Need some help/ideas with colors

Alison · Aug 3, 2004

I usually take black and whites but for portraiture I know that some couples prefer color. I took these 2 shots on a really warm and humid day thus the couple's cheeks were flushed. I tried my best to color correct and work on some of the blown out areas due to the really harsh afternoon sun. Any suggestions? The second photo is not nearly as red/magenta looking in the actual print. Oh, and if anyone wants to mess around with the colors and repost no need to ask permission, I would love to see some techniques or other ideas.

jadin · Aug 4, 2004

Are these the originals or your edited versions? It'd be better to work on the originals versus something you've already worked on.

That said in the first photo, the blown out areas have no data, so there isn't much you can do to make it look more natural, save spot editing them. You're best bet is to reshoot the first one, or not use it at all. Since it is definately over-exposed.

The second photo is much better as there is plenty of data to work with. But like I said I'd like to work on the originals.

Alison · Aug 4, 2004

Here are the originals (I had stolen her smile from another picture). The one gripe I have with the 10D is that the LCD screen doesn't display properly, if it looks right on the screen the actual picture is too dark. I should have just played it safe and just left it underexposed a bit since that's easier to correct. I did get a number of good shots but I need to work on skin tones so this is a good place to start. Thanks for your help!

jadin · Aug 4, 2004

Histogram display. Learn it, know it, love it.

Corry · Aug 6, 2004

How did you steal her smile from another picture?

Tuna · Aug 6, 2004

I'm kind of afraid to comment for fear that you will also steal MY smile. But anyways...layers, levels and curves are some of the best ways to get a handle on tough exposures OR shoot in the shade, late/early in the day, etc.

Alison · Aug 6, 2004

core_17 said:
How did you steal her smile from another picture?

I should have perhaps said borrowed, instead of stole

I typically take 4-5 shots of the same pose to make sure we get good expression. So, in this case the man in the photo was a bit nervous and the picture with his best expression the woman had a not so good one. To remedy this, I used the lasso tool, set the feather to about 25 pixels, drew a circle around her smile and nose and then copied and pasted to the other photo. Because her head was in the exact same position and the lighting was the same it made it very ease. I just lined up her nose and viola I was done.

Osmer_Toby · Aug 6, 2004

jadin said:
Histogram display. Learn it, know it, love it.

so true. using levels and the dynamic sliders, it's a helluva lot easier than you'd think to correct a histogram, and once you learn how to read one and correct it, you'd be amazed how easy color correcting can be. not that i'm an expert yet, but i gotta put in my vote for correcting via histogram and levels.

stay away from setting white point and black point with the eyedropper- pita and unnecessary, as far as i can see. anyone find this last untrue?

edit- i should say for tones, not for colors. setting these for colors is essential, right? and a good middle gray, too, if you can find one.

Alison · Aug 7, 2004

Okay, histograms are key, I think I can remember that. Any good site or tutorials out there for this? I know where my levels are and I found the histogram display but I don't know what it's telling me

jadin · Aug 8, 2004

For starters your 10D should have a histogram display setting for it's image review mode. So you can judge how close your exposure is while your still shooting.

Here's a link explaining histograms in depth:
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/understanding-histograms.shtml

Here's the quick and dirty explaination -
Under-exposed histogram:

Over-exposed histogram:

Properly-exposed histogram:

Every histogram is unique for each image, but by knowing how proper-exposure is supposed to look in a histogram, you can tell if your image is well, properly exposed. :roll: Most photographers will tell you not to trust your LCD display for exposure, and for good reason, it's really not suited for it. Histograms are though, and are built in to many digital cameras. (for sure DSLR's, but probably many fixed lens as well)

Alison · Aug 9, 2004

Jadin, thank you so much! I've been using the histogram in photoshop and also on the camera. Your explanation makes a lot of sense. I quit using my LCD for exposure, it always shows properly exposed but is really dark in reality. I used this technique on my most recent shoots and find the results much improved. Again, thanks!

jadin · Aug 10, 2004

Weeee! Now I can complete my quantum leap!

hobbes28 · Aug 10, 2004

jadin said:
Weeee! Now I can complete my quantum leap!

I love that show.

Alison · Aug 10, 2004

Hey! Is that a reference to the show Quantum Leap? If so I thought I was the only one that watched it. If not, I guess I am the only one who watched it. But Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell was great in it!