Using Photoshop "Photo" filters to quickly warm, cool or color your photos.
Using Photoshop "Photo" Filters
Back
in the film days I used to load my camera bag with expensive (and
heavy) glass filters for various photo effects: cooling, warming, soft
focus, etc. It was just a normal part of my shooting routine to decide
which filter to use for a given scene. These days, while I still carry
a polarizing filter and a few neutral density filters, I do most of my
warming and cooling in Photoshop.
The fastest way to add warmth
(or cooling) to a file in Photoshop is using the "photo filter" option
that you'll find in the pop-up menu at the bottom of the layers
palette. Once the toolbox opens you'll find 20 preset filters (warm,
cooling, blue, yellow, emerald green, etc.) and a second box that you
can click to create a custom filter from virtually any color that you
want. Using the presets is simple: just pull down the menu, highlight
the filter you want to try and select it. If you don't like the look,
just slide the menu back down and try again with another filter. In the
photo of the gardens at Chateau de Chenonceau (in the Loire Valley of
France), for example, I used the #85b warming filter option. To use the
custom-color filters, just click that box and then double click the
color patch and the entire spectrum opens up. Select the color you want
and you'll see the changes immediately in the image.
There is
also a "density" slider so that you can adjust the intensity of the
color you're adding. I tend to work at about 20-25% density when I'm
adding warmth of cooling, but it really depends on the image and the
effect I'm after. It's all very simple and fast and while I generally
prefer to create balances using more controllable tools (like the
selective color tool), the photo filters are great for a quick fix.
Remember that, as with most Photoshop filters, you can also make a
selection first and just add the filtering to the selected area--very
useful for warming up a red barn, for example, or cooling a blue sky.
I
have to admit that while I have romantic memories of choosing just the
right color filter when I was out in the field shooting, and took some
sort of silly pride in my collection of expensive glass filters, I
really don't miss them. Those lens filters are expensive, delicate and
heavy--and they also degraded sharpness. Viva la Photoshop!
Amish Barn with Photoshop 81 (blue) cooling filter applied.
Same shot as at left, but with Photoshop 85b Warming filter applied.
Entire Site Contents Copyright 2012 Jeff Wignall
An Ambitious Dogs Production In Association with Boo Boo & Mama Cat Films Please also visit my Photo Tip of the Day blog.
