camera raw colors

[goodoneian]

so i haven't posted on here in quite some time, but i've encountered a problem that's been bothering me a lot lately. it seems like when i shoot raw (which i always do) with strobes my images all come out very red tinted, and it's difficult to correct and get natural skin tones for me. both my camera and acr are set to sRGB, so i don't think that's the issue. my monitor is calibrated as well and has been for a long time, so i can't see that being an issue.

if anyone can send me in the right direction or even some suggestions that'd be great. i can also post examples if needed

 

[icassell]

I know this is probably obvious, but I always forget to check the obvious ...

What is your color temperature/WB set at?

 

[goodoneian]

regardless of what my white balance is set to, i still cant seem to get the right colors. if i attempt a lower white balance, my colors come out too blue as opposed to too red.

though this picture is obviously nothing to write home about, it illustrates what i'm trying to say. it's a straight raw conversion to jpeg with no adjustments made.

also in the camera raw settings, i tried to adjust the red and blue primaries but still had no luck

 

[anel]

just play with the settings when you open your raw or just put everything you see on reset and play again. you're not far off with that one though, just a bit more blue and yellow and it's on

 

[davebmck]

In ACR under Camera Calibration, what profile are you using? You might want to try another profile to see if that makes a difference for you. Also check to see that all the color corrections there are set to zero.

 

[KmH]

so i haven't posted on here in quite some time, but i've encountered a problem that's been bothering me a lot lately. it seems like when i shoot raw (which i always do) with strobes my images all come out very red tinted, and it's difficult to correct and get natural skin tones for me. both my camera and acr are set to sRGB, so i don't think that's the issue. my monitor is calibrated as well and has been for a long time, so i can't see that being an issue.

if anyone can send me in the right direction or even some suggestions that'd be great. i can also post examples if needed

Which strobes? what camera and lens combo? Inside? Are you using any modifiers? Are their incandescent lights on near the subject? Do you use a 18% gray card?

 

[goodoneian]

i'm using the "adobe standard" profile mode, and i went through all of the other options and am essentially getting the same results. i get the same red hue with all my strobes, but more so with my alienbees as opposed to my sb80dx's. also, i'm not sure if this has anything to do with it but the color cast is much more noticable when i'm shooting inside. and the room i shoot in is all white, so theres nothing to affect the color of the light.

 

[craig]

What is a natural skin tone? Have you tried a custom white balance? Did you shoot a grey card? Is your work over or under exposed? What is your ISO?

You should also consider your shooting environment. Is there any ambient light? Are you shooting with a soff box or umbrella that is spewing light all the place?

Point is that every single detail of your shoot affects the outcome of your final image. Sounds like you are heading in the right direction in your post work. Shooting the image is in question. Post some details and we can help further.

Arguably shooting raw is rarely a save all. It is important to get the image correct in every way before the download to your computer.

Love & Bass

 

[goodoneian]

What is a natural skin tone? Have you tried a custom white balance? Did you shoot a grey card? Is your work over or under exposed? What is your ISO?

You should also consider your shooting environment. Is there any ambient light? Are you shooting with a soff box or umbrella that is spewing light all the place?

Point is that every single detail of your shoot affects the outcome of your final image. Sounds like you are heading in the right direction in your post work. Shooting the image is in question. Post some details and we can help further.

Arguably shooting raw is rarely a save all. It is important to get the image correct in every way before the download to your computer.

Love & Bass

well i consider a natural skin what the persons skin looks like to me in real life.

and as i said, i only have these problems when i'm shooting in an all white room with no ambient light. and i mostly use softboxs, which i did in the image i posted as an example. i usually shoot between iso 100 and 200, and my work is as close to properly exposed as i can get it. i've been using off camera flashes for over a year now so i'm quite comfortable in that department, it's just the post work that isn't necessarily my strong point.

i don't use raw as a save all, i use it because it contains a lot more image detail than jpeg and gives me more adjustments to hopefully fix the issues that i'm having

 

[craig]

Well then... I can not help. Sounds like there is no reason for the colour cast. When you get it figured out let us know.

Love & Bass

 

[Derrel]

I pulled your image into Photoshop. It is grossly underexposed in the Green channel. You were shooting with Fine Weather white balance, which is Japanese-speak for daylight white balance.

Craig was trying to tip you off to some of the variables that can be encountered when shooting flash photographs. One variable a lot of people do not consider is the lens itself--some of the much-older Nikkors have a slightly different color rendering than more-modern lenses do,and you can see it if you do a custom white balance, and then change lenses, like from a 70-200VR to say, a 1975 105/2.5, or the 105 f/2 DC versus the 70-200VR...significantly different lens renditions.

My main question would be: what is the power level your strobes were at? This is a very difficult image to adjust. It is underexposed and also over- saturated. It almost looks like it was shot with low-power studio flash that uses un-coated flash tubes,with a white balance that is 1,000 degrees or more off from what it should have been. What kind of softbox are you shooting with? Is it old and discolored? Have you tried shooting with your Nikon set to "flash" white balance? There are a zillion variables, but your f/3.5 at 1/250 exposure makes me wonder if you happen to be using a certain brand of studio flashes that has rather odd strong color shift away from daylight WB when fired at low power levels.

 

[goodoneian]

I pulled your image into Photoshop. It is grossly underexposed in the Green channel. You were shooting with Fine Weather white balance, which is Japanese-speak for daylight white balance.

Craig was trying to tip you off to some of the variables that can be encountered when shooting flash photographs. One variable a lot of people do not consider is the lens itself--some of the much-older Nikkors have a slightly different color rendering than more-modern lenses do,and you can see it if you do a custom white balance, and then change lenses, like from a 70-200VR to say, a 1975 105/2.5, or the 105 f/2 DC versus the 70-200VR...significantly different lens renditions.

My main question would be: what is the power level your strobes were at? This is a very difficult image to adjust. It is underexposed and also over- saturated. It almost looks like it was shot with low-power studio flash that uses un-coated flash tubes,with a white balance that is 1,000 degrees or more off from what it should have been. What kind of softbox are you shooting with? Is it old and discolored? Have you tried shooting with your Nikon set to "flash" white balance? There are a zillion variables, but your f/3.5 at 1/250 exposure makes me wonder if you happen to be using a certain brand of studio flashes that has rather odd strong color shift away from daylight WB when fired at low power levels.

i could see how it is a little underexposed, yes, but to be honest i can't remember what power the flash is at. it was shot with an ab800 and beauty dish, both of which are in good condition with no problems to my knowledge.

when i shoot with the flash white balance, i get the same red results but, but the image is even warmer than when i shoot with the fine weather setting.

and as far as lens goes, it was shot with a 80-200 2.8D, which was recently purchased so it's in essentially brand new condition. i get the same color shifting with my 50mm 1.4G as well though.

i'll go experiment right now and see what kind of results i can get with playing with the settings a little bit more