Get creative with Picture Controls

Finding the best Picture Control for your subject and conditions can quickly turn a good photo into a brilliant one

It’s important to understand the effect of Picture Controls and how to get the best from them. If you’re shooting JPEGS, you could just use the Standard setting and edit your pictures later in a program such as Photoshop Elements, but the quality may not be quite as good as if you’d chosen a more appropriate Picture Control to start with.

Choosing a suitable Picture Control doesn’t just save you editing time later, either: it will also help you work towards the result you’re aiming for much more easily. This applies especially to black-and-white photography if you don’t use the Monochrome Picture Control, it can be hard to imagine how the colours in a picture will translate into shades of grey – and this applies even if you’re shooting in Raw.

To get to grips with the different effects, try experimenting with the Picture Controls below…

1 NEUTRAL COLOURS

Neutral produces true-to-life colours and tones, whereas Standard adds some enhancement. If you’re not sure which effect you’re looking for, start with these two...

2 VIVID COLOURS

Then see what happens if you switch to Vivid. It suits colourful subjects, although the higher contrast Vivid adds means you may need to watch the exposure.

3 PORTRAIT AND LANDSCAPE

Vivid may be too blunt an approach for other subjects. Try Landscape for scenic shots, or Portrait when you want to preserve smooth and subtle skin tones.

4 MONOCHROME

Make sure you try Monochrome too, especially its customization options. For truly dramatic skies, try using the Red filter option and increasing the contrast to deepen the blues.