Explore Image controls for more vibrant pictures

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Image controls is one of the least used settings on a DSLR, and rightfully so. Most professional photographers shoot in camera raw which in turn makes image controls seem redundant since they only affect look and feel of the jpeg file. However, if you are a beginner, or even enthusiast, playing with image control settings can potentially yield huge benefits, and save lots of post production work.

Blue Flower
Image controls are usually more related to digital compact cameras and entry-level DSLRs, since these cameras feature different recording modes. These recording modes, such as portrait, landscape, sports etc feature different preset image control settings as a part of the recording mode settings (together with aperture, shutter speed, ISO and the rest). Image controls are significant as they can drastically change the look and feel of the final jpeg image. Unlike aperture, shutter speed and ISO settings, image controls are applied in the in-camera photo post-processing phase and therefore do not affect the photos recorded in RAW.

Image controls include: Brightness, Contrast, Sharpness, Saturation, and most digital cameras already come with some presets. Playing with these presets can greatly enhance the impact of your photos. In example, if you look at the macro of the flower to the left, you will notice that by simply altering the image mode (image control setting on pentax k-7) from bright (default) to vibrant, has completely changed the color and the impact of the blue flower photo (below). So our tip of the week is:

"Explore Image controls for more vibrant pictures!"

Blue Impact


Share your success photos by posting on DPStudent flickr group. Happy Shooting

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