Add a subtle tone
George Cairns shows how tinting your shadows and highlights using different colours can evoke different moods and add impact
Tinting your shadows and highlights in different colours using Split Toning can evoke different moods and add impact to a scene
Landscape photographs shot on a dull day can lack impact due to drab colours and an absence of contrast. Interesting detail can be lost in the midtones. But you can produce something much more striking – a dramatic highcontrast split-toned image.
Monochrome photos can look very dramatic, but by reintroducing a hint of colour into the scene you can evoke specific moods – melancholy blue, nostalgic sepia – and add more variety. This has been done since the earliest days of photography, though nowadays software has replaced complex chemical toners, and you can be much more precise with the tones you choose.
This issue, we’ll show you how to use Lightroom’s Split Toning panel to independently tint a monochrome conversion’s shadows and the highlights with two distinct colours.