greyness or filminess look to colors

[crockny]

I shot this in RAW -- I worked with the colors, reduced noise, and sharpened -- it just seems like it has a film over it or something -- but I don't want to saturate to the point where it looks artificial -- any idea what type of adjustments I can do to make this stand out more? I've had this problem with other landscapes I've shot in full sun ...



Camera Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi
Exposure 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture f/18.0
Focal Length 77 mm
ISO Speed 800
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash Off, Did not fire
X-Resolution 300 dpi
Y-Resolution 300 dpi

[RecurrentNerve]

Levels/Curve adjustment?

[ZoeyLucy]

I think maybe it is because the ISO was 800? I believe it is best to use 100 or 200 ISO outside - the higher the ISO goes, the grainier your picture can get. But, I am a novice, so I could be totally off base! Good luck!

[navcom]

It appears to be a touch of atmospheric haze/humidity/smog. Your camera is more sensitive to it's effects. Your eyes usually subconsciously "filter" out haze a little while the camera just records what it sees. It becomes more prevalent the longer your focal length. At 77mm, you are zoomed in a bit which means you are more likely to feel the effects of atmospheric hazing.

Increase your black/dark point a bit in post processing. That will help increase the contrast a bit.

[crockny]

I did adjust the blacks and then it was too dark and adjusted the exposure/brightness and seemed to be back where I started!

[navcom]

Originally Posted by crockny

I did adjust the blacks and then it was too dark and adjusted the exposure/brightness and seemed to be back where I started!

I just quickly played with your image quickly in Photoshop (see attached image). I just played with the levels a bit...upped the dark point and brought down the upper limit, then increased the exposure just slightly. It's not perfect as I don't have much time to play too extensively but it will give you an idea of what I was referring too.

Hope that helps!

[crockny]

I'm looking at it on a monitor at work and I find the office lighting and the tilt of the screen also affect how it looks! Tilted the right way it appears less filmy with better color. I'm having a hard time knowing how to adjust a picture so that it's consistent -- I'm entering this in a contest and I need to get the best quality possible ...

[Michael_2010]

Duplicating the layer and using soft light as a blending method will immediately pump up the colors and contrast a little. You can back off opacity until you have the desired result. Hard Light and Multiply also work fairly well, but more pronounced.

[crockny]

Thanks I will try that ...

[Michael_2010]

If you do fine tune with levels or curves, you will have better results with a 16 bit image. An 8 bit image is prone to posterizing and banding.

Also, when shooting in full sunlight like that, I would come way off that ISO setting. I would set it at 100 and adjust the other parts of the exposure triangle. Or, just use the Sunny 16 Rule.