CREATIVE COLOUR MANIPULATION
Improve composition
First of all, browse to our supplied Postcard_start.NEF. Then click on the
Crop tool’s icon and set the Aspect Ratio to 3:2 to create the shape of an
old postcard. Click-and-drag to crop the shot so that the lamp posts frame
it at the sides. Click Apply Ratio to crop the shot.
Adjust hue
Set the dropdown to Hue and click the Add anchor point eyedropper on
the dome. Next, drag the point on the curve down to shift yellow to an
orange hue. Increase the Width slider to 0.13 to adjust more variations of
yellow. Sample and shift the sky blues to cyan.
Darken the sky
In the Edit panel click on the LCH icon. Set the dropdown to Color
Lightness and click the Add anchor point tool on the blue sky. A point will
appear on the curve, just drag the point down to darken the sampled
colour. Drag Width to 0.13 to adjust more blues slightly.Blow out the edges
Click on the Color Control point icon, then click to place a Control Point
in a corner. In the Color Control Point panel increase the Brightness slider
to 100 and reduce the Size to 11. Increase Contrast to 38. Do the same to
vignette the other three corners.3
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Expert Tip
Once you’ve manipulated the hue
and lightness of selected colours
to create a retro look, choose
Adjust>Copy All Adjustments.
Browse to a similar photo and
choose Adjust>Paste
Adjustments. This will instantly
shift the shot’s colour hues and
adjust its lightness. If you copy a
landscape oriented shot and
paste the adjustments into a
portrait shaped shot you’ll find
that not all of the control points
will be visible, so you may need
to add a couple manually.The LCH panel
LCH stands for Lightness, Chroma
and Hue. By default Capture NX-
D’s LCH panel provides a curve
that enables you to adjusts the
shadows, midtones and
highlights. By setting the
dropdown to Chroma you can
alter points on a curve to adjust
the saturation of specific colours
in the image. The Hue option lets
you target and tweak the hue of
colours, again by manipulating
points on a curve. The LCH panel
provides a creative alternative to
the similar Levels & Curves panel.1