Trying to achieve a particular tone/feel in my images

[CaptainHook]

Ant, yours looks great!
Can't wait to see how you did it.

My '2 second' attempt.
Copied blue channel to new layer and reduced opacity to 30%.

That's all.
Not too bad for getting in the ball park as a starting point,
but i really like Ants.

[Ant]

Description of what I did (told you I didn't do much):

-Hue Sat adj layer: reds -9 sat +5 hue, yellow -6 hue - 35 sat - Normal
-Reduced the brighteness and contrast a bit - Luminosity (to not affect color)
Very slight tweak with Selective color (Normal - hardly worth mentioning)
Photo Filter - Sepia 11% density - Color

The important thing is that there is no hard and fast rule to doing this sort of thing in PS. It will always be image dependent and it helps greatly to have reference files open next to or in the document you are adjusting to help in matching color, contrast, saturation, etc. Knowing how to go after the results you want comes with practice. I did a lot of work that was essentially "Color School" in and of itself early in my retouching career - helps a lot now.

[cricket1961]

Here is my 2nd attempt.

I lowered the move within selective color to the red, yellow, and magenta to -50 instead of -100.
I am also trying to keep to the original colors that the image had as close as possible.
I also like ants, but the color has all shifted away from the originals, possibly because of the sepia move he used.

Chris

[duwayne]

smdevo -
Thanks for the tip. I've been doing the same thing but using the L channel as a layer mask. Not much for control. I like the idea of using a Blend If layer since it give so much more control over the blending. It also allows you to turn each color channel on and off. Thanks again.

[CaptainHook]

Originally Posted by cricket1961

I am also trying to keep to the original colors that the image had as close as possible.
I also like ants, but the color has all shifted away from the originals, possibly because of the sepia move he used.

Yeah, something i noticed as well.

Chris, is it unacceptable to shift colour from the original?
If intentional or personally preferred by you?
Do the clients not like this or is it a case by case thing??

It seems they would expect a shift in skin tone in order to
'correct', but is that where it ends?

[Ant]

You just do it selectively rather than globally. It's acceptable if they like it or don't tell you that they want to retain the original.

[CaptainHook]

Okay, i get ya. Thanks Ant.

[cricket1961]

Ants right.

Typically I will not change the color at all, thinking that that is what the photographer shot so that is what he wants.
Unless the photographer has told me that there were problems with lighting on the shoot or they are trying for a certain look.

This is one reason that I prefer to develop any of the files that I am going to retouch instead of receiving developed raw files. To much damage sometimes to work with.

Chris