Why do my photo colors look off and how do I fix them?

Your colors look off and you cannot quite name why or how to fix them. That frustration is the sound of an eye that is ahead of your hands, you can see that something is wrong even when you cannot yet say what. That is actually the right order to grow in. Seeing the problem comes first; fixing it follows. Off usually comes down to a few culprits: white balance that is too warm or cool, skin tones that have drifted, or colors fighting each other instead of agreeing. The reason it feels mysterious is that you are looking at the whole image at once. Break it into parts and the problem usually stops hiding. Start with white balance and skin tones, because when those are right, most of the off feeling disappears. Fix the neutral tones first so gray reads as gray, then check that skin looks like skin. Learn those two moves well before chasing mood and style. Most off colors are not a mystery of taste; they are a handful of fixable basics.