Guildford Photosoc - Workshop on LAB color mode

Yesterday evening, I attended a workshop on LAB color mode techniques using Photoshop CS3. The workshop was given by Bronwen Brighton a photographer based in Farnham. The session was interesting for me as it provided a better understanding of both the basics of the RGB color mode as well as the LAB color mode. In LAB mode, the three channels treat color in a different way:-

• L channel: has no color but expresses dark or light only
• A channel: expresses the range of hues from green at one end to magenta at the other end.
• B channel: expresses the range of hues from blue at one end to yellow at the other end.

The mid position in A and B position represents mid grey.

Use of LAB mode can be a useful alternative way of enlivening dull pictures, adjusting color casts. It can also be used in a way to select areas of a particular hue spread throughout a picture (even where some parts are lighter or darker).

This may be worth referring back to in the next part of the course on Colour.

Bronwen Brighton's gallery of photographs are quite unusual both as regards the subjects and compositions. I may wish to revisit her gallery again as the course progresses.