I Need Help, Too!

[ashby]

I took some photos at a party last night and am disappointed with the color. I am off to my niece's wedding this afternoon and would like to correct the issue. Andy suggested this forum.
Any ideas?

http://ashby.smugmug.com/photos/23255581-M.jpg


http://ashby.smugmug.com/photos/23255573-M.jpg


http://ashby.smugmug.com/photos/23255564-M.jpg






I am using a 20D with default parameter, 580 flash and AWB. All the pictures have this same bad color rendition. I've tried to fix them a bit with iPhoto, but not a lot of improvement. I'll try Photoshop when I have more time.

Any ideas how I can improve the results?

TIA.

Hal

[gsgary]

I have only been at it for 3 month could it be White balance setting ?

Gary

[Dee]

but failed miserably! I'm trying to learn more about color.

I'd say you should have tried to "set" the auto balance for the lighting in the room. I don't have a dSLR, but my "point and shoot" lets me change the white balance.

I tried to correct for the "too much red" in the photo, and they are also too dark, but I couldn't get a good color repair.

Do the first two men have reddish complexions?

When I tried to use curves on the white label and the black of the man's glasses frame it messed up the photo even more.

I know some expert will let us know how to fix it, and I'll be following the reply myself so I can learn too.

[DavidTO]

Yeah, your white balance is wrong.

You can set a custom white balance, or select the correct one instead of auto.

You can also shoot in RAW, which allows you to set and adjust the white balance in post. Unless you're shooting a large number of images, I would shoot RAW, or, if you're new to RAW, consider RAW+JPEG, so you can work from the JPEG, but have the RAW for those shots you want to really make sing. Of course, that takes up more memory on your card.

DO NOT USE iPHOTO for correction, open it in PS to adjust your photos. You can set iPhoto to open in PS when you double-click.

If you're shooting RAW, avoid iPhoto altogether.

[Dee]

I tried auto color, didn't like that
I tried curves on the white and black blouse, didn't like that
I tried levels, that worked better for me
I added a layer, made it "screen" mode in Photoshop, and lowered the opacity to about 25%. Pretty easy fix if you like the results.

[Dee]

I tried auto color, didn't like that
I tried curves on the white and black blouse, didn't like that
I tried levels, that worked better for me
I added a layer, made it "screen" mode in Photoshop, and lowered the opacity to about 25%. Pretty easy fix if you like the results.

forgot to press the "upload" button :-(

[kudbegud]

here's my try. photobrush has a white ballance adjustment so i gave it a try. also some levels and mid-tone adjustment. kept the overall brightness of the original flash pic. her hair is still a little dark in this one.

[kudbegud]

another try. used filter-sim to overlay a simulated color filter. used an 80D blue filter, then some midtones adjustment.

[ashby]

Thanks to all your suggestions. Your photoshop work gives me some hope of recovering the best ones. I still don't understand why AWB while using flash would be so far off.

Thanks again.

Hal

[kudbegud]

Hal, i didn't use photoshop. used photobrush, which is another program i use in addition to photoshop for certain processing. i think it works better and faster in some cases. there is a free filter-sim program that you can get here: http://www.mediachance.com/digicam/filtersim.htm lets you use the whole wratten filter catalog after the fact. try it, it could help "save" a bunch of your off white ballance pics. i used the 80D to correct the too red/orange effect on your sample.

[pathfinder]

Thanks to all your suggestions. Your photoshop work gives me some hope of recovering the best ones. I still don't understand why AWB while using flash would be so far off.

Thanks again.

Hal

I don't think using AWB is the whole problem. I frequently shoot a 20D with a 580EX in AWB without color balance problems. What color was the ceiling? You can get real funny color balance problems bouncing flash off non white walls....

I would suggest using the white balance setting for Electronic flash IF electronic flash is the main light source, as opposed to a mixed light source.

I wonder if in your images the available light contributed to the warmth. Were these images shot in Av mode, P mode, or portrait or auto?? It makes difference because flash is handled diffierently in Av versus P or Auto.

In Av mode, the available light is used for the basic exposure and the flash is only added for fill in the foreground. In auto or P,the exposure is derived from the flash as the mian light source. So, in tungsten lighting, the warmth of the tungsten lighting will be more visible if the shot was shot in Av, rather than P or auto. The shadows in the images make them look like flash was the main light - you're sure you were in AWB??

[Dee]

A screen layer to lighten,
a color/hue saturation layer to get rid of the red
a contrast mask layer
and a levels adjustment layer

[XO-Studios]

OK I gave it my 30 second quick fix, in PS, using PhotoTune: SkinTune and aftermarket filter.

In SkinTune used Caucasian with a 48% saturation (custom setting just for this filter) (not knowing what she looks like in real life, here is what I got in literaly 20 seconds) and adjusted a small color skew with curves.

[Allen]

Hal, I love a challenge, here's my try. PSP9, desat ~-30, mild contrast, levels. Removed distracting straw.
http://atsmith.smugmug.com/photos/23313759-L.jpg

[ashby]

You guys are awesome. Thanks for the help. I've got a lot of work ahead of me...and a lot to learn. :clap :clap