Create a Beautiful Dark Green Moody Look in Photoshop – Copycat Wednesday #2
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- 0:00 Intro
- 1:36 Crop the photo
- 2:20 Adjust the image's brightness with Camera Raw
- 4:10 Adjust the texture to make the image pop
- 4:46 Make a Vignette with the Radial Filter
- 5:50 Use the Graduated Filter to darken the bottom of the image
- 6:26 Use the Adjustment Brush Tool to selectively darken the photo
- 7:23 Adjust the color in the image using the Calibration tab
- 9:40 Use the HSL sliders to fine-tune the color correction
- 12:50 Change the dogtag's color with the Adjustment Brush
- 15:10 Add selective highlights with the Adjustment Brush
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Dark green moody look in Photoshop recreates Lightroom’s cinematic splash screen colors using only the Camera Raw Filter.
One of Photoshop Training Channel’s subscribers creatively suggested recreating Lightroom’s splash screen with the beautiful dark green moody look in Photoshop.
The shoutout goes to George Rotan who did the original work, you should check out his portfolio!
In this tutorial, you will only be using the Camera Raw Filter to replicate the lightroom splash screen color grading.
This tutorial was recorded in Photoshop 21.1, the Photoshop 2020 release. The Camera Raw Filter panels it uses work the same way in the current version.
Note: The Radial Filter and Graduated Filter used in this tutorial are now called Radial Gradient and Linear Gradient inside Camera Raw’s Masking panel.
The Adjustment Brush is now the Brush mask type in that same panel. The sliders and settings work the same way.
Key Takeaways
- Getting the dark green moody look in Photoshop takes only the Camera Raw Filter, with no adjustment layers required.
- Lowering Exposure and raising Contrast first gives you a moody base before you touch any color sliders.
- The Calibration tab’s Green Primaries hue slider is what turns ordinary greens into the deep, cinematic green in this look.
- The HSL panel’s Hue, Saturation, and Luminance tabs let you push one color, like green or orange, without disturbing the others.
- Range Mask can keep a local color change, like repainting one object, off areas that are too dark or too bright.
- A custom vignette built from the Radial Filter gives you more control than the fixed vignette slider in the Effects panel.
Table of contents
- What You Will Learn
- Requirements
- Keyboard Shortcuts
- Tutorial Image
- Crop the Photo
- Adjust the Image’s Brightness with Camera Raw
- Adjust the Texture to Make the Image Pop
- Make a Vignette with the Radial Filter
- Use the Adjustment Brush Tool to Darken the Photo Selectively
- Use the Calibration Tab to Recreate the Dark Green Moody Look in Photoshop
- Use the HSL Sliders to Fine-Tune the Color Correction
- Change the Dog Tag’s Color
- Add Selective Highlights with the Adjustment Brush
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Conclusion
- Related Links
What You Will Learn
- How to crop a photo and convert it to a Smart Object before grading it
- How to darken a photo and add contrast with Camera Raw’s Basic panel
- How to shift greens toward a cooler, deeper tone with the Calibration tab
- How to fine tune individual colors with the HSL Hue, Saturation, and Luminance sliders
- How to change the color of one object with the Adjustment Brush and Range Mask
- How to build a custom off center vignette with the Radial Filter
Requirements
Before you start
- Photoshop 21.1 (Photoshop 2020) or the current version
Keyboard Shortcuts
| Action | Windows | macOS |
|---|---|---|
| Decrease Adjustment Brush size | [ | [ |
| Increase Adjustment Brush size | ] | ] |
Tutorial Image
If you want to follow along step-by-step, you can opt to use the same photo used in this tutorial by clicking the link here!
Let’s begin!
Crop the Photo
Cropping the image can help you center the subject and make it easier to upload on Instagram once you finish editing this image.
Go to the Toolbar and select the Crop tool.
On your Options bar, click on the drop-down menu for Original Ratio and set the new ratio to 1:1 (Square).
Reposition the framing of the Crop tool to center the dog, and click-and-drag on the corner handles to resize the frame as needed.
On your Layers panel, right-click on the layer and select Convert to Smart Object. By converting it into a Smart Object, we can add Filters, Adjustment layers, and edit it non-destructively.
Adjust the Image’s Brightness with Camera Raw
Next, go to Filter > Camera Raw Filter.
What was before a plug-in, the Camera Raw has been integrated into Photoshop as a Smart Filter!
You can now enhance saturation, contrast, clarity, vibrance, and more in your images while preserving the original properties of your file.
Since you are aiming for a moody photo, start by adjusting the Exposure to bring down the brightness of the image.
With the image darkened down a bit, it’s time to add more Contrast to make the dark pixels darker and make the bright pixels brighter.
Next, decrease the Highlights to avoid the whites from becoming super white.
By increasing the Contrast, you may have lost essential details from the darker pixels. But you can retrieve the details by increasing the Shadows and adjusting the slider to the right.
Adjust the Texture to Make the Image Pop
Since the Texture accentuates the details of the skin, hair, or bark, we can further enhance the richness of the dog’s fur by increasing the Texture slider.
Next, increase the Clarity as well since this adds contrast to edge pixels and further enriches the details of the photo.
Make a Vignette with the Radial Filter
Adding a vignette helps to draw the attention of the viewers solely to the subject, but do not be using the Vignette from the Effects panel. Instead, select the Radial Filter.
Then, click-and-drag on your image to expand the circle frame.
Then, click on this icon and select Reset Local Correction Settings.
At the bottom of the Properties panel, set the Effect as Outside so the effect applies outside the circle frame.
Decrease the Exposure, even more, to darken the parts of the image outside of the circle frame, and reduce the Sharpness to soften these parts as well.
Use the Graduated Filter to darken the bottom of the image.
On your Options bar, select the Graduated Filter.
Then, click-and-drag the rectangular frame, which depicts the range of the gradation.
Next, double-click on the Sharpness slider to reset it if you don’t like a blurry adjustment.
Reduced the Exposure to half of the current value and reduced the Shadows to reveal more details in the darker pixels.
Use the Adjustment Brush Tool to Darken the Photo Selectively
Double-click on the Shadows to reset it.
Then, decrease the Highlights even more.
Using the Brush tool, paint over certain areas such as the leaves right below the dog’s muzzle to make it darker and ultimately make the subject stand out.
Use the Calibration Tab to Recreate the Dark Green Moody Look in Photoshop
To go back to the Basic color correction panel, you can double-click on the Hand tool for it to reappear on the workspace.
You should be able to see the adjustments you made earlier. Since the temperature of the image looks too “cold”, you can add more warmth by increasing the Temperature slider.
Now that it looks too saturated, decrease the Saturation until it looks similar to the image in Lightroom’s splash screen.
Go to the Calibration tab, and from there, adjust the Green Primaries by dragging the slider to the right and achieving a cooler tone of green.
Decrease the Saturation value by dragging the slider to the left.
Tip: For a more precise version of this same green shift, try the three way color wheels in Photoshop 2021: Color Grading in Camera Raw.
Use the HSL Sliders to Fine-Tune the Color Correction
To truly achieve the green moody look in Photoshop, use the HSL Adjustment to gain more control over the colors of your image. Adjust the Hue, Saturation, and Luminance of each color.
On the Hue tab, adjust the Greens by dragging the slider to the right to match with the green hue in Lightroom’s splash screen.
Then, adjust the Yellow slider to the left for a cooler hue.
Now, you can work with Luminance to control the brightness or the darkness of the color.
On the Greens slider, drag it to the right to make them brighter.
The Saturation tab is where I can manually adjust the intensity of the color, whether to be dull or vivid. For the Greens, I will reduce the Saturation by dragging the slider to the left.
Now that you have completely set the color of the vegetation, it’s time to color correct the dog!
On the Saturation tab, increase the intensity of the dog’s fur by dragging the Orange slider to the right.
Increase the Yellow as well since the fur has a faint tint of that color.
On the Luminance tab, you can genuinely make the dog the focal point by brightening it than the rest of the image through dragging the Orange slider to the right.
If you adjust the Yellow drastically, you might notice how the color is both in the vegetation and in the dog’s fur, so adjust accordingly.
Change the Dog Tag’s Color
Since the dog tag looks a bit distracting in contrast to the rest of the image, tone it down. Select the Brush tool and select Reset Local Correction Settings.
The next step is to paint over the dog tag.
Note: This same trick, painting an object then swapping its color, also works in Lightroom. See How To Change The Color of ANYTHING in Lightroom.
Then, go back to your workspace and then decrease the Saturation.
Click on Color to bring out the Color Picker window. From there, you can select a shade of green that perfectly matches the rest of the vegetation. Once you have found the perfect color, press OK to exit the window.
If the painting process has affected other areas such as the fur, go to Range Mask and click on the drop-down menu. From the list, select Luminance.
Tip: Range Mask is not only for cleaning up a paint job. See Range Mask in Camera Raw: Target Skies and Colors for more ways to target one color or tone.
On the Luminance Range, drag the slider to the left, so it only affects the brighter areas and not on the darker leaves.
If the dog tag is too bright, subdue it by decreasing the Luminance or the Exposure.
Going back to the Luminance tab in the HSL Adjustments, make the dog darker by dragging the Oranges slider to the left.
Add Selective Highlights with the Adjustment Brush
Using the Adjustment Brush tool, brighten the dog and make him stand out more.
Select Reset Local Correction Settings first before proceeding to paint.
On the bottom of the Adjustment Brush panel, you can customize the Size, Feather, Flow, and Overlay of the brush to control its properties.
Then, start painting over the dog while adjusting the Exposure, Clarity, and Texture for it to stand out more among the vegetation.
Frequently Asked Questions
This tutorial uses Photoshop 21.1, the Photoshop 2020 release. The Camera Raw Filter tools it uses work the same way in the current version.
No. You get the dark green moody look in Photoshop entirely inside the Camera Raw Filter, using the Basic, Calibration, and HSL panels. You do not need any adjustment layers.
The Calibration tab shifts the hue and saturation of a color’s raw primaries. Dragging the Green Primaries hue slider right is what pushes ordinary greens toward the deep, cool green in this look.
Paint over it with the Adjustment Brush, then desaturate it and pick a new color from the Color Picker. Use Range Mask if the paint spreads onto areas you want to leave alone.
The Radial Filter lets you set a custom, off center vignette instead of the fixed one in the Effects panel. Set Effect to Outside so the darkening only affects the area around your subject.
No, as long as you convert your layer to a Smart Object first. The Camera Raw Filter then applies as a Smart Filter you can reopen and adjust at any time.
Camera Raw’s Masking panel now handles local adjustments with Radial Gradient and Linear Gradient masks. The sliders and settings work the same way this tutorial describes.
Conclusion
The dark green moody look in Photoshop comes from a handful of Camera Raw adjustments. Darken the Basic panel, shift the Calibration hue, then fine tune a few HSL and Adjustment Brush changes.
None of it needs adjustment layers or plugins, so you can apply the same steps to any photo that already has some green in it.
Watch the full video above, and comment on the video if you have a question about any of the sliders.
Selections and Masking Mastery
Complete course includes 2.5 hours of step-by-step lessons, 6 structured modules, downloadable practice files, and custom Photoshop brushes. Everything you need to master selections and masks in one place.
Keep going
Next, learn Photoshop 2021’s Color Grading panel, the purpose built tool that replaced hand tuning Calibration and HSL sliders for a mood like this.
Related Links
Final Image
Drag the slider to see before and after
