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Explore The Power Of Color Psychology

The Art Of Color Adjustment

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The power of color offers you extraordinary creative capabilities and you’ve never had more control than today.

 

Strategies

 

Infinite Variations
The possibilities are almost limitless. Explore your options before you commit to a solution.

Use Presets To Find Variations Quickly
Speed your workflow and visualize many possibilities for your images.

Why Achieving Neutrality In Your Images Is So Important
Make your color more believable, saturated, and three-dimensional.

4 Ways To Achieve Neutrality
How you achieve neutrality sets the foundation for future color moves.

How To Key Your Images Expressively – Go High, Medium, Or Low
Set the mood for your images with tonality.

The Key To Lively Images –  Midtone Contrast – And How To Get It

6 Ways To Get Better Shadow & Highlight Detail
Increase separation in the darkest and lightest values.

5 Tools You Can Use To Make The Most Of Shadows & Highlights Without HDR
You can extend the dynamic range of your images without bracketing exposures.

How To Avoid Making Viewers Squint At Your Images To See Their Highlights
Preserving detail and setting brightness are important first steps.

How To Render Lively Shadows

3 Qualities Of Light You Can Use To Make Your Images Glow

How To Use Simultaneous Contrast To Make Colors Even More Lively

9 Ways To Tell If Your Images Are Overcooked

How To Make Day Look Like Night In Your Images

How To Enhance The Illusion Of Space With Atmospheric Perspective | Coming Soon

Deciding Where To Make Your Images Glow And How To Do It  | Coming Soon

 

Raw

 

What In The World Are Raw Files?
Dive in to the strange and wonderful world of Raw files.

Why You Should Shoot Raw
Get highest quality images from your digital camera.

Why You Should Profile Your Camera
Improve the clarity and saturation of the color your digital camera creates.

How To Get More Than The Maximum A Slider Allows
Get 150%,  200%, 500% or more out of sliders.

5 Reasons You Still Need Photoshop
1  Fine Retouching, 2  Precise Masking, 3   Advanced Color Adjustment, 4  Creative Sharpening, 5  Plug-Ins

 

Tools

 

How To Evaluate Color Adjustment Tools
Identify the go-to, exotic, and redundant tools.

Blend Modes
Make all of Photoshop’s color adjustment tools more precise.

Curves
It’s the most precise tool for adjusting luminosity and hue.

High Pass Contrast
Choose between planar contrast or edge sharpening.

Get Even More Out Of High Pass Contrast
Add Curves contrast to High Pass contrast.

Curves, Clarity, Dehaze, High Pass, Texture and Sharpening Compared
How do you choose between so many ways to control luminosity contrast?

Curing Dehaze Color Artifacts
Try this quick fix to eliminate Dehaze color artifacts.

Hue/Saturation & Vibrance & HSL Compared
They’re the most powerful tools for adjusting saturation.

White Balance, Photo Filter, Color Overlays, and Curves Compared
How do you choose between so many ways to control color temperature?

Selective Color
It makes very precise changes like no other tool.

Use LAB Color Mode To Increase Hue Contrast
Use LAB mode for greater hue separation.

Blending Channels
Use the information in one channel to improve another.

Adobe Camera Raw Filter
Using ACR on layers lets you use Photoshop’s precise masking with it.

Color Lookup
Color grading can give many images a similar look or individuals a unique one.

Color Grading
Make the color in your images more expressive with this easy split toning solution.

Gradient Maps
Add new color into specific ranges of luminosity.

Match Color
Transfer color from one image to another.

Synthetic Profiles
Make big changes non-destructively by redefining color values.

Before You Mask Use The Tool’s Selectivity | Coming Soon
The results are faster and sometimes better.

What You Can Do With Raw That You Can’t With Photoshop Unless … | Coming Soon
Adjust Raw files and individual layers with the most robust color adjustment feature.

 

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Use HDR Techniques To Get The Best Image Detail

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Use high dynamic range techniques to capture detail in highlights and shadows even in scenes with extreme contrast.

 

Why Everybody Needs HDR … Sometimes | Coming Soon

What In The World Is HDR ?

What Is Exposure Value ?

Using Histograms – ETTR

Why Your Camera’s Auto HDR Feature Is Inferior 

How To Set Your Camera To Auto Bracketing 

How Many Exposures Do You Need For HDR Merges ? 

Making HDR Merges Is A Four Step Process

5 Photoshop Tools To Make The Most of Shadows & Highlights Without HDR

3 Ways HDR Software Can Benefit Single Exposures | Coming Soon

Using HDR Software To Sharpen Photographs

HDR With One Exposure

HDR With Two Exposures

HDR with Lightroom | Coming Soon

HDR With Photoshop | Coming Soon

HDR Panoramas | Coming Soon

Refine HDR With Photoshop Layer Blending | Coming Soon

7 HDR Artifacts & How To Avoid Or Cure Them 

8 HDR Myths Debunked 

Quick Answers To The 5 Most Asked HDR Questions 

 

Get Optimum Image Quality – Shoot & Process Raw Files

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Get the best image quality by optimally exposing and processing Raw files.

 

What In The World Are Raw Files?
Dive in to the strange and wonderful world of Raw files.

Why You Should Shoot Raw
Get highest quality images from your digital camera.

Why You Should Profile Your Camera
Improve the clarity and saturation of the color your digital camera creates.

How To Get More Than The Maximum A Slider Allows
Get 150%,  200%, 500% or more out of sliders.

 

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How To Achieve Optimum Exposure

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Achieve optimum exposures.

 

Use The Exposure Triangle Creatively | Coming

Setting Your Digital Camera’s File Format

Setting Your Digital Camera’s Color Space 

Using Histograms

Evaluating Histograms 

8 Essentials To Achieve Perfectly Focused Exposures

13 Essential Tips For Low Light & Night Photography

Lens Profiles 

Creating Camera Profiles

Test Camera – Dust | Coming

Test Camera – ISO  | Coming

Test Lens – Sharpest Aperture | Coming 

Get Better Exposures Using Hyper-Focal Distance | Coming

How To Hold Your Camera Steady | Coming

What To Do When You Don’t Have A Tripod | Coming

Shoot In Bursts To Reduce Camera Shake | Coming

Use Camera Motion Creatively | Coming

Crop, Distort Or Retouch ? 

 

Multi-Shot Techniques

 

Multi-Shot – Extending Format – Panorama

Multi-Shot – Extending Depth Of Field – Focus Stacking

Multi-Shot – Extending Resolution – 3 Ways Increase Resolution

Multi-Shot – Extending Bit Depth – 32 Bit Tone Mapping

Multi-Shot – Extending Dynamic Range – HDR

Multi-Shot – Remove Or Multiply Moving Objects

 

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The Best Videos On Creativity

 

This growing collection of videos on creativity includes content from many fields – photographers, writers, musicians, scientists and kids. Use this list to dive into what I think is the most fascinating field. Check back in the future for new additions to this list.

With so many great videos to choose from where do you start?

My top picks are red.

 

J J Abrams – The Mystery Box

Ray Bradbury – Telling The Truth

Julie Burstein – 4 Lessons In Creativity

Tim Brown – Tales Of Creativity And Play

Ben Cameron – The True Power Of The Performing Arts

John Paul Caponigro – You’re More Creative Than You Think

Candy Chang – Before I Die I Want To

John Cleese – On Creativity

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi – On Flow

Edward De Bono – 5 Videos On Thinking Creatively

Nancy Duarte – The Common Structure Of The Greatest Communicators

Kirby Ferguson – Embrace The Remix

Neil Gaiman – Finding Your Life In Art

James Geary – Metaphorically Speaking

Elizabeth Gilbert – Nurturing Creativity

Malcolm Gladwell – On Success

Robert Greene – Creative Mastery

Sheena Iyengar – The Art Of Choosing

Steve Jobs – How To Live Before You Die

Stephen Johnson – Where Good Ideas Come From

David Kelley – How To Build Your Creative Confidence

Austin Kleon – Steal Like An Artist

Charles Limb – Your Brain On Improv

Beau Lotto – Science Is For Everyone, Kids Included

Bobby McFerrin – On Improvisation

Kerry Mullis – Celebrating The Experiment

Chris Orwig – Getting Better At Photography Fuels Innovation

Howard Rheingold – On Collaboration

Matt Ridley – When Ideas Have Sex

Sir Ken Robinson – Education Revolution

Andrew Stanton – Clues To A Great Story

Adora Svitak – What Adults Can Learn From Kids

Amy Tan – Where Does Creativity Hide ?

Don Tapscott – Four Principles For The Open World

Julian Treasure – 5 Ways To Listen Better

Benjamin Zander – Music And Passion

 

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Quotes On Creativity

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Your sure to find inspiration in this growing list of Creativity Quotes collections. You’ll find great thoughts from many cultures, eras, and disciplines in these collections. Click on this list of links to explore quotes by topic. Check back in the future for new additions to this list.

Abstraction

Adapting

Art

Artist

Authenticity

Attitude

Awareness

Beauty

Beginning

Calling

Change

Clarity

Color

Commitment

Connected

Context

Craft

Creativity

Curiosity

Dedication

Direction

Discovery

Dreams

Excellence

Experimentation

Exploration

Feeling

Focus

Goals

Gratitude

Habits

Ideas

Imagination

Imperfection

Influence

Innovation

Insight

Inspiration

Invention

Light

Looking

Mastery

Motivation

Opportunity

Optimism/Pessimism

Originality

Passion

Perception

Perspective

Photography

Planning

Play

Purpose

Quality

Questions

Reputation

Risk

Seeing

Service

Simplicity

Story

Style

Success

Sync

Talent

Technique

Travel

Vision

Visualization

 

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Creativity Exercises

 

Looking for new perspectives? Try these practices.

 

22 Ways to Find Inspiration 
How do I find inspiration?

Eyes Wide Shut
Tap into your other senses.

Gesture 
Connect with the implied motion in your images.

Get Physical With Your Subjects
Touch and be touched by your subjects.

Walk With Someone 
Walk and photograph with someone. You’ll both find different ways of seeing the world.

Use Props
Use props to stimulate new image ideas.

 

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Color Theory

Get access to Free To Members resources.

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Understanding color theory will help you appreciate and make more effective color choices.

 

Describing Color

 

The Best Books On Color Theory
Deepen your appreciation and understanding of color with these books.

What Is Color Theory ? | Download
Here are the essentials on which you can base your conceptual foundation of color.

All The Words Of The Rainbow
Find the words to describe that color or figure out what that word means.

3 Types of Color

3 Elements of Color

Luminosity – Lightness | Coming

Saturation – Intensity

Hue – Color Temperature

Gradation

The Weight Of Color

Transparency & Translucency

Simultaneous Contrast

Proportion | Coming

Atmospheric Perspective | Coming

Day For Night

 

Color Wheels

 

A Brief History Of The Color Wheel

Why Photographers’ And Painters’ Color Wheels Differ

How To Use Color Wheels | Coming

Graphing Color

Color Analysis

 

Color Palettes

 

An Artist’s Palette | Download
One of the most distinctive things about an artist’s work is his or her use of color.

One Strategy For Creating Many Successful Color Palettes
Most successful palettes do this one thing.

How To Find The Infinite Color Possibilities One Image Contains
The possibilities seem limitless. Explore your options before you commit to a solution.

Why B&W And Color Don’t Mix
They’re two different realities; unless you use them as a code for that, present them separately.

B&W Palettes | Download
Here are a few examples of black and white palettes drawn from the history of photographic practice.

B&W Expanding The Definition | Download
What is a black and white image?

Palette – Light | Coming

Palette – Medium | Coming

Palette – Dark | Coming

Palette – Low Contrast | Coming

Palette – High Contrast | Coming

Palette – Spotlit | Coming

Palette – Ideal | Coming

Palette – Ambient | Coming

Palette – Synthetic | Coming

Palette – Super Saturated | Coming

Palette – Pastel | Coming

Palette – Semi-Neutral | Coming

Palette – Neutral | Coming

Palette – Monochromatic | Coming

The Colors Of The Seasons | Coming

The Colors Of A Place | Coming

 

Ways To Improve Your Color Perception

 

Check For Color Blindness

Take The X-Rite ColorIQ Challenge

Play The Game – I Love Hue


Exercise – Memory
| Coming

Exercise – After Image | Coming

Exercise – Transparency | Coming

Exercise – Intervals | Coming

Exercise – Simultaneous Contrast 3=4  | Coming

Exercise – Simultaneous Contrast 4=2 | Coming

Exercise – Optically Neutral  | Coming

Exercise – Analysis  | Coming

 

Going To The Movies

 

The 25 Most Beautiful Black-And-White Movies

7 Movies That Mix Black & White And Color Brilliantly

10 Best Uses Of Color In Movies

How Classic Movies Use Color To Tell Compelling Stories

Understanding Wes Anderson’s Unforgettable Color Palettes In 10 Movies

4 Movies That Showcase Zhang Yimou’s Brilliant Use Of One Color Dominance

8 Movies That Use Day For Night Beautifully

How To Decode Color  In Christopher Nolan’s Amazing Movie Inception

 

The Art Of Visual Storytelling

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To find your voice tell your story.

 

Plan Your Story

 

Every Picture Tells A Story
There are countless kinds of stories to tell and ways to tell them.

Make Plans    Free to Members
Increase your productivity and fulfillment by making a plan.

Define a Project    Free to Members
Focus your creative efforts and create an action list to achieve your goals.

Developing Personal Projects
Defining a project is one of the single best ways to develop your body of work.

Keep Your Current Projects Visible
What kinds of visual reminders would be helpful to you?

Perform An Annual Creative Review
At the beginning of every year I review the accomplishments of the past year.

The Benefits Of Performing An Annual Image Review
You’ll learn a great deal about your vision when you perform an annual image review.

The Benefits Of Selecting Your Top Images
Find your current best works and compare them to your past.

 

Discover & Develop Your Story

 

Finding Your Best Work  Free to Members
Find your best work efficiently.
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Sleepers & Keepers
Our strongest images combine immediate impact and staying power.
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Singular Images    Free to Members
Identify the superstars in your work.
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A Dominant Impression    Free to Members
How to find the “Dominant Impression” in your work.
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A Train of Thought    Free to Members
Look for the ways you approach making photographs and think visually.
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A Body of Work    Free to Members
Bodies of work add depth to and extend ways of seeing.
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Outliers
They’re the images that don’t fit neatly into a body of work.
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7 Benefits Of Returning To Locations
With so many wonderful places, why return to the same location more than once?

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Structure Your Story

 

3 Great Books On Photographic Contact Sheets

Develop your thoughts faster and more clearly with collections.
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Use The Power Of Storyboarding To Structure Your Photographic Explorations
Create a guiding structure to help focus and strengthen your work.
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Use Storyboards To Improve Your Lightroom Collections | Coming
Create sequences to find what’s missing and new opportunities.

Use The 8 Classic Shots Of Photo Essays To Tell Better Stories
Find more shots and tell more of your story with this structure.
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How you present your images can be as important as which ones you select.

4 Tools You Can Use To Control Focus And Flow When Sequencing Your Images
Use the power of cuts, pans, zooms, and fades.

6 Tools You Can Use To Improve Continuity Between Still Images
How you present your images can be as important as which ones you select.

6 Image Cuts To Avoid At All Costs | Coming
… unless you want to focus on them.
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Transitions | Coming Soon
How you get there is just as important as where you arrive.
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Expand Your Story

 

How To Strike Up A Lively Conversation With Your Images
Not sure where to go or what to do? Ask your images!

Association
Discover and develop underlying qualities and themes.

Metaphor
Work on more than one level simultaneously.

Variation    Free to Members
Find many ideas or turn one idea into many variations.

Combination    Free to Members
Create synergy between existing elements in your images.

Reversal
Use reversal to open new doors in your creative process.

Break The Rules
Unlock new creative possibilities.

 

Find Your Next Story

 

Your Next Story  | Coming

 

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