Color Grading

This is because everyone is looking for the "secret" and is willing to pay for it.

But there is no secret technique at all. You just need to know 4-10 tools in Photoshop and Lightroom and how to use them well.

Less is more and i strongly suggest to everyone to watch the tutorials, see what is possible and to try creating a routine that fits you the best. Don`t waste your time looking for the secret sauce, and just get your things done - it needs time to become a master.

 

With all my respect it is not exactly correct. Actually color grading is the biggest secret in photography (might be except sales but sales much more based on connections and friendship than photography skills ).

Yes, you can very simple move couple of sliders in semi-chaotic way and by chance reach some more or less pleasant result, however, there will be no "consistency" and no personal style.

Actually internet full of courses related to Color Grading, Most of them start from Color Theory, after discuss standard color schemas (some times base on Adobe Color tool) but in practical application part they almost never follow the theory and show something totally different. Good examples are courses of Bella Kotak. Yes, she is very good at Color Grading and speaks very nice about theory and emotions, however, when she shows practical applications she is extremely inconsistent, chaotic, and what is more interesting never even close to her iconic pictures and looks.

The before mentioned by you knowledge, is knowledge not just how to "tint" photo to specific tone but how reach very distinct color theme since any photographer during the shot has some "story" in his / her mind and color harmony which should support the story. And after the shot, there is an image, often with a lot of additional colors, with / or rather without any harmony and far away from initial story by emotional context. The task is to "move" this image to "target" (initially envisioned) color harmony by using mentioned 4-10 tools trying to eliminate additional colors (color unification), make re-coloration - changing HSL of remaining colors, and finally achieve target harmony.

I agree that there is no "secret sauce" but only because no one will tell it to you, not Bella Kotak, not Michael Sidofsky, not Max Rive... Only day by day experience and try and error method...

Cheers.

 

Color is the most important thing? Let me introduce composition
If your composition is bad, your color doesn't matter anyways. You should really overthink the way you call yourself as a photographer and don`t listen too much to this youtubers discussing all the time color-science.

 

I don't want to go into discussion and BTW, I really respect you and other forum members to make conclusions about your professional level and what anyone should "overthink" or to change to be a photographer . I don't know you and you really don't know me to give such type of advice.

I still keep to my opinion that color is one of the most important things in photography (even in B&W where colors are shades of grey) because color == light and this is something (together with forms/shapes) what we perceive from the image, what creates an emotion, story and finally what creates an art. Of course I'm not talking about snapshot or something that definitely fills YouTube and Instagram but art.

Regarding composition, please do not mislead junior forum members since it is highly overrated and despite everyone probably starts career from shooting rule of thirds on more mature stages the one rule is - story of the image and if, for example, to support a story the main character (not necessary human ) should be not exactly in defined by "rules" position, photographer should place or crop it there. Also, not everyone (despite books) reads image in similar way but this is far beyond of this topic.

PS. Just to exclude misunderstanding in terminology; composition /= scenery (where, in simple words, composition is relative to each other and absolute position of objects and subjects in the frame, and scenery is an artistic setup of environment or artistic point of view which also can violate all things like rule of thirds, diagonals, etc.).