Red tint to photos?

[OccamsRazor]

I was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction. I notice that when I upload my photos to the computer that my photos tend to have a red color to them. They also appear darker on the computer. I do have my monitor calibrated. I kind of see it on the display on the camera too but it's not as harsh as it would be on the computer. Is there anything specific I should look for in the camera settings that I may have set without knowing? Is it possibly the white balance that I have set?

 

[Braineack]

It looks warm, but it doesn't bother me. Are you using a custom WB? I have mine set to be a 2 points warm in auto.


also, I have that same blanket:

 

[Trever1t]

WB for sure...are you shooting raw or jpg? If jpg what mode?

 

[OccamsRazor]

I have been shooting in JPG, jumping between Manual mode and Aperture Priority. My white balance is set to auto for when I pick up the camera and need quick shots with the kids around. Could the external flash I have do this? i usually have it pointed at a 90 degree angle to bounce off the ceiling

 

[KmH]

As mentioned - check your camera's white balance setting.

You have to tell the camera what kind of light is being used - sunlight, incandescent/tungsten light, fluorescent light, etc.
The issue is light source color temperature.

Here is some more info about white balance - Understanding White Balance

Flash is pretty close to the color temperature of sunlight.
If you use flash in a room that also has incandescent/tungsten lighting you have mixed lighting. The image sensor in your camera can only handle 1 light source type at a time.
In mixed lighting situations photographers put a gel (colored plastic) in front to the flash to make light from the flash the same color temperature as the other light source in the scene.
For Incandescent/tungsten light a CTO gel is used. For fluorescent light a CTB gel is used.

 

[Trever1t]

I meant what jpg setting? I don't know about your camera but Nikon offers "Standard" "Landscape" and "Vivid" jpg conversion settings plus those are customizable.

 

[OccamsRazor]

I meant what jpg setting? I don't know about your camera but Nikon offers "Standard" "Landscape" and "Vivid" jpg conversion settings plus those are customizable.

I have it on Vivid.

 

[Trever1t]

That's why you are getting such saturated colors. I suggest you leave it on "Standard" and also start shooting raw...it takes a little learning but the WB can be adjusted easily in post if you want to fine tune.

 

[OccamsRazor]

That's why you are getting such saturated colors. I suggest you leave it on "Standard" and also start shooting raw...it takes a little learning but the WB can be adjusted easily in post if you want to fine tune.

I downloaded the ViewNX from Nikon's site, I read its good for keeping the settings you have the camera set on when uploading the photos to the computer. I'm a little hesitant of shooting raw because I have read of the pros and cons of post editing.

 

[KmH]

Yep. The Vivid setting will do that.

All digital images have been post processed (including Raw).

The post processing that makes a JPEG in your camera is decided on by the camera software engineers that wrote the programs your camera uses long before you ever take a photo.
You have some really crude processing control in the camera menus like choosing 'standard', and 'vivid' picture saturation control options, some contrast controls, and some sharpening options.

 

[cynicaster]

I meant what jpg setting? I don't know about your camera but Nikon offers "Standard" "Landscape" and "Vivid" jpg conversion settings plus those are customizable.

I have it on Vivid.

IMO, I think it's better practice to slightly undercook the jpegs in the camera, then finish them off in post with tweaks to contrast/sharpness/saturation as necessary. Ditch the vivid setting and go with standard.

Regarding the photos looking darker on your computer, the best way to avoid unfortunate surprises like that is to learn how to read histograms on your camera's preview screen. Attempting to judge whether the exposure is "good" simply by eyeballing a photo on the camera's LCD is a recipe for chronic disappointment.

 

[Trever1t]

That's why you are getting such saturated colors. I suggest you leave it on "Standard" and also start shooting raw...it takes a little learning but the WB can be adjusted easily in post if you want to fine tune.

I downloaded the ViewNX from Nikon's site, I read its good for keeping the settings you have the camera set on when uploading the photos to the computer. I'm a little hesitant of shooting raw because I have read of the pros and cons of post editing.

What are the cons of shooting raw? Oh wait, do you mean taking 85% control of the post processing and final appearance of your images? Or do you mean retaining loads more color information? Sure you have to edit, it's more effort.

 

[OccamsRazor]

I meant what jpg setting? I don't know about your camera but Nikon offers "Standard" "Landscape" and "Vivid" jpg conversion settings plus those are customizable.

I have it on Vivid.

IMO, I think it's better practice to slightly undercook the jpegs in the camera, then finish them off in post with tweaks to contrast/sharpness/saturation as necessary. Ditch the vivid setting and go with standard.

Regarding the photos looking darker on your computer, the best way to avoid unfortunate surprises like that is to learn how to read histograms on your camera's preview screen. Attempting to judge whether the exposure is "good" simply by eyeballing a photo on the camera's LCD is a recipe for chronic disappointment.

You have a good point, I guess I never really took the time to realize that "vivid" is contributing to the extra warmth to my photos, I guess you could say I'm guilty of not looking before shooting. I have been curious about the histograms on the display, but I never really took extra time to understand what it is.

 

[Trever1t]

I have not yet found an image of mine where adding the "Vivid" (since i shoot raw I can add in post before conversion) looks any good. Seriously it does darken the image and over saturate everything.

 

[OccamsRazor]

I guess I have put it on, and left it on because I found that if I take photos of my kids, where the light from the outside comes in and produces a colder feel, I'll put on vivid to "warm" it up. Thus I forget it's on and end up ruining other photos I take.