Last Updated on 12/17/2017 by Chris Gampat
Don’t limit yourself to presets due to ignorance. Learn to process your images with RGB Curves for more fine control.
There is no doubt about it, we are in a preset world where you can achieve virtually any look you desire for your images at the click of a button and the slight push of a slider. However, this is a double-edged sword that can lead to photographers failing to have a defined look or looking too much like everyone else. It is important for photographers to balance that ease while mixing in their own touch to really set their work apart as their own. One way to do this is by learning how to adjust and process your images with the RGB Curves in your image editor of choice, but for the sake of this article, today we are focusing on Photoshop and Lightroom.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hal9us9xYOU
Youtuber Connor Turmon has this great video on his channel where he discusses the RGB curves and demonstrates how easy it is for a photographer to adjust the color and tone of their image using these tools. It is a really interesting view for anyone who is looking to take their post-processing to another level without needing to invest in crazy new software tools. You can, utilizing the methods he demonstrates so well in this video, take a preset that you apply to all of your images, and modify it with your own ‘special RGB sauce’ to give your images a special bit of uniqueness that helps separate your work from your peers. It is true, for someone who has known nothing but presets as a way to process images, this can be an intimidating thought. But in the end, your work will be the better for it. In fact, your work will be better not only thanks to your own unique look, but also for the additional time and attention you will spend on the processing. We highly recommend playing with this a little in your processing and seeing how you can use these tools to take your post-processing to another level.
Also, make sure and check out Conner Turmon over on YouTube for more photography related content like this.
Featured Image Credit To Connor Turmon, Video Screengrab