Hi there! I have a question about how to capture the incredible turquoise hues in certain bodies of water such as Lake Tahoe, Carribean waters, etc. I was recently in Acadia Park, Maine photographing the coastline from a cliff. The water closest to the coast was a brillant turquoise color. However, when I reviewed my images afterward, I failed to capture the turquoise hues. I used a polarizer, so I'm not sure where i went wrong. Perhaps there is a certain time of the day that is better to capture these natural colors in water? I'm planning a trip to Lake Tahoe soon, and I want to make sure I"m able to photograph this incredible turquoise lake correctly. Any insight regarding how to do this would be very much appreciated!
I've had the best luck with polarizers. Careful orientation lets you adjust reflections, which is the larger half the battle.
Posted by Mark Seaver on December 5, 2011 at 10:37 AM
If you're using Adobe Camera Raw in Lightroom or Photoshop, a lot of color changes (saturation) are related to the brightness. Adjustments of the dark level, exposure, and/or brightness result in dramatic color shifts. If you're shooting JPGs, then it may be in the built in processing and you may be able to affect that through exposure compensation.
The color of water is strongly influenced by the brightness and color of the sky, the depth and clarity of the water, and, if the water is shallow, the color of the bottom. As Hank says, careful use of a polarizer is called for, and camera position will also need to be considered. Given the many variables involved, I believe you will just have to experiment with exposure and post processing to get that lovely turquoise color.
--P
Posted by Mel Ladewig on December 6, 2011 at 8:47 PM
On the front end of the capture, the polarizer is key. You'll just have to find the best angle for it.
On the backend, post production can greatly affect the results too. Lightroom/PhotoShop camera profiles do not all interpret the scene in the same way and it may have shifted the color from how you saw the scene (or how the camera recorded the jpg) if you leave the camera profile on default. For example reds are much more intense under the Canon Landscape profile than they are in the Adobe standard profile (though they tend to clip quite easily).
There is a followup thing that you can do in post production which is use some form of masking and filters such as selective color or curves to shift the color in a controlled manner in one part of a photograph.
Posted by Wick Smith on December 10, 2011 at 9:27 AM
A lot of good info on this thread. Here's an additional perspective. If you have a great scene with water, and need to enhance the saturation or vibrance in the overall scene, the water tends to take on a more blue cast in a lot of cases. While this may look cool, it's not what the scene looked like when you saw it. In these cases, I will double-process the one image. One version is for everything but the water, and the other would be for the water. I'll make more subtle adjustments to the water and possibly warm it up a bit to avoid the blue cast. This technique gives me full and independent control over both areas of the image. Then I blend the two. Movement in the scene is no issue as it is the same image in both versions.
This can also be done with one image and carefully masking sections of the image - I've found it easier to just process it twice.
Discussion
5 repliesThank you!!
-Natalie
The color of water is strongly influenced by the brightness and color of the sky, the depth and clarity of the water, and, if the water is shallow, the color of the bottom. As Hank says, careful use of a polarizer is called for, and camera position will also need to be considered. Given the many variables involved, I believe you will just have to experiment with exposure and post processing to get that lovely turquoise color.
--P
On the backend, post production can greatly affect the results too. Lightroom/PhotoShop camera profiles do not all interpret the scene in the same way and it may have shifted the color from how you saw the scene (or how the camera recorded the jpg) if you leave the camera profile on default. For example reds are much more intense under the Canon Landscape profile than they are in the Adobe standard profile (though they tend to clip quite easily).
There is a followup thing that you can do in post production which is use some form of masking and filters such as selective color or curves to shift the color in a controlled manner in one part of a photograph.
This can also be done with one image and carefully masking sections of the image - I've found it easier to just process it twice.