SUMMARY
Achieving good color in Lightroom involves more than just adjusting hue and saturation. Belinda Shi demonstrates that exposure and shooting position are critical, often allowing for edits with minimal color slider adjustments. The amount of usable color in a file is limited by blown-out highlights and noisy shadows, making exposure and contrast checks essential before touching color tools. Even with automated AI masking, the software can only work with the information present in the file, emphasizing the importance of capturing good data in-camera. Finally, considering the photo's story and existing colors guides the editing direction, with color harmony used for refinement rather than as a primary tool.
TAKEAWAYS
Exposure and shooting position are more crucial for good color than saturation sliders.
File quality, including highlight and shadow detail, dictates how much color can be recovered.
Checking exposure and contrast before color tools helps avoid muddy or garish results.
Editing direction and understanding the photo's story guide color choices, with harmony as a refinement step.