Color matching: Pre/Post tips

Saltydog · 06-30-2009, 11:59 AM

I've been tasked with improving our product catalog. Along with clothing, luggage and leather goods, we have a lot of jewelry in silver & gold. Some brass & bronze too. My main concern is trying to match the colors of the gold and silver which can have different polished finishes and slightly different hues and we have a lot of pieces. Are there any tips that may help in pre or post production to match the color of a lot of jewelry? I have some CS4 skills but I've not mastered it. I've been using Camera Raw which seems to offer the most control with ease of use. I couldn't find anything specific to this in my search.

I'm using a D90/D300 (depending on what's available @ the time), softbox, two TD5 Spiderlites (overkill but I use them for clothing too), AF-S Micro Nikkor 105mm 1:2.8G ED.

JerryPH · 06-30-2009, 12:39 PM

Get it right in camera. The better you do it in camera, the less you will spend in post.

I know a product photographer that shoots in basic JPG all day long... but that is because all he does are catalog shots (about 1000-1500 shots per day... day in day out) and has it down to an art. His lighting is perfect and never changes. His camera settings are perfect and never change either. He uses 1 lens (Nikkor 24-70 F/2.8) and thats it. That was his only piece of advice... lol

OMG, don't ask him to shoot a portrait, though... disaster!

Saltydog · 06-30-2009, 01:17 PM

Thanks for the reply Jerry. So what your buddy is saying is to be consistent with your distance to subject, focal length, shutter speed, lighting setup etc. so you can just swap product, click, and repeat. Sounds like I'm on the right track. That's precisely what I've been working towards.

SpeedTrap · 06-30-2009, 04:10 PM

Make sure to get your white balance right as well, You will be able to set it with a grey card and then when you bring it into post you do not even need to touch it.

epatsellis · 07-01-2009, 11:14 PM

For any color critical work, I use a Kodak Q-13 near the edge of the frame, I have a reference chart that tells me what the rgb values should be and it's pretty simple to match the first one, then I use Aperture to apply the same w/b and color curve to each shot.

Saltydog · 07-09-2009, 11:50 AM

Looks like some research is on the horizon. Thanks for the tip.

06-30-2009, 11:59 AM	#1
Saltydog TPF Noob! Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Seattle Posts: 4 My Photos Are OK to Edit Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts My Gallery: (0)	Color matching: Pre/Post tips I've been tasked with improving our product catalog. Along with clothing, luggage and leather goods, we have a lot of jewelry in silver & gold. Some brass & bronze too. My main concern is trying to match the colors of the gold and silver which can have different polished finishes and slightly different hues and we have a lot of pieces. Are there any tips that may help in pre or post production to match the color of a lot of jewelry? I have some CS4 skills but I've not mastered it. I've been using Camera Raw which seems to offer the most control with ease of use. I couldn't find anything specific to this in my search. I'm using a D90/D300 (depending on what's available @ the time), softbox, two TD5 Spiderlites (overkill but I use them for clothing too), AF-S Micro Nikkor 105mm 1:2.8G ED. Last edited by Saltydog; 06-30-2009 at 12:18 PM.

06-30-2009, 12:39 PM	#2
JerryPH TPF Junkie! Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Montreal, QC, Canada Posts: 6,070 My Photos Are NOT OK to Edit Thanked 29 Times in 27 Posts My Gallery: (0)	Get it right in camera. The better you do it in camera, the less you will spend in post. I know a product photographer that shoots in basic JPG all day long... but that is because all he does are catalog shots (about 1000-1500 shots per day... day in day out) and has it down to an art. His lighting is perfect and never changes. His camera settings are perfect and never change either. He uses 1 lens (Nikkor 24-70 F/2.8) and thats it. That was his only piece of advice... lol OMG, don't ask him to shoot a portrait, though... disaster! __________________ I've left for greener pastures. Please don't PM me (no joke!).

06-30-2009, 04:10 PM	#4
SpeedTrap TPF Junkie! Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Edmonton Posts: 1,187 My Photos Are NOT OK to Edit Thanked 11 Times in 11 Posts My Gallery: (85)	Make sure to get your white balance right as well, You will be able to set it with a grey card and then when you bring it into post you do not even need to touch it. __________________ Fast Nikon Bodies and Glass www.lightart.ca Come check out the new site!!

07-01-2009, 11:14 PM	#5
epatsellis Been spending a lot of time on here! Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 215 My Photos Are NOT OK to Edit Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts My Gallery: (0)	For any color critical work, I use a Kodak Q-13 near the edge of the frame, I have a reference chart that tells me what the rgb values should be and it's pretty simple to match the first one, then I use Aperture to apply the same w/b and color curve to each shot. __________________ Nikon F, F2 Photomic, 3-F3/MD4, F4, Fuji S2, Kodak SLR/N, more glass than a person should own, 2-RB67/lotsa glass, Hassy SW/C, 500EL 40/50/80/150/250, Megavision S3 back, Sinar 4x5 F, 4x5/8x10 P, 16x20, 20x24 cameras, Phase One and Betterlight scanbacks, more LF lenses than I can keep track of, Broncolor Lighting

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

06-30-2009, 01:17 PM	#3
Saltydog TPF Noob! Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Seattle Posts: 4 My Photos Are OK to Edit Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts My Gallery: (0)	Thanks for the reply Jerry. So what your buddy is saying is to be consistent with your distance to subject, focal length, shutter speed, lighting setup etc. so you can just swap product, click, and repeat. Sounds like I'm on the right track. That's precisely what I've been working towards.

07-09-2009, 11:50 AM	#6
Saltydog TPF Noob! Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Seattle Posts: 4 My Photos Are OK to Edit Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts My Gallery: (0)	Looks like some research is on the horizon. Thanks for the tip.

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)