Yard Color

Palm Tanager

Colors are used by many film directors to convey moods and to say something about characters and situations. The people who manipulate the machines to match the director's vision are, in many cases, artists. Their media are the electronic pixels and zeroes and ones of computer technology. All of that is hidden behind the graphic software programs which share some common features.

Thick-billed Euphonia &
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

The first pass of correction balances the colors and sets a base look for the picture. Then there is something called secondary color correction that can be used to enhance and diminish specific colors. You've probably seen this effect many times in commercials and motion pictures. Check out this commercial for Ford Ranger to get the idea.

Hepatic Tanager

My background has been to convey a scene as it was reproduced by the camera and altering reality further was never my goal. But, I enjoyed trying this out on some of the colorful birds visiting the yard. The unmanipulated stills here are from the video as it was shot. The video below will show my attempt to accentuate the colors of the birds and minimize the background. The tiny artist in me appreciates how the colors pop off the screen.