Color Adjustment Layers Tutorial
This is the original image open in Adobe Photoshop 5. As you can see it is a nice image but it just needs something. I would argue that this something missing is a little bit of color adjustment. This is where the color adjustment layers come to save the day.
To find the color balance layer follow the directions: Layer --> New Adjustment Layer --> Color Balance... Once you click on Color Balance a window will open...
Click "Ok" and then a new layer will be created...
Now look above the new layer in the toolbar there should now be options to adjust the color layer...
Now, there are three different areas that can be adjusted, the shadows, the midtones and the highlights. I like to play around with each one, one by one until I get the right combination. Start with the midtones first as they are the dominent color source. After you get the right midtones then play with the shadows and highlights, both of which shouldn't be altered too heavily as this can lead to the light source not matching up with the shadows and highlights which will in turn make the image look less real. Here is the before and after of my beach sky.
