Robert Herb Photography Blog

Before choosing a Lightroom color control, determine whether the problem affects the entire photograph, one color family, or one specific subject or area.   Color is often the first thing underwater photographers notice when an image does not look quite right. Maybe the water appears too blue or too green, the coral looks dull, or a fish has lost the vibrant colors you clearly saw during the dive. Perhaps a diver’s skin looks pale, magenta, or unnaturally orange. In these moments, the typical instinct is to boost Saturation. While increasing Saturation can sometimes give a quick burst of color and make the photo pop, it can also create electric blue water, oversaturated coral, unnatural skin tones, and colors that compete with your subject instead of supporting it. Saturation is not a bad control. The problem is using it to fix issues that should have been addressed earlier in the editing process. In my approach, outlined in The Consistent Underwater Editing System , Color adjustme...

Color works best after the image has structure. In underwater editing, white balance, exposure, and presence create the foundation before color refinement begins. You finish a dive, download your images, and feel excited about what you captured. Maybe it was a turtle gliding over the reef, a colorful nudibranch, a dramatic wreck scene, or a diver framed perfectly against the blue water. On the back of the camera, the image looked promising. Then you open the photo in Lightroom. Suddenly, the excitement fades a little. The image looks dull, blue, green, flat, or lifeless. The colors you remember from the dive seem to have disappeared. The subject does not stand out the way it did underwater. The scene lacks depth, contrast, and impact. You know there is a good photograph hiding in the file somewhere, but it is not immediately obvious how to bring it out. So the first instinct is to go straight for color. Add some Vibrance. Push Saturation. Move the Color Mixer sliders. Try a preset. War...

A real-world example of recovering lost color at depth using a structured Lightroom workflow, from flat blue tones to natural, vibrant underwater color Introduction: The Deeper You Go, The More Color You Lose If you've spent any time shooting underwater, especially beyond 30 feet, you've seen this firsthand. You descend into what appears to be a vibrant, colorful reef—beautiful and full of life…  You carefully frame your shot… press the shutter, and capture the image…  Only to open it later in Lightroom and see…  It's flat, blue, and lifeless.  That disconnect isn't your fault. It's rooted in physics.  Water absorbs light in a predictable pattern:  Reds disappear first, usually within the first 10 to 15 feet Followed by oranges  Then yellows as you go deeper  What's left is mostly blue and green wavelengths.  So, when you review your RAW file, you're not seeing an accurate representation of your experience; you're seeing what the camera physi...