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A Color Story Filters: Tips for Interior Photographs!

A Color Story, ABM Apps, iPhoneography, Photography Tips, Tips
By A Beautiful Mess

Before and After! Edited with A Color Story appHey, guys! Jeff Mindell here. I'm a freelance photographer based out in L.A., and I guess it's no secret I really like taking photos. I lead a fairly hectic (but fun!) life and am always on the go. I take so many photos on my phone and am always looking to streamline my editing process.

At this point, you can basically do anything you want editing-wise with mobile, but it wasn't until a few months ago when I started playing around with A Color Story (I was a part of the test group) that I realized how attention to color vibrancy was lacking in the app space. I'm pretty stoked at how user-friendly this app is along with the attention to detail when it comes to tools and image manipulation!

For me, I really love shooting bright and airy interior spaces (check out my #jminteriorspaces hashtag on Instagram!), and lately I've been using A Color Story to really help my images pop. Let's dive in!

Combo1Tip 1. Decide how you want your photo to look, lighting and color-wise, ahead of time.

If I'm shooting an interior space, I tend to selective adjust the whites of my image and either reduce the warmth or desaturate entirely. I find that removing even the faintest of color in a part of my image that I want to be a true white can make a huge difference! On the other hand, if you are someone who's wanting to embrace the natural warmth of sunlight for example, you might choose to retain the warmer tones of your image as it might lend to a different end result. Entirely up to you!

Combo5Tip 2. I always want my interiors to look bright and airy, but also as natural as possible.

By that, I mean that I want to keep my shadows dark and my highlights at a slightly reduced level. (For me, there is a fine line between the perfect amount of highlights and the image becoming too 'hot' or overexposed. Use this tool sparingly! The idea is to keep the space generally as is, just bringing out the really good features. When using A Color Story, pick a filter that works for your photo by brightening and/or smoothing your whites, but keep in mind those highlights! Maybe bring the filter intensity down to 50-60% and reevaluate. (If you're comfortable using it, the Curves edit option under the 'Tools' menu is awesome!) One more note is that I generally always push the image just a smidge brighter at the last minute before posting. Just be sure to compensate that brightness with lowered highlights to balance everything out!

Combo2Tip 3. Composition is key.

I always try to find balance when shooting an interior space. You want the image to draw the viewer in and be aesthetically pleasing. I pay attention to natural lines in a space, vanishing points, and also the rule of thirds. (After I am done with the editing and manipulation of the image's colors and tones, I often use Instagram's built-in guide lines to help me with that last part!)

Combo4 copyTip 4. Let your colors pop!

Until you saturate to the point of no return and your image no longer looks realistic, I say the more colorful the better. ACS is awesome for this as well. Depending on the image I'm working on, some of my favorite filters are Punchy, Everyday, Lipstick, and Fresh Air (at a medium intensity). Fortunately, there are so many great filters the ABM team built into this app, so the best thing to do is experiment and figure out your ideal editing 'recipe'. 

Edited with A Color StoryTip 5. Take many, many photos of what you are shooting!

For every interior space I share, I most likely will have taken 20-30 images of that same environment before I choose my final frame. Might as well have more to choose from later, right? 😉

Let me know if you have any questions! –Jeff

Note from Elsie—Hey, guys! I hope you are enjoying these A Color Story tips posts every Saturday. If you have any topics you'd like us to cover, we'd love to hear your requests! :D 

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