How about an overly-saturated HDR for a post?
Backyard Sunset
There, isn’t that nice?
Well… I like some parts of it, actually – that’s why I’m posting. This HDR was taken with three frames on the Panasonic LX3, handheld. That it came together so well, I like. The saturation? Well, I didn’t realize how over-saturated it was when I did it. But I sat on it for two days, and now the sky and grass just feels radioactive.
So I’m posting this as a reminder to everyone: don’t oversaturate your HDRs!
Last month I posted that darker luminosities increase color saturation. I now find out that I was wrong. It actually depends (heavily) on the color.
A better description: reds and oranges do increase in saturation. They also alter hue – oranges approach red, red gets deeper. Blues stay consistently blue (but darker and lighter). Yellows increase saturation at brighter luminosities – this was a shock to me (and yet, it makes sense). Purple ranges from a deep violet to a lilac color.
So shooting for saturation: yes, slightly darkening does increase saturation – especially for blues and reds. For others, there may be unintended (or intended) consequences!
Insight and information from Perfect Exposure