What effects are these

Slipperman

Senior Member
these aren't the 2 best examples of what i'm talking about but it gets the point across..

image1

image2

notice how all the proper colors seem to be there but the whole photo looks muted somehow. i've seen a lot of these type of photos around on different sites from better photographers than me that makes them stand out. i'm tired of doing the same full color or full black & whites so i want to find some way to change it up a bit. is this an in camera thing or some photoshop effect??
 

Pretzel

Senior Member
It can be done by changing different saturation levels, then going a bit negative on contrast, and is quite simple to do in just LR. Or, there are a ton of "Matte" presets out there.

You tube "matte looks in Lightroom", or Google for the free presets. That should show you where the sliders are and let you toy around from there.
 

Mooseknux

Senior Member
these aren't the 2 best examples of what i'm talking about but it gets the point across..

image1

image2

notice how all the proper colors seem to be there but the whole photo looks muted somehow. i've seen a lot of these type of photos around on different sites from better photographers than me that makes them stand out. i'm tired of doing the same full color or full black & whites so i want to find some way to change it up a bit. is this an in camera thing or some photoshop effect??

1. I personally think in photo #1 it's more PS. You can achieve this matte look pretty easily by adding a new layer, fill with your desired color by hitting alt/option + delete, adjusting the opacity, change the blending mode, then mask out what you don't want. I think in image #1 he sampled the color of the building. Then add a gaussian blur.

2. As for image #2 I think it's done in camera on a beautiful fall day. You can also get this effect in Nik Softwares Color Fx Pro there is a preset called Indian Summer. Hope this helps
 

Blacktop

Senior Member
1. I personally think in photo #1 it's more PS. You can achieve this matte look pretty easily by adding a new layer, fill with your desired color by hitting alt/option + delete, adjusting the opacity, change the blending mode, then mask out what you don't want. I think in image #1 he sampled the color of the building. Then add a gaussian blur.

2. As for image #2 I think it's done in camera on a beautiful fall day. You can also get this effect in Nik Softwares Color Fx Pro there is a preset called Indian Summer. Hope this helps

That was my first thought.
 

Slipperman

Senior Member
i'm seeing/hearing a lot about grunge lately. i could be wrong but i think image 2 above and the ones following have been 'grunged'.

image3
image4

not really a fade happening here but more of a darkening. i see pictures like this all over the pro sites like fine art and 500px and i'm wondering what the attraction is. there's still strong color in these but it's darkened whereas i like my colors to pop. so is this a grunge effect and why do you suppose it is so popular?
 

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
i'm seeing/hearing a lot about grunge lately. i could be wrong but i think image 2 above and the ones following have been 'grunged'.

image3
image4

not really a fade happening here but more of a darkening. i see pictures like this all over the pro sites like fine art and 500px and i'm wondering what the attraction is. there's still strong color in these but it's darkened whereas i like my colors to pop. so is this a grunge effect and why do you suppose it is so popular?
If you were to experiment with the "level" adjustments you'd probably be able to find the recipe for this effect. It's a contrast fading done in selective colors, I think.
 
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