Question on color channels

alamo5000 · 11-03-2012, 10:02 PM

I have been toying around (again) with RAW images and trying to make things look as good as possible once they are captured properly. Long story short I am not big into post processing but I want to learn more. That said, post processing doesn't compensate for bad images.

In my playing around I have come across 'color channels'... the 'red channel' has red green and blue...as does the green and blue channels.

I am not quite sure exactly how these things correspond to each other, or at least the concept there. You have blue and green as well as red all in the red channel???? Sounds confusing. Same thing for the green and blue...

I am hoping someone will help me make more sense of this... I am hoping to gain more insight into the 'concept' of how this color channel thing actually works...

In the mean time here are two very rough snapshots I took in West Texas....If I had more time I would have set up the tripod but I ended up freehanding both shots out the window of my car...

These are some of the pics I experimented with the color mixing on....

**davidreilly3207** · 11-04-2012, 03:19 AM

Photoshop RGB Color and Color Channels Tutorial

**Kerrowdown** · 11-04-2012, 05:10 AM

My word, I thought we had to many wind farms here.

Do like the these, they could be made into so many different finished images depending on the PP you decide to opt for. Do post again when your done.

alamo5000 · 11-04-2012, 08:08 AM

Originally posted by kerrowdown

My word, I thought we had to many wind farms here.

Do like the these, they could be made into so many different finished images depending on the PP you decide to opt for. Do post again when your done.

I go out there once every 5 or 6 weeks, sometimes more often and it looks like a forest of windmills. There are millions of them. With these shots I literally pulled over on the side of the road, stuck the lens out the window and shot.

The trick is getting up early

I don't know what 'done' is supposed to look like though... I guess 'if I like it=its done' LOL!

alamo5000 · 11-04-2012, 07:31 PM

Originally posted by mdave13

Photoshop RGB Color and Color Channels Tutorial

Thank you for the link!

Very informative...

So let me try and sum this up...

RBG are the primary colors and each image when seen through your software using RBG is seperated out into those primary colors (more or less) but the net effect is that in each channel you can dictate how much red is mixed with the green and blue to end up with your final color...

Its kind of like a pallet of colors starting with your most basic primary colors that you can mix up to make the image look how you want... if you want your reds to pop out more or so forth you can do so...or any other color in there as well.

You can make your greens more green, the reds more red, and blues more blue and all the shades in between, or mixture thereof...

Close? More or less?

**MetteHHH** · 11-05-2012, 04:58 AM

Originally posted by alamo5000

Thank you for the link!

Very informative...

So let me try and sum this up...

RBG are the primary colors and each image when seen through your software using RBG is seperated out into those primary colors (more or less) but the net effect is that in each channel you can dictate how much red is mixed with the green and blue to end up with your final color...

Its kind of like a pallet of colors starting with your most basic primary colors that you can mix up to make the image look how you want... if you want your reds to pop out more or so forth you can do so...or any other color in there as well.

You can make your greens more green, the reds more red, and blues more blue and all the shades in between, or mixture thereof...

Close? More or less?

Close...

The only thing in your summary that is not spot on is this sentence "...but the net effect is that in each channel you can dictate how much red is mixed with the green and blue to end up with your final color". Like you say, the image can be split into the three primary colors: All the colours you see in the final picture are made by mixing red/blue/green in various ratios. If you view the red channel, you can see how the colour red is distributed in your image - the green channel shows you the distribution of green, and the blue one shows only the distribution of blue, and mixing those three, you can get any possible shade of colour.

BUT in each chanel, you can only dictate how much of THAT channel's colour is added to the final picture. So, in the green channel you can decide how much green is in the picture, etc. Of course, if you add more green, the relative amount of blue and red is reduced.

Did that make sense?

11-03-2012, 10:02 PM	#1
alamo5000 Pentaxian Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 2,962	Question on color channels I have been toying around (again) with RAW images and trying to make things look as good as possible once they are captured properly. Long story short I am not big into post processing but I want to learn more. That said, post processing doesn't compensate for bad images. In my playing around I have come across 'color channels'... the 'red channel' has red green and blue...as does the green and blue channels. I am not quite sure exactly how these things correspond to each other, or at least the concept there. You have blue and green as well as red all in the red channel???? Sounds confusing. Same thing for the green and blue... I am hoping someone will help me make more sense of this... I am hoping to gain more insight into the 'concept' of how this color channel thing actually works... In the mean time here are two very rough snapshots I took in West Texas....If I had more time I would have set up the tripod but I ended up freehanding both shots out the window of my car... These are some of the pics I experimented with the color mixing on....

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11-04-2012, 03:19 AM	#2
davidreilly3207 Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: South Jersey Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 720	Photoshop RGB Color and Color Channels Tutorial

11-04-2012, 05:10 AM	#3
Kerrowdown PEG Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Highlands of Scotland... "Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand" - William Blake Photos: Gallery Posts: 57,818	My word, I thought we had to many wind farms here. Do like the these, they could be made into so many different finished images depending on the PP you decide to opt for. Do post again when your done.

11-04-2012, 08:08 AM	#4
alamo5000 Pentaxian Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 2,962 Original Poster	Originally posted by kerrowdown My word, I thought we had to many wind farms here. Do like the these, they could be made into so many different finished images depending on the PP you decide to opt for. Do post again when your done. I go out there once every 5 or 6 weeks, sometimes more often and it looks like a forest of windmills. There are millions of them. With these shots I literally pulled over on the side of the road, stuck the lens out the window and shot. The trick is getting up early I don't know what 'done' is supposed to look like though... I guess 'if I like it=its done' LOL!

11-04-2012, 07:31 PM	#5
alamo5000 Pentaxian Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 2,962 Original Poster	Originally posted by mdave13 Photoshop RGB Color and Color Channels Tutorial Thank you for the link! Very informative... So let me try and sum this up... RBG are the primary colors and each image when seen through your software using RBG is seperated out into those primary colors (more or less) but the net effect is that in each channel you can dictate how much red is mixed with the green and blue to end up with your final color... Its kind of like a pallet of colors starting with your most basic primary colors that you can mix up to make the image look how you want... if you want your reds to pop out more or so forth you can do so...or any other color in there as well. You can make your greens more green, the reds more red, and blues more blue and all the shades in between, or mixture thereof... Close? More or less?

11-05-2012, 04:58 AM	#6
MetteHHH Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Oct 2010 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,817	Originally posted by alamo5000 Thank you for the link! Very informative... So let me try and sum this up... RBG are the primary colors and each image when seen through your software using RBG is seperated out into those primary colors (more or less) but the net effect is that in each channel you can dictate how much red is mixed with the green and blue to end up with your final color... Its kind of like a pallet of colors starting with your most basic primary colors that you can mix up to make the image look how you want... if you want your reds to pop out more or so forth you can do so...or any other color in there as well. You can make your greens more green, the reds more red, and blues more blue and all the shades in between, or mixture thereof... Close? More or less? Close... The only thing in your summary that is not spot on is this sentence "...but the net effect is that in each channel you can dictate how much red is mixed with the green and blue to end up with your final color". Like you say, the image can be split into the three primary colors: All the colours you see in the final picture are made by mixing red/blue/green in various ratios. If you view the red channel, you can see how the colour red is distributed in your image - the green channel shows you the distribution of green, and the blue one shows only the distribution of blue, and mixing those three, you can get any possible shade of colour. BUT in each chanel, you can only dictate how much of THAT channel's colour is added to the final picture. So, in the green channel you can decide how much green is in the picture, etc. Of course, if you add more green, the relative amount of blue and red is reduced. Did that make sense?