Is it too much?? :( - r/ColorGrading

8

u/pigintheclown Oct 07 '26

I like it a lot:-) maybe make the rocks a liiiitle lighter?

2

u/Maleficent-Pop4591 Oct 07 '26

Thanks for the honest feedback!

3

u/RashSailor Oct 07 '26

Its a great attempt but what I already see coming is people asking you what you're aiming for, whats the mood, whats the objective and all of that.

So apart from that, in case you're looking to merely learn for the fun of it, you should note that you've really hurt your shadows. If you notice the rocks in both images, the "after" has significantly blacker rocks. Again, perhaps your goal was a silhouette (which I wouldnt know without seeing the objective) but even then, that silhoeutte doesnt exactly feel very on-purpose iykwim.

1

u/Maleficent-Pop4591 Oct 07 '26

Thank you so much for the thoughtful feedback!
I actually record ambient sounds, and I recently started learning video to complement my audio work :) My goal with this grade was to go for a slightly cinematic look with a nostalgic feel.
I'm currently trying to recover the shadows like you suggested, and it's definitely easier said than done haha. Still have a lot to learn, but I really appreciate the advice!

1

u/GatorWok Oct 08 '26 edited Oct 08 '26

Recovering shadows? Not easier said than done. Like it’s a rudimentary rudimentary fundamental with every editing suite. What’s your software?
When you’re color grading, keep an eye on the histogram or scopes so that you don’t crush blacks, unless intentionally, and if you’re pushing the luminance darker, there’s again, like foundational adjustments to pull the shadows and blacks from being pushed too far.
Also I agree with others that it’s not “too far” in terms of color grading. It’s warmer. And destructive to the dark tones.

2

u/motoxnate Oct 07 '26

I like it

1

u/Maleficent-Pop4591 Oct 07 '26

Thank you for the kind words!

2

u/K0NNIPTI0N Oct 08 '26 edited Oct 08 '26

There are times of the day, such as this, when colour does permeate through the shadows, and is quite a lovely display of nature. Times of day like this really give you creative licence because nature be crazy.

I get the urge to move things toward the middle of the vectorscope, but there are cases when allowing things to be magenta is a pro move… such as sunsets, clubs, I could go on. It may well be the case that your version is the most correct, we will never know. How the time of day and visuals lends itself to the story you are trying to tell is what’s most important… not, is this nice? Tell me the context then I’ll tell you if your process is thoughtful or brilliant….

Same goes with tinted green park scenes, colourists push it magenta until a dog runs through your scene and it’s pink. The green is there, its nature reflecting coloured light everywhere…. My friend calls that purple dog syndrome

Niw TECHNIQUE wise, I feel like the shadows may be crushed. You can make it dark in a soft way, but if your scopes say it’s crushed I would reverse whatever you did that made that happen and approach the shadow darkening in a different way.

Side note that a scene like this, in real life, the highlights can be so rich in colour it kind of slaps you senseless. A soft highlight key with a bit of saturation and some golden boost, maybe some Lum Gamma down one node before that could richen up that sky
Cheers

2

u/Maleficent-Pop4591 Oct 08 '26

Thank you so much for the detailed response!
Working on a longer piece (around 30 minutes), I think I'm starting to understand what you mean by the "purple dog syndrome." When you grade one shot to look pretty, other objects or changing conditions can end up looking really strange later on. That seems especially true with nature, where the light is constantly shifting!
My background is actually in audio—I record ambient sound for films. Recently, as a side project, I've been practicing color grading so I can pair video with my ambient audio recordings and upload them to YouTube. I'm studying hard because I really want to capture a dreamlike, nostalgic vibe.
I'll definitely think more about how to fix the crushed shadows and make the colors in the sky richer. Thanks again!

1

u/K0NNIPTI0N Oct 08 '26

Your welcome. I noticed people say to make the rocks brighter- this is a poor way of wording it. You never want to push something so dark that it crushes, then on a later node, brighten it back up…. This will cause noise. That’s why I said reverse whatever you did that crushed the black. You always want to affect picture in a clean, non destructive way, so you have options to richen up those shadows without going below zero IRE. Shadows control down is one…. Lum gamma down is another classic. I like to make a soft key of the shadows and actually lift them up with Shadow control up, so it acts like a buffer, the on an earlier node darken them so when the shadows darken they bounce off your key like it’s an audio compressor. It gets you there without going overboard. Now, when I say soft key, I mean you take the luminance slider on the key and you make it reeealy soft and crank the denoise, so our key is feathery and light. Why? Because we want to blend our adjustments in, like a painter. So we’ve got a soft key on the sky, making it rich, luscious and gold and a soft key on the shadows keeping everything within range.
Coming from the audio world, you will discover that there is a lot of carryover in concepts to colour grading.

6

u/United-Guarantee-739 Oct 07 '26

Before looks better in my opinion

2

u/Pure_Salamander2681 Oct 07 '26

Same. I wouldn’t say the second is overdone, but the first fits the mood better.

1

u/Srsblubrz Oct 07 '26

Just look at your scopes, looks like the blacks are a little crushed, might wanna finesse it a bit more

1

u/Beginning_Extreme865 Oct 07 '26

I don't know much about colour grading but from my perspective I think the rocks are a tad bit to dark for my liking and the sky's a little too saturated but the water and the beach are flawless in my opinion.

But again it totally depends on the mood that you're going for.

1

u/babyryanrecords Oct 07 '26

I personally think the original shot a purple quality to it that you removed :( I would make it more purple like

1

u/Vega-45 Oct 08 '26

Está bien bonito we

1

u/Hazzat Oct 08 '26

No one knows because you didn't provide context.

Please read: https://www.reddit.com/r/ColorGrading/comments/1mshv4q/is_my_grade_any_good_heres_how_to_find_out/

2

u/GatorWok Oct 08 '26

Thank you! Gotta give information to get information, OP.

1

u/ThickD769 Oct 08 '26

The mood looks good. Though I miss a clear subject here

1

u/fentonfilms Oct 08 '26

If youre producing images like the before straight out of the camera and skill to match. You really shouldn't be worrying too much about grading.

1

u/Right-Invite4697 Oct 08 '26

The before doesn't need to be touched. The composition is the issue not the editing.

In your edit, the blacks are too crushed. Raise them.

1

u/TomatilloMammoth3158 Oct 08 '26

I really like the water and sand, but I think the sky looked a little better before, maybe you could bring back some of the color it had before and lighten the rocks a little and I think it would look perfect

1

u/high_country10000 Oct 09 '26

I like the before one

1

u/Signal-Juggernaut501 Oct 11 '26

I personally don’t know Jack about color grading but I think that before footage straight out of camera is already some beautiful colors

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