Color Tips

[KFriede451]

Hey guys,
It always seems like the color on my photos just doesn't turn out as what I expected. It seems really washed out. I have Photoshop CS3 and Lightroom 2, but I don't really know where to start or what to do to fix color issues. It probably also doesn't help that I'm colorblind (or for a better term, color-deficient) with Red-Green (legally) but I also have problems with blue-purple-pink and brown-green. I shoot in Canon RAW. I have heard of the X-chrome contact lens recently that is supposed to help this deficiency, but I have yet to try it out and It would still be good for me to learn the Photoshop color techniques.

Thanks,
-Kfriede

[jiminyClickit]

KFriede451,

Sounds like something PS would have a filter for! Have you searched for what others may have experienced? I can't imagine trying to edit. Can you have a friend watching with you, suggesting color changes as you work?

[daft_biker]

Can you use the tools in photoshop to check the colour values? Maybe compare the colour values of some pixels you are working on and compare them against pixels in a finished image that has the kind of colour and saturation you are after. You may need to get more familiar with the histograms for each colour channel than most of us need to be too.

Good luck and please let us know if you find something that works for you!

[sybren]

Shooting in RAW is a good idea, as it gives you plenty of opportunity to boost colour later on. However, the first two things to look at are done in-camera.

1. Proper exposure. If your over- or under-expose, your colours will not be as full and saturated as with a spot-on exposure.
2. Proper white-balance. Your camera's auto white-balance (AWB) has a tendency to neutralize colours. Pick a white-balance setting that is suitable to the occasion - play with it and see what you like!

You can use all kinds of post-processing tricks, but a photographer of course should do as much as possible right in-camera.

If you post one or two photos (including EXIF information) we might give more detailed help.

[Tash]

I'm very slightly color "blind" as well, and am just starting to get serious about photography. For me, I think the fear of post-processing is probably worse than the reality since I'm only just barely deficient. Here's what I've learned so far:

1. You will always make mistakes. Double-check all your camera settings explicitly before every shoot since you're less likely to notice something "off" when you check the LCD after the first shot. I've gotten bit by white-balance being unexpectedly different before, which is part of why I...
2. Shoot RAW. Lets you fix mistakes later (especially white-balance), even though it can be challenging.
3. Try to set the white balance explicitly by using a grey-card or other item you can sample in post. It might not turn out artistically the best, but at least it's correct and you won't end up with a funky color-cast on everything that you can't see.
4. Get a second opinion from somebody who isn't color-blind. I use my wife to double-check color and white-balance adjustments. I don't do it for every shot, just a sample here and there when the location or lighting change enough to matter.

Lately I've been using DxO Optics for RAW conversion, and it's got a few canned settings that punch up the colors a bit (as well as a bunch of other corrections tuned to the lens/body you have). I've been restricting myself to that (as opposed to trying to tweak by eye), and it's been working very well. Some may think it's kind of cheating, but it really takes a lot of the frustration and uncertainty out of my post work so it's been worth every penny for me. I got some nice complements on the colors in a recent set of photos from a Disneyland trip, so it's working well enough and letting me enjoy the whole process more.

Lastly, try to have a sense of humor when people suggest shooting in black and white instead of color. It tends to strike a nerve in me when they do, but I try to have a good humor about it and experiment with it now and then. I still prefer color though...

[KFriede451]

Originally Posted by Tash

I'm very slightly color "blind" as well, and am just starting to get serious about photography. For me, I think the fear of post-processing is probably worse than the reality since I'm only just barely deficient. Here's what I've learned so far:

Lastly, try to have a sense of humor when people suggest shooting in black and white instead of color. It tends to strike a nerve in me when they do, but I try to have a good humor about it and experiment with it now and then. I still prefer color though...

Yeah I was reading a flickr group post yesterday on a colorblind person and Literally EVERYBODY was suggesting to go black and white. I don't mind black and white, but I prefer color just like you do.

Originally Posted by sybren

Shooting in RAW is a good idea, as it gives you plenty of opportunity to boost colour later on. However, the first two things to look at are done in-camera.

1. Proper exposure. If your over- or under-expose, your colours will not be as full and saturated as with a spot-on exposure.
2. Proper white-balance. Your camera's auto white-balance (AWB) has a tendency to neutralize colours. Pick a white-balance setting that is suitable to the occasion - play with it and see what you like!

You can use all kinds of post-processing tricks, but a photographer of course should do as much as possible right in-camera.

If you post one or two photos (including EXIF information) we might give more detailed help.

My exposure is fine (I don't have a problem with seeing things that are too bright/dark.) And i'm not too good at determining WB on-location, hence another reason why I use RAW. If I were to do on-location white balance, I would do a custom balance everytime with a white/grey card. It's what I'm used to doing at work with Video Cameras.

Originally Posted by jiminyClickit

KFriede451,

Sounds like something PS would have a filter for! Have you searched for what others may have experienced? I can't imagine trying to edit. Can you have a friend watching with you, suggesting color changes as you work?

I've searched around google plenty of times looking for what other people that are color blind are doing, and I found a guide that shows how to use white and black points on the photo, to fix color. It did work, but to minimal results. I think it would help to know how a normal photographer would fix color, and then go from there.


Thanks for all your help guys!
-KFriede

[Bozo Tic]

Since you shoot in RAW, it is quite an easy job to do. Just boost your contrast a bit, and it will take that flat feeling of your colors immediately. Best way to do it is manually adding a contrast. I do it by using curves on the photo's histogram. If the photo still look dull, I then use the vibrance and saturation tabs (I use Bibble Pro from Bibble Labs for my RAW development). Though with adding contrast I am normally limited to only Vibrance, and most of the time I have to take a bit saturation off due to unnatural look of the resulting pictures.

My two cents, I hope it helps somehow.

[leorolim]

Hello!
I'm also colour deficient.
That sometimes causes me to exaggerate the saturation, but with someone giving opinions and time you gain experience and get over it
And you can always shoot black and white :P

[KFriede451]

Originally Posted by leorolim

Hello!
I'm also colour deficient.
That sometimes causes me to exaggerate the saturation, but with someone giving opinions and time you gain experience and get over it
And you can always shoot black and white :P

I'm not gonna shoot all in black and white. I won't go there. Thanks for the tips guys. Eventually within the next day or so i'll post a edit of something that I just edit off of what I think will look good and then going by a guide.

[Nicole]

I'm just curious (mainly because I think the results could be interesting), have you considered editing a series of your photos so they look just right to you? Even though the colours might be off, it would be intentional and sort of a creative vision sort of thing. Not saying there's no place for fixing up your colours, but for some reason it just struck me that it could be interesting to see.

Otherwise one thing I don't think I've seen mentioned much is that you could use the colour charts at the start of each lighting situation to help you in your edits later. You put them in your photograph and then you can use the values that you get to apply those values to your other photos. This page explains it better and has links on it.