Camera Calibration Profiles for Nature / Wildlife

[Nature_Photo_Mastery]

First of all, I apologize for the extremely long post.

I recently got the X-Rite ColorChecker Classic so I can create profiles for my camera + lens combinations.

Without a doubt, the most tricky thing about this is the fact that I shoot nature and wildlife, which means I have less control over everything than say, a portrait or studio photographer. My feeling was, and still is, that I am a bit ambitions for trying to get calibration for all or most of my nature shots.

The biggest struggle is to know exactly how many different profiles I need to create. Because lighting in nature is so varied, and because the subject matter varies so much in terms of lighting angles, distance, etc, it is looking pretty crazy right now.

As far as I can tell, I will need profiles for:

- at least 3 times of day for each lighting scenario......
- direct sunlight ("golden hours" morning)
- direct sunlight ("golden hours" evening)
- late afternoon sunlight (winter low angle)
- deep shade at various times of day
- bright shade at various times of day
- cloudy / diffused
- flash / strobe
- and all of these with each of my lenses (lens materials / coatings / etc can have color casts)
- possibly even low ISO and high ISO in all cases

Everything would be so much easier if I was a portrait or studio photographer!

Some questions:

1. Does anyone else out there shoot wildlife and other nature stuff, and use Camera Calibration profiles like I'm describing? If so, do you have any tips?
2. Should I fill the entire frame with the colorchecker chart for the profile generation photos, or should I shoot a bit wider to include other colors and objects in the frame? Does it change the calibration profile? (my understanding is it does not change it because the software only looks at the color swatch chart...but I'll ask anyway)
3. Does it matter if some photos (nature photos, not the calibration profile photos) have a heavy bias toward one or two colors (such as a close up of a bird with a blurred background this is mostly green or blue).. that is, will the heavy bias of one color and few other colors somehow make the profile not be applied correctly?
4. Has anyone had an issue where a calibration profile completely throws the entire image off, so the colors look horrible, or even the photos becomes neutral or B&W looking? This happened to me with a few profiles. Maybe the files are corrupt?

Thanks a ton for any assistance anyone can offer.

 

[Alexr25]

Does anyone else out there shoot wildlife and other nature stuff, and use Camera Calibration profiles like I'm describing? If so, do you have any tips?

I don't shoot wildlife but I do use camera profiling and have done a fair bit of landscape work. I find that for landscapes a dual profile created from a bright sunny frame and a deep shade frame is all I need, it may not render the colors exactly but it's a lot closer than the default Adobe profile and if I need more precision I can always snap a reference frame of the Colorchecker under the actual working lighting conditions.
I may have been lucky but as yet I see no differences in color produced by my various lenses so one profile does all.

Should I fill the entire frame with the colorchecker chart for the profile generation photos, or should I shoot a bit wider to include other colors and objects in the frame? Does it change the calibration profile? (my understanding is it does not change it because the software only looks at the color swatch chart...but I'll ask anyway)

Your understanding is correct, the software only looks at the color patches since they are the only colors it can know about.

Does it matter if some photos (nature photos, not the calibration profile photos) have a heavy bias toward one or two colors (such as a close up of a bird with a blurred background this is mostly green or blue).. that is, will the heavy bias of one color and few other colors somehow make the profile not be applied correctly?

The color of the subject or background will not affect the accuracy of the profile but the color of the light will so for example if the subject is being illuminated by light reflected from green foliage your normal profile will probably be wrong. In these situations it is a good idea to take a reference photo of the Colorchecker and create a one-of profile for that location. In any case it's always a good idea to take a reference photo to get the white balance if nothing else and then if you do need to create a new profile you can.

Has anyone had an issue where a calibration profile completely throws the entire image off, so the colors look horrible, or even the photos becomes neutral or B&W looking? This happened to me with a few profiles. Maybe the files are corrupt?

I did have trouble with a profile for one room of our house where it turned reds into magenta's but that was fixed by replacing an ancient CFL light bulb. Your problem sounds more like the software is not not correctly identify the position of the color patches.

 

[Nature_Photo_Mastery]

@Alexr25

Alex, thanks a ton for your excellent reply! I will take into account your advice, this was really helpful. I'll just say this: Wildlife photography is a whole different game, and it's not always possible to take calibration chart photos on location. Things happen fast, locations are challenging, light changes, etc. Plus my colorchecker is the classic so it's not conducive to traveling in the field (I think they had a smaller one with a foldable cover...)

Thanks again