The Color Efex Pro Glamour Glow effect would normally be used on portraits, but I think it works rather well on other subjects too. It adds an ethereal glow to everyday subjects, gives colours a pure, rich depth and lets you shift the colour balance too.
I’m going to use it on this autumn shot I took a couple of years back. I was really struck by the colours on a visit to an arboretum, and I took quite a few shots in an attempt to capture the rich hues.
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But anyone who photographs trees will know what tricky subjects they are. If the sun’s out there’s too much contrast, and if there’s no sun it can be difficult to separate subjects from their backgrounds – to create order from chaos, in other words, and try to find a composition that works.
Anyway, this is one of the pictures I took and it doesn’t quite work. The colours are nice enough, but the picture lacks impact or a proper structure. Clearly it needs something to lift it above the average.
01 Glamour Glow presets
The Glamour Glow presets make a big difference straight away. This preset is called Strong Glow, and it’s given the colours a startling intensity and a soft ‘glow’. It’s also increased the contrast, darkening the ground below the tree and giving the picture a stronger structure.
02 Manual adjustments
I can open the tools panel on the right and experiment with this preset’s settings. The Glow value is already set to maximum, but I’ve also pushed the Saturation slider up to full power to make the colours even more intense.
