Color saturation (Page 2): Many, many photographs today receive post processing. I have always thought folks tweak their photo's a LITTLE TOO MUCH. But they just can't help themselves.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

wilfredmike wrote:

I have been a member of a camera club since 1975. Over the last 5 years or so, i have noticed an increase in color saturation of images displayed by members. The over saturating of images is apparently not a passing fad. Seems now it is the norm and if you display what i have always consider natural color, your images are not as well received.. Wondering what others think about this this.

Many, many photographs today receive post processing. I have always thought folks tweak their photo's a LITTLE TOO MUCH. But they just can't help themselves. On the other hand, my old Minolta AF glass seems to build that into the photo's I take with them.

yssirk123 Loc: New Jersey

Linda From Maine wrote:

I posted a bit to fredmiranda.com. My first few fo... (show quote)

Great articles Linda - Thanks!

Bultaco Loc: Aiken, SC

jerryc41 wrote:

It's the idea that "more is better." Once a group accepts over-saturation, that becomes a requirement. I'm sure there are other clubs that prefer a more pastel look. I aim for realistic.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

yssirk123 wrote:

Great articles Linda - Thanks!

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

Color saturation is in the eye of the beholder I have stopped oversaturating my wildlife images But need the extra pop in landscape

bbrowner Loc: Chapel Hill, NC

Anthony Morganti often suggests that when you are done processing your image... and before to you put it out there... put it away for a day or two and then come back to it again. You might not change a thing. But then again, you might.

Barry

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

No pun intended but I have posted many images shot with natural colors in the forum and I have not heard of anyone that made a comment about saturated images.
The way the camera is set for colors determine the final result but also at times subjects are too contrasty. It is the photographer who has to identify those conditions and correct accordingly.
Most of the photographs I see posted do not have the saturation you are talking about.

doc9900

Lovely snow shot with the strong figure of the tree! I read the articles you attached and loved the Photoshop quote: "If you can imagine it, you can create it."

TGanner Loc: Haines, Alaska

Just because you can do a thing does not mean you should.

papakatz45 Loc: South Florida-West Palm Beach

wilfredmike wrote:

I have been a member of a camera club since 1975. Over the last 5 years or so, i have noticed an increase in color saturation of images displayed by members. The over saturating of images is apparently not a passing fad. Seems now it is the norm and if you display what i have always consider natural color, your images are not as well received.. Wondering what others think about this this.

I don't like the over saturation much either but beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

A couple of years ago a fellow who writes and shoots for Outdoor Photographer did an article on this exact thing. He had been bitten by the saturation bug and was then recovering from it. He included in his article some "redos" of some of his images in a more normal look. He called it an addiction. I think he's right. My attitude is that if people go to where my image was taken and do NOT see what I showed in my image, then 1) I have lied to them, 2) they are disappointed in the scene. I don't want either. Yes, I do sometimes saturate a tad, but it's because RAW images seem sort of lackluster and I take them back up to the vibrancy and saturation I saw with my eyes. I only hope my eyes and my memory don't lie to me!

Ron SS Loc: Silver Spring, MD

Oversaturation?

More than beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.
There may be cataracts as well. Especially with the old average age of hogs noted in a different thread.

Besides degrading vision acuity, cataracts reduce colors with everything getting a yellow / brown overlay.
One might then greatly overcompensate in post by boosting saturation.

Just saying.

jackm1943 Loc: Omaha, Nebraska

wilfredmike wrote:

I have been a member of a camera club since 1975. Over the last 5 years or so, i have noticed an increase in color saturation of images displayed by members. The over saturating of images is apparently not a passing fad. Seems now it is the norm and if you display what i have always consider natural color, your images are not as well received.. Wondering what others think about this this.

I agree that some images are poorly processed, but I'm not certain why anyone would have a goal about making an image look "natural" unless maybe the picture will be used for a nature field guide. The reason so many of us, including myself, like b/w images is certainly not because they look "natural". And why do so many of us use wide angle or telephoto lenses? They certainly do not result in images that look "natural". Same with long exposures, use of filters, etc, etc. I would guess that most of us are not interested in making an image look just "natural" but, rather, are trying to improve on "natural".

Meives Loc: FORT LAUDERDALE

I often tweak a landscape by pushing the saturation about 9 %. Any more than that looks fake. David

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Being primarily a black and white photographer this sort of thing is of little concern. Being a photographer, this concerns me greatly. It's a case of adaptation. What was vividly normal years ago, has fallen by the wayside with the need to continue to see those vivid colors, as imagined, of yesteryear.

We adapt very well. That adaptation leads to increasing the quantity as time passes. I personally like to capture what's there. Perhaps tweak contrast, burn and dodge a bit, and produce an interpretation of what I saw, but I don't wish to increase the level of color that I observed.

One of the things I religiously do is an image specific white balance. That goes for those digital images I wish to convert to black and white, also. That renders a more realistic appearing color or black and white image.
--Bob

wilfredmike wrote:

I have been a member of a camera club since 1975. Over the last 5 years or so, i have noticed an increase in color saturation of images displayed by members. The over saturating of images is apparently not a passing fad. Seems now it is the norm and if you display what i have always consider natural color, your images are not as well received.. Wondering what others think about this this.