Analysis of the color harmony from 2 edits of one photo

Sections New Your

Critique

#COLOR HARMONY#CATHEDRAL#CITYSCAPE

Daniel Abramov

4 years ago

I've recently made a photo and spent some time editing it. I edited it twice, both times in the evening but while I had a similar "mindset" while editing them, I ended up having 2 results. I don't know why, but somehow the 2nd version (with a more "teal" sky) resonates better with me despite 1st photo looking more sharp and "in focus" (if it makes any sense?), I can't understand why I prefer the 2nd version.

I first tried to gather my feelings about both of them and for me personally the 1st version feels more sharp and "digital" (if I could call it so) in spite of the fact that I did not add any sharpening to any of those! Maybe it's an illusion due to the mix of colors, but 1st version does feel sharper and the cathedral seems to pop more, whereas the 2nd version feels "softer" and "less perfect" when it comes to the image quality, but it has some sort of mood and vibe that I prefer.

Then I tried to analyse them from the color perspective (because they're only different in terms of colors). My assumption is that the 2nd version feels "more right", because the orange color of the cathedral's roof is complemented by the teal sky forming a well-known "teal-orange" color harmony. In the 1st version the roof is a bit more saturated and bright and probably would have required a hue that is more shifted to "dark blue" while having the same saturation and brightness? In both versions the colors do seem to be on the opposite sides of the color wheel (I have several versions of the color circle and each version is slightly different though, so not sure which one is the "most correct" one), i.e. they both [by design] are graded for the complementary color scheme, but perhaps the 2nd version is edited a bit better creating a slightly more appealing look? (at least more appealing to me) Or maybe I just have a bad taste and the 1st version is in fact better? - I would love to hear from the photographers experienced in this topic.

Thanks in advance!

Daniel Springgay CREW

4 years ago — Senior critic

Hi Daniel welcome to " The Real Critique " and thank you for posting this fine image or two. - I do this quite a lot - process an image finish what I want to do with it save it - Then just have fun to see what if -

Your image - I'm with your thinking I like the sky in the top image but the building in the bottom image. I think your contrast in the lower image is far better so it looks sharper.

I have had your image back into Photoshop - I first tried it as a mono - it was ok but reading your words all about colour - So I used Nik Tools Color Efx Pro 4 - I think the filter I used was Bleach Bypass - I've also done a small crop to help the star of the show the main building take centre stage - I also did a little dodge and burn the clouds and the towers of the main building just to help it stand out more -

Thank you for sharing

Theo Luycx PRO

4 years ago

Daniel,

First about your two images. For me the lower is better just as Daniel said there is also better detail and sharpness. But overall this image is very busy I saw that Daniel used this approuch. I went for a softer version of the second one. What I did. I brought him in Photoshop Camera raw. Tiff and jpg you can bring in Camera Raw as follows. Above FILTER>CAMERA RAW FILTER. There i used colour mixer and changed the blue above a fraction and reduced the saturation of the roof. (all orange) I used the lineair gradient to darken the lower part a fraction and the radial gradient for the towers to lighten and darkening a few parts. See if you like my version. Theo-senior critic

Edited: 4 years ago by Theo Luycx

Mike Kreiten CREW

4 years ago — Head senior critic

Dear Daniel,

Thanks for visiting us in Critique. I'll go straight to the point because you have a concrete question. I think it's only logical the second one, though not as natural, is more pleasing. The color of sky and Munich Dom are complementary in this. Do you know color.adobe.com? Here you can define color sets to apply in your work. Teal and a brown-ish orange are complimentary colors:

Also complimentary colors represent a degree of harmony, that's probably why you find the second edit more appealing. You can also upload a photo to the site/tool, and let it determine the most significant colors. This way you can find out your first take is "sligtly off" the harmony of complimentary color combinations:

I hope this helps a bit understanding the impact of color sets.

Best regards,

Mike - senior critic

Daniel Abramov

4 years ago

Daniel Springgay PRO

So I used Nik Tools Color Efx Pro 4

Thanks, looks like an interesting product, I'm going to look into it! Thank you for the feedabck and the nice interpretation of the photo!

Theo Luycx PRO

There i used colour mixer and changed the blue above a fraction and reduced the saturation of the roof. (all orange) I used the lineair gradient to darken the lower part a fraction and the radial gradient for the towers to lighten and darkening a few parts. See if you like my version. Theo-senior critic

Oh, this is also a nice version, thank you for the feedback!

Mike Kreiten PRO

Totally makes sense! Thanks for the explanation. And regarding the color.adobe.com: wow, never heard of it, but I've just checked it shortly and it looks amazing, this was a fantastic suggestion, thank you again!