Not sure what I’m doing…
I tried the 3 picture profiles yesterday and didn't get the results I was expecting. It was ten minutes of partly cloudy while I shot these sunflowers. I'm sure that had something to do with it. For my nature and landscape daytime / sunrise / sunset photography, I shoot with the Sony vivid creative style, saturation and contrast set to +3 and sharpness set to 0. I was expecting Velvia's picture profile to look similar, but the yellows and greens look much too dull. The sky is pretty close to my custom vivid creative profile but I was hoping for something closer to what I got out of Velvia Modified (me tinkering with the settings and boosting the saturation to max).
My Ektar and Vektro look dull. Granted, my eyes may be accustomed to my saturated colors, but then I went to the website that showed the red headed woman holding the color map in front of the mountains for each profile. I don't think I achieved those results. I really want to learn I spent the better part of the day researching all the components of the picture profile to see if I could have an aha moment but no such luck.
Shot with the Sony RX10 mark IV.
These were the modified setting I used for Velvia Modified. I think the greens could be a little brighter but if they stay this hue, I can live with it.
Black Level: -15
Gamma: Still
Black Gamma: Wide / -7
Knee: Manual / Point: 75%, Slope +4
M: -2
Color Mode: Still
Saturation: +32
Color Phase: +1
Color Depth
R: +7
G: +6
B: +7
C: +2
Y: +2
Detail
Level: +3
Adjust
Mode: Manual
V/H Balance: -2
B/W Balance: Type 1
Limit 0
Crispning: 7
Hi-Light Detail: 4
Hi! Sorry for the delayed response, I tried to reply yesterday but my comment wouldn't post. I can't thank you enough for your kind, detailed response. It was obvious you took the time looking at my issues and really digging in to help me in all the ways I needed assistance.
When I was shooting film, I remember the film tech guys handing me a couple boxes of Velvia, and off-handedly saying I would love it as it would "drip color". That always stuck with me, and because I identify with deep rich vibrant colors, when I applied your changes, I was thrilled at the results.
I've not watched your youtube video yet, because I want to devote my full attention to it. I'm really hoping to have the 'aha moment' but regardless, I might be interested in your lesson, to learn how to make your own custom profile. I think that would be incredibly valuable as I have lots of ideas on the subject.
I'm eager to try the other profiles, I know they will not be as saturated as this profile, but I'm still very curious to see what results I get. I might reach out after my first few experiments.
Again, I can't believe how supportive and helpful you've been and I truly can't thank you enough.
I'm enclosing some sample shots I took with your suggestions to my Velvia modified profile.
Look at those rich blues in the sunset and the yellowish-greens that pop in the background. I'm amazed.