old dog, new trick: L.a.b. color space?

Someone at AlphaMountWorld pointed out this link as another way to process images. It's interesting to try a new thing, and my copy of Elements has the SmartCurve plugin which allows for L.a.b. processing - so I gave it a tryout.

Here's the before/after image of a recent shot with the k200d. I really liked the leaves, but clearly the image was too warm judging from the bark. The L.a.b. setup allowed me to preserve the color balance in the leaves yet adjust other parts of the scene. Interesting!

Could I have done as well using RGB or another color space? Most likely.. but this was pretty quick. It definitely pays to try different methods of processing, just as it does trying different cameras before buying; the next one could fit you far better than the current one, and you'll never know for certain without trying.

edit -- I find the Y·Cb·Cr color space to be very similar, and that is one I had used in my early days of digital processing with LViewPro.  For quick manipulations I still use 1.D2 of that software, a great feature set for such a tiny package.