Indoor Portrait- yellow light fixed!

[MyNameIsAubrey]

On Saturday, I did my first paid portrait shoot for people I don't know!
We did a lot of photos outside, but he works at a rug store and wanted some shots of him and his wife on/in front of some of the awesome rugs there, but the lighting in the store was very dim and very yellow. So, here's what I did in photoshop elements to fix it.

I first used the auto levels and auto colors to get started, then, I made an adjustment layer- gradient map, and set it to black-and-white. I then set the opacity to 50% and set the layer mode to lighten. The photo still had a slight reddish tone, so I decreased the red just a bit with levels. Oh, and then I straightened it a tiny bit.
And that's pretty much it!
I hope this might work for someone else, too! Indoor lighting can be such a pain sometimes......

Also, do you think the tones are too blue? I suppose I could add a little warmth, but I'm just not quite sure.

Before-


After-

nice job! id pay for photos like these! indoor light can be a real pain, i learned that last week as well....still working on mine lol, not so great in the photoshop! but you on the other hand did an excellent job!

[eugenen]

I'm sorry if I step somebody's toes here but I have to get this off my chest. If I pay somebody to take photo's I would expect them to know what white balance is and how to measure custom white balance. All these photoshop steps might have worked but it was not needed at all if the white balance was set to start with. Also if you used RAW then in PP you can pick or measure WB.

[Mslanh01]

You did a decent job correcting the white balance, but like eugenen said, white balance does not need photoshop. It should be correct on camera, or at least corrected in RAW if you shoot in that format.

As far as the photo itself, I don't know if this was the lighting when the photo was taken, or something you did changing levels and curves, but the skin looks over exposed in some places.

Also, the composition is a little off. You cut the guy off on the side of the frame and it's kinda distracting i think.

You are well on your way, but these are a few things that you should work on. Especially if you are going to be shooting portraits for people and charging them ( I don't know if that was the case here or not).

[MyNameIsAubrey]

Thanks everyone for your replies!

ntinlizi- Thank you so much, that's very sweet of you, I appreciate your encouragement. I really needed it, I struggle with a lack of confidence, usually.
And, I'm sure you'll figure yours out!

eugenen- Although it wasn't the most pleasant thing to read, thank you for your reply. Actually, in all honesty, this was at the very beginning of the shoot, and I was pretty nervous, so I left the WB at auto, (not saying this was a smart thing to do) and took the photos. And, I don't shoot in raw (I know, big sin) because I simply don't, at this time, have the money for a huge memory card. And, I don't know if you edit RAW photos on photoshop elements? I'm just not sure.
I didn't post this to say it's okay to be careless about WB to begin with, but that sometimes, you just end up with what you have and try to make the best of it. Also, These are most certainly not the best photos of the shoot, the main thing was taking photos outside around his work. (if you'd like, you can see a few on my flickr)
But, I do agree that I still have much to learn. I try to convince people that I don't have to be paid for my lack of experience, but sometimes they're just too nice....

Mslanh01- Thank you also.
As far as the way the lighting was in the store, there were small yellow lights hanging from the ceiling, thus the uneven lighting. I suppose I could work some more on it to try and fix that.
And the composition, I totally see what you're saying, but, not to sound arrogant, but it doesn't bother me all that much...

So, once again, thank you all for making me think, and strive to be better!

[eugenen]

I looked at the other photo's and I think they are excellent. Sorry if I was a bit harsh and if you maybe explained what you did in your reply in your original post I might have responded completely different.

[t blanchard]

Originally Posted by MyNameIsAubrey

Also, do you think the tones are too blue? I suppose I could add a little warmth, but I'm just not quite sure.

I like the photo and I think the composition works because it looks intentional. Anyway, I do think the processed photo is a bit on the cool side - I'd try adding back in a bit of warmth.

[timeless]

i like the photo i think you did well in pp...i also like the effect of the yellow lighting (i'm just weird like that) i think the composition works because they are both looking in the direction of his body being cut off - makes it interesting to look at...i would have had them in the center to make it a "hangable" photo, but that's why i shoot digital so that i can take many shots some more artsy than others- i am surprised sometimes when people hang my artsier photos rather than the "normal" ones.

[ScrpnMama]

Originally Posted by MyNameIsAubrey

. And, I don't know if you edit RAW photos on photoshop elements?

Yes, you can edit RAW files in Elements. I use PSE6 and always shoot in RAW. It's well worth the extra money for the bigger SD or CF card to be able to make any needed corrections.

Keep up the good work!

[jetskiin4evr]

You did a wonderful job! I hope they paid you well!