the most part.

but it's all about learning and experimenting.  Have you played around with each and every slider in lightroom to see what it looks like before/after ?

Start learning the tools that you have better and that requires you to read and experiment with it.
I still will move a slider all the way to one side then the other just to see, then move it slightly from the middle to get an adjustment that I like.


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## nerwin (Jul 29, 2016)

astroNikon said:


> When I first started shooting I was underexposing all the time.
> Then after Derrel, et all showed me the way I began to proper expose items.
> 
> Then I started learning more about the colors and how just a plain image is kinda drab for people.  I initially learned by using the "AUTO" setting in lightroom.  Then learned to do all the changes manually, then learned a little about curves, etc.
> ...



Lightroom has a auto setting?


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## astroNikon (Jul 29, 2016)

nerwin said:


> astroNikon said:
> 
> 
> > When I first started shooting I was underexposing all the time.
> ...


In Develop mode, if you look at the menu on the right, Just above Exposure, there is a "Tone" and to the right an "Auto" button where the Cursor is.




Click the Auto button and it adjusts based upon what it thinks
in this case changing Exposure, Contrast, Whites and Blacks





Press "Control Z" to UNDO everything and play with each slider individually yourself.

fyi, I would then adjust highlights and other items (or actually add more diffusion and redo)

Lightroom has many pulldowns, and many text are buttons. for instance, If you click on WB, to the right "Custom" it has a pulldown for various auto adjustments and custom settings.


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## nerwin (Jul 29, 2016)

Wow, I can't say that I ever noticed that feature.


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## Braineack (Jul 29, 2016)

Auto almost always washes out my images, but i like to press it, then drop exposure back to 0 and adjust to my likens.  How it handles the highlights, shadows, whites, and blacks is pretty good.


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## nerwin (Jul 29, 2016)

Braineack said:


> Auto almost always washes out my images, but i like to press it, then drop exposure back to 0 and adjust to my likens.  How it handles the highlights, shadows, whites, and blacks is pretty good.



I've been messing around with it. Sometimes it overexposes too. But I suppose its a good "starting" point in an edit. 

Maybe I should delete my filters because I keep messing around with them, especially VSCO. Sometimes they really do make the photos look interesting, but I guess If I want a film look...I'll just shoot film. Haha.


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## astroNikon (Jul 29, 2016)

On some of my shots Auto takes my exposure to +10 .. total whiteout. Whereas manually you can't even go that high.
So .... it's good to see what it would do and then adjust from there.

you should really take/read/watch LightRoom tutorials and learn more about it.


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## nerwin (Jul 29, 2016)

The auto button just adjusts the basic panel right?


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## runnah (Jul 29, 2016)

Curves are your friend. Really the only tool you need for most photos editing. Read up on how to use them and you will be happy you did.


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## astroNikon (Jul 29, 2016)

nerwin said:


> The auto button just adjusts the basic panel right?


there's a couple other Autos around the system such as for Lens Profiling etc, but sooner or later you'll NEED to know how to use the tool to your liking.

It's like your camera.  Do you use AUTO all the time on the camera ?


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## nerwin (Jul 29, 2016)

astroNikon said:


> nerwin said:
> 
> 
> > The auto button just adjusts the basic panel right?
> ...



I don't think I ever even turned the dial to the auto mode on my D610...lol. 



runnah said:


> Curves are your friend. Really the only tool you need for most photos editing. Read up on how to use them and you will be happy you did.



I've been playing with the curves..there is just so many ways to adjust the photo using the curves. I can just individual colors or just RGB. Its a little overwhelming to be honest.


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## gckless (Jul 29, 2016)

Braineack said:


> Auto almost always washes out my images, but i like to press it, then drop exposure back to 0 and adjust to my likens.  How it handles the highlights, shadows, whites, and blacks is pretty good.


I find this is the case as well. Also find that it goes nuts sometimes and just completely washes out the image. Don't know what that's about.


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## nerwin (Jul 29, 2016)

If anyone would like to have fun editing my poorly exposed photo, have fun. 

Here's the RAW file. Erwin-120611-5649.NEF

And here is my edit that is actually printed and hung on the wall above my desk right now.


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## Braineack (Jul 29, 2016)

maybe when im home, ill edit it like I would any of my shots.


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## DScience (Jul 29, 2016)

Braineack said:


> DScience said:
> 
> 
> > Because it was a jpeg file that I had, the sky is messed up but in general this is what she is doing. View attachment 125223
> ...



Fo shoooow muuuu man!!!!!


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## Braineack (Jul 29, 2016)

DScience said:


> Fo shoooow muuuu man!!!!!


???

I mean what you posted would be like me saying I looked at your 500px link and think you're a really good baby portrait photographer.


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## Braineack (Jul 29, 2016)

this is probably how I would have done it:


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## nerwin (Jul 31, 2016)

Braineack said:


> this is probably how I would have done it:
> 
> 
> View attachment 125264
> ...



Wow that looks really good, nice and clear. Would you mind sharing what you did?


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## Braineack (Jul 31, 2016)

just this:


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## nerwin (Aug 1, 2016)

Man I suck. I have absolutely no vision when it comes to post processing my images. The only thing I can do is start with a preset that I like that gives me a basis for my edits and just roll with it. I don't know what else to do.


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## JonA_CT (Aug 1, 2016)

nerwin said:


> Man I suck. I have absolutely no vision when it comes to post processing my images. The only thing I can do is start with a preset that I like that gives me a basis for my edits and just roll with it. I don't know what else to do.



I know you've been at it longer than me, but one of the things that really helped me was figuring out a workflow in LR. I read Scott Kelby's book (I'm sure there are others, and ones that are probably free), and pretty much work through my pictures in the way that he showed me. Once I started doing that, it was easier for me to start playing with individual sliders to see what they do and trying to figure out what I like and what I don't like.


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## Vtec44 (Aug 1, 2016)

nerwin said:


> Man I suck. I have absolutely no vision when it comes to post processing my images.



A good photographer always have an idea of how his images will look at the end.  It's also something you can't really teach ... like how to use a camera.


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## Braineack (Aug 1, 2016)

So what I did here first was adjust for distortion.  I like vertical lines--that's just me.

Then I simply adjusted the black and white points to where I liked them, then adjusted the shadows to bring the mids to a point I was happy.  Without increasing the shadows i thought the fore-area was too dark, but i didnt bring them up so far that there was still a look of difference between areas in shadow and areas in direct light.

By default, i add 10 clarity, 20 vibrancy, and 2 saturation based on my import settings.  I bumped the colors just a touch cause I thought it still looked a bit dull. 

Then I added warmth to the shot via the WB, pushed the tint to red, and still thought the shot looked too green, so I went in and dropped the green saturation.

lastly bumped up the sharpness ever so slightly.

oh yeah, almost forgot, i did paint an area of the sky with an adjustments brush and dropped the exposure and highlights to bring back up the detail in the one tower, but not too much where the sky turned to gray since it was blown out.


I like bright, vibrant realistic looking images.  But I love shadows and contrast as well, so I tend to exaggerate lights and darks depending on the scene.   I _never_ use presets.  I adjust image-by-image and start from scratch, i've downloaded a bunch of presets and only find them useful when im blindly trying to mimic an artist style -- like matte blacks, or cross-processing, or the "ultimate fighter" look.


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## nerwin (Aug 1, 2016)

Braineack said:


> So what I did here first was adjust for distortion.  I like vertical lines--that's just me.
> 
> Then I simply adjusted the black and white points to where I liked them, then adjusted the shadows to bring the mids to a point I was happy.  Without increasing the shadows i thought the fore-area was too dark, but i didnt bring them up so far that there was still a look of difference between areas in shadow and areas in direct light.
> 
> ...



Do you sync images that are similar or still process them one by one?


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## DScience (Aug 1, 2016)

Here's my take:


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## Braineack (Aug 1, 2016)

nerwin said:


> Braineack said:
> 
> 
> > So what I did here first was adjust for distortion.  I like vertical lines--that's just me.
> ...



I'll sync shots in the same series and spot check the same edits looked good.


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## robbins.photo (Aug 1, 2016)

Vtec44 said:


> A good photographer always have an idea of how his images will look at the end.



I know I always do.  Kitty.  Not a kitty.  Kitty.  Not a kitty.


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## nerwin (Aug 1, 2016)

@Braineack Thanks for your help man, it was really helpful. I also like keeping my photos natural but I also don't want them to be flat either. But I don't want them to go over the edge also. Its really not easy haha. 

I've read a lot of blog posts about finding your own processing style and they never really talk about it, its more like "buy my presets". Or apply a vintage fade for a cool effect. Meh.


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## Vtec44 (Aug 1, 2016)

robbins.photo said:


> Vtec44 said:
> 
> 
> > A good photographer always have an idea of how his images will look at the end.
> ...




Try sexy kitty next time


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## nerwin (Aug 1, 2016)

My sexy kitty


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## astroNikon (Aug 1, 2016)

nerwin said:


> Man I suck. I have absolutely no vision when it comes to post processing my images. The only thing I can do is start with a preset that I like that gives me a basis for my edits and just roll with it. I don't know what else to do.


start learning about each feature/option in Lightroom and play with each slider/function.
Just like you read and learned about each feature on your camera ... right ?


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## nerwin (Aug 1, 2016)

There must be a good book on this stuff that really explains what everything does. I understand the basic panel just fine, but the tone curves really intrigues me because boy that really changes the image.


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