Another try at Editing

[Weird Girl]

This is a photo from the same shoot I did for practice... I was having issues with the coloring and her skin being too orange. I tried changing the white balance but couldn't get it right. I would like to know if this is still too warm. She is in the shade so there isn't as much light on her face- is that ok? Any other comments are welcomed!

Nikon D300s
17-70mm lens
1/100
f4
ISO 250
No flash fired
Edited in Lightroom

[sk66]

I like the pic and the results you got, but I wouldn't call it "natural"...more along the lines of "vintage". I wouldn't call it too warm, but a little "flat/washed out"...it works here because her eye(s) really pop.

I like this one better than the other.

[sk66]

For "natural" it's a bit yellow overall...almost like a yellow "haze" (thus the "vintage statement")

Here's more what I think it should look like for "natural". (done in PS, probably harder to achieve in LR)

[Weird Girl]

Thanks so much! At least I am making progress! LOL

[ajax_andy]

Originally Posted by Weird Girl

This is a photo from the same shoot I did for practice... I was having issues with the coloring and her skin being too orange. I tried changing the white balance but couldn't get it right. I would like to know if this is still too warm. She is in the shade so there isn't as much light on her face- is that ok? Any other comments are welcomed!

Nikon D300s
17-70mm lens
1/100
f4
ISO 250
No flash fired
Edited in Lightroom

It's a strange one this as you say she doesn't have much light on her skin, but to me it looks a little over exposed... especially the top right (or her left) of the head.

There's a definate colour cast here too... if I were you I'd maybe try creating a hue/saturation adjustment and removing some of the yellow in the pic to see how this looked.

Her face to me looks a little washed out so am not sure if maybe this was caused by your W/B adjustment?

I agree it's definately better than your other pic though, nice composition and nice focus on the eyes.

I was getting a lot of colour casts a while ago and started using the dropper tools in curves to set the black and white points which seemed to really help. Unfortunately I dont have a link to the tutorial I used (and it was in photoshop not lightroom), but a quick google search will probably bring up plenty of tutorials for it

[cyber3d]

What does the original look like?


BTW, I think you should get a flickr account.

[Weird Girl]

I will definitely get an account when I get home- I have noticed that emailing them to my work computer is not helping. I will post the original at that time as well.

I started using the dropper also- am I correct in just looking for any nuetral color? I have attached another photo that I think turned out better- what do you think? Is it still too yellow or orange?

I really need to look into an affordable way of having off camera flash outdoors. I want the $300 Vagabond badly because even a speedlight will cost me at least that I think I was focusing on rim light more than the lighting on her face so I will make sure to do better with that as well. A reflector would have helped me greatly I think.

[sk66]

Best picture yet. Well exposed and color balanced.

[ajax_andy]

Originally Posted by Weird Girl

I will definitely get an account when I get home- I have noticed that emailing them to my work computer is not helping. I will post the original at that time as well.

I started using the dropper also- am I correct in just looking for any nuetral color? I have attached another photo that I think turned out better- what do you think? Is it still too yellow or orange?

I really need to look into an affordable way of having off camera flash outdoors. I want the $300 Vagabond badly because even a speedlight will cost me at least that I think I was focusing on rim light more than the lighting on her face so I will make sure to do better with that as well. A reflector would have helped me greatly I think.

Select the dropper tool for highlights, click on the whitest part of the image, click on the shadows dropper and click on the blackest part of the image.... click on the midtones dropper and click a natural grey (not easy and I usually avoid this step).

Like I said have a look for tutorials in google as they will take you through it step by step and it'll really help you sort out some of the colour casts you've experienced

Affordable speedlight? You can pick up a Yongnou speedlight for dirt cheap, pick up a wireless trigger and receiver all for far less than $300. This is where I started and tbh I still use them on the odd occasion.

This pic is definately your best pic that I've seen, much better colour balance! I do think her face is a little dull due to the lack of light on it so yes a reflector or fill flash would have helped a lot... but as it stands it's still a good pic

I think your keeness to learn and your obvious passion will see you progress very quickly

[Weird Girl]

Thanks so much! I really have been trying hard to get all of this information into my mind and be able to get the results I am looking for! It's so funny because I can easily pick apart a random photo but have issues with my own... I hear it's normal though lol

Hey, thanks for letting me know that I can go cheap with the speedlights! I still think I might want that Vagabond though... I know speedlights are more portable but if I can get better results with my strobes outdoors, maybe that's the best route...? (Oh, thanks for the tip on the dropper too!!)

I don't know but it sure is hard deciding where to put my money first in this business. I really want a Nikkor prime lens so I can get sharper pictures but sharper pictures won't be needed if they aren't lit properly... I hope I can get lighting down soon!

Thanks again for the comments and encouragement! I was getting pretty frustrated but I finally feel like I'm on the right track again