Color Correcting and editing

phtgrphybabe

Hey guys!
new to the dgrin and new to smugmug.
i was wondering what ya'll do in regards to color correcting/ editing photos you put on smugmug for clients to buy. do you correct ALL the photographs you take? or just a select few?
Thanks for your input!

sherijohnson

I do the auto correct on mine and they turn out great. I suggest you order some prints and see how you think they turn out so you can decide what works best for you.

I thought I understood your question, but after seeing a few responses realized I might not have. It all depends on the shoot as to whether or not the images need much editing.

jeffreaux2

phtgrphybabe wrote:

Hey guys!
new to the dgrin and new to smugmug.
i was wondering what ya'll do in regards to color correcting/ editing photos you put on smugmug for clients to buy. do you correct ALL the photographs you take? or just a select few?
Thanks for your input!

I sort first...tossing anything that is
-mis-focused
-awkwardly posed
-poorly exposed
-otherwise flawed

Beyond that....

I shoot RAW and therefore do some color work on everything I shoot. This, of course, is all done on a calibrated monitor. I dont trust my color to smugmug or anyone else and print everything via the "True" setting. Any inconsistancies I have had regarding color have always been attributed to selecting "auto". This is especially true with black and white or tinted monotone prints.

joshhuntnm

I correct everything except the really bad ones that I toss. My theory is a pic may not be that great from a photography viewpoint, but it may be the only pic you got of Aunt Mitelda. Nobody sees anything that hasn't gone through Lightroom.

Scott_Quier

with Jeff and Josh. Everything for public consupmtion has been worked. As for color, none but the photog knows what the photo is supposed to look like. Allowing anyone but the photog to adjust color is asking for them to change it from the intended.

Swartzy

I correct everything that hits a gallery. The color space differences of Lightroom and Photoshop exist. For corrected color LR is not the way to go...a whole nother discussion.

joshhuntnm

Swartzy wrote:

I correct everything that hits a gallery. The color space differences of Lightroom and Photoshop exist. For corrected color LR is not the way to go...a whole nother discussion.

OK, I'll bite. why is LR not the way to go?

sherijohnson

Swartzy wrote:

I correct everything that hits a gallery. The color space differences of Lightroom and Photoshop exist. For corrected color LR is not the way to go...a whole nother discussion.

This can be adjusted to match though if one desired it to.

Swartzy

joshhuntnm wrote:

OK, I'll bite. why is LR not the way to go?

Contrary to popular belief....yes, you can set both LR & PS for instance...sRGB...BUT.....sRGB in LR is actually Pro photo 16 and PS is sRGB. Now....if you set up your colorspace to match in Pro Photo 16 (a much better color space) then what you see is the same...but now what happens when you convert it to sRGB? Thomas Knoll would not budge on the issue of Pro Photo in LR.....I can post some examples if you want and the differences are remarkable.

If you use the eyedropper (let's use a Scott Kelby trick here), and click on 33% R, G, B that should be neutral gray right?...then what's up with the color cast?..especially with the same lighting source...think studio. Pull it into PS...bring up a curves or levels layer....look at the color source....look at the numbers. Another tutorial spoke of using low 70's as numbers for the eyedropper in LR...again..same problems.

I know many think that LR does the right job regarding color correction but I have yet to find it accurate. Others simply do not realize what they are seeing could be improved upon. Some photos it doesn't make any difference as an artistic effect is applied (most often the case) and much can be done in LR alone. When it comes to clean portraiture those images will start in LR but always end up in PS as the final authority.

Here is an example. The one on the left color corrected in LR 32.7 R, 32.1 G, 30 B...as close numbers as possible with the eyedropper in the photo. The right frame is PS correction. Do you see the color cast on the left?....why? These are not the same color spaces. This particular photo is not nearly as different as many I work with, in fact, it was pretty close overall, just needed some pop. The pop btw is a resultant factor of color correction, not jacking up the contrast.

ladytx

I definitely see the difference and prefer the photo on the right.

Can you point me to a tutorial or explain what you are doing in LR and PS for color correction?

Swartzy wrote:

If you use the eyedropper (let's use a Scott Kelby trick here), and click on 33% R, G, B that should be neutral gray right?...

What steps are you talking about here?

Pull it into PS...bring up a curves or levels layer....look at the color source....look at the numbers.

I know what a curves or levels layer is but .. look at the color source ... look at the numbers ...?

Here is an example. The one on the left color corrected in LR 32.7 R, 32.1 G, 30 B...as close numbers as possible with the eyedropper in the photo.

??

The right frame is PS correction. Do you see the color cast on the left?....why? These are not the same color spaces. This particular photo is not nearly as different as many I work with, in fact, it was pretty close overall, just needed some pop. The pop btw is a resultant factor of color correction, not jacking up the contrast.

How did you accomplish the color correction?

[/quote]

Swartzy

Here's one of many beginning tutes. This will describe both using auto features and manual features by numbers. There are volumes written on the subject. I only offer the example so that other's may see that there is a difference in LR to PS. The choice of how one desires a photo to look is theirs. All too often though it appears to be a case of not realizing a color cast exists with incorrect white balance issues as people post photos and can't figure out why this is.

http://www.webdesign.org/web/photoshop/color-management/color-correction-using-curves-in-photoshop-cs3-video-tutorial.15968.html

Oh, and here's a tute I wrote a couple years ago on our Minnesota site:

http://www.cameratalk.org/mn/viewtopic.php?t=1761

tipsinartok

Wow, thank you so much for those. I haven't looked at that video one yet, but I just tried the other one on a few of my pictures and noticed a huge difference, even comparing them to ones I thought were already colour corrected!

Swartzy wrote:

Here's one of many beginning tutes. This will describe both using auto features and manual features by numbers. There are volumes written on the subject. I only offer the example so that other's may see that there is a difference in LR to PS. The choice of how one desires a photo to look is theirs. All too often though it appears to be a case of not realizing a color cast exists with incorrect white balance issues as people post photos and can't figure out why this is.

http://www.webdesign.org/web/photoshop/color-management/color-correction-using-curves-in-photoshop-cs3-video-tutorial.15968.html

Oh, and here's a tute I wrote a couple years ago on our Minnesota site:

http://www.cameratalk.org/mn/viewtopic.php?t=1761

zoomer

I process every photo in lightroom. Every photo that will displayed in a gallery is also fully checked and edited at required to make it as good as it can be in photoshop.
I normally FULLY process about 100 photos for the clients gallery. Yeah it takes awhile but that is my advertising.
My Smugmug site get appx. 150,000 to 250,000 HITS a month so there are a lot of people looking a those photos so they need to be as good as possible.

pwp

zoomer wrote:

I process every photo in lightroom. Every photo that will displayed in a gallery is also fully checked and edited at required to make it as good as it can be in photoshop.
I normally FULLY process about 100 photos for the clients gallery. Yeah it takes awhile but that is my advertising.
My Smugmug site get appx. 150,000 to 250,000 HITS a month so there are a lot of people looking a those photos so they need to be as good as possible.

I also fully process/retouch 100 photos for my clients, and lay that out in my contract for them. If they wish to have additional photos retouched, I do charge a nominal fee for my time, however they usually will order the print so I find it worth my time. (I certainly do not want them to order an enlargement of an unretouched photo, as that does not do me any justice!)

KyTom

I NEVER auto correct. I shoot RAW and I correct everything from WB to exposure to sharpen. I do this with every single photo. If I am asking someone to buy a print, I want to KNOW what it will look like when the client receives it. But, I also have a calibrated monitor also.