How to reverse "tungsten" effect

grundoon · January 8, 2016

I took hundreds of photos using the "p" setting on the dial and forgot that I had once set it to "tungsten". All my outdoor shots came out with a horrible blue caste. I use a Nikon d70 and shoot jpeg. I got Lightroom to try and reverse the error but the blue is so bad that I can not get back to nuetral. Help! Is there an in camera fix? other software?

Thanks

ziggy53 · January 8, 2016

Unfortunately, JPG images are not very white balance correctable in post. Add in the fact that the Nikon D70 has a limited dynamic range and I'm afraid that highlight clipping and shadow clamping (squashed shadows) will come into play when you try radical color correction.

What post-processing software do you have at your disposal and what is your post-processing skill level? (Do you just have Lightroom or do you also have other software?)

ziggy53 · January 9, 2016

Busy this weekend, so if you need some immediate solutions you might try the following two links:

http://www.scantips.com/lights/whitebalance.html

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/4069071

grundoon · January 9, 2016

Thanks for the response. I have worked with Lightroom a little but my skill level is pretty limited. No other software beyond Windows stuff. Ready to upgrade to Nikon 7200 and believe that comes with some new Nikon software - since the problem originated in a Nikon setting I was hoping there might be help there. I know if I had shot in RAW/NEF there would be more possibility. The color/tint controls make it better but I think I need some adjustment for Kelvin temp.

ziggy53 · January 9, 2016

grundoon wrote: »

I have worked with Lightroom a little but my skill level is pretty limited. No other software beyond Windows stuff. ...

I am a Windows user partly because of the plethora of different software available. The available software for photography and related is likewise broad, and you can find free and open source software to do much of what you need (for photography in general). Unfortunately, this specific problem, using Tungsten white balance to capture daylight images in JPG file format, is something that is so specific a problem and so far off that I recommend full-blown Photoshop with layers and multiple add-ins for anything close to satisfactory results. (Even then, the results will probably not be up to high standards.)

grundoon wrote: »

... Ready to upgrade to Nikon 7200 and believe that comes with some new Nikon software - since the problem originated in a Nikon setting I was hoping there might be help there. I know if I had shot in RAW/NEF there would be more possibility. ...

There is nothing specific to Nikon which could help, and the vast majority of dSLR cameras from all manufacturers allow the same mistake. Similarly, there is no specific software from Nikon or anyone else to solve this problem in a simple fashion.

Nikon D7200 JPG files do have a bit more dynamic range than the D70 JPG files, depending on camera settings used, but even those JPG files will likely not recover as completely as if you had used Nikon RAW files in the first place and processed in post-production.

Yes, RAW/NEF files record most of the data coming directly from the sensor, and the data is before white balance is applied. This gives you every opportunity to apply appropriate white balance (WB) in post-production with even more control than the in-camera processing. You can even white balance separately for highlight and middle tones, and then a different white balance for shadows, merging the two results later.

Again, nothing specific to Nikon here. Camera RAW files are your best opportunity for a WB do-over, as needed.

grundoon wrote: »

... The color/tint controls make it better but I think I need some adjustment for Kelvin temp.

Correct! You do need WB correction, which is indicated in Kelvin temperatures. Unfortunately, JPG files are designed for distribution, not acquisition. As such, JPG files have already thrown out most of the data coming from the sensor, and hard coded the WB into the result.

The following is a brief outline for what I suggest trying using full Photoshop. Be sure to back up your original files first.

I recommend additionally purchasing "PictoColor® iCorrect® Portrait™ 2.0 Ps" plugin for Photoshop. This will help with the color correction and has pretty good mask automation as well as Skin Tone automated correction and custom Memory Colors technology. That's a lot of color automation which will save you tons of time in post-production.

Import the files into Photoshop as 16 bit. While JPG files have already introduced some quantization errors, you want to minimize any further degradation as you proceed.

Assuming that you correctly exposed for the scene, the first thing I would do is convert the files into default B&W and save as a separate Photoshop file. This preserves luminance values and helps to reduce the impact of the highlight clipping and shadow clamping I mentioned previously, because any color correction will almost certainly affect highlight and shadow detail.

Now make three copies of the full-color background and label them: White Balance, Middle Tones and Black Balance.

Select the White Balance layer alone.

Start the iCorrect® Portrait™ plugin and left-mouse-click on something in the image which should be white. OK the results back to Photoshop.

Select the Black Balance layer alone.

Start the iCorrect® Portrait™ plugin and left-mouse-click on something in the image which should be black. OK the results back to Photoshop.

(We will merge all of the layers together later in the process.)

Select the Middle Tones layer alone. If you have skin tones as well as other memory colors, you may wish to copy this layer as many times as needed for each major color correction.

Start the iCorrect® Portrait™ plugin and choose the correct selection in the "Memory Colors" box; either the Skin Tone correction icon or the Memory Colors icon. Left-mouse-click on something in the image which should be a skin tone (or other memory color like a blue sky or green grass, etc., if in that mode). OK the results back to Photoshop.

You may have to also mask and promote color corrected elements and delete other elements before proceeding.

Open the B&W file, select all and copy all, pasting that back into the color version we have been working on.

I recommend saving an intermediate file copy with all layers at this time, if you haven't already done so.

Now use tonal blending procedures along with multiple additional copies of some of the layers and different blending modes, plus add some layers where highlights have lost color and promote that color into an under layer for recombination, and ... on and on, until you arrive at something maybe more like what you wanted in the first place.

Yes, it can take hours to accomplish anything usable for each image, but the techniques that you learn will be time well spent.

Links to products and some techniques mentioned (No, I don't get anything from these manufacturers, nor from the links. These are products I bought myself at full price [except that I'm still at PS CS4 and an older version of iCorrect® Portrait™] and techniques that I really do use.):

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?ipp=24&sts=ma&N=0&setIPP=24&srtclk=itemspp&Ntt=Adobe+Creative+Cloud+Photography+Plan

http://www.pictocolor.com/portrait.htm
http://www.pictocolor.com/UserGuides/iCorrectPortrait10/ColorCorrectionC.html

http://www.creativetechs.com/tipsblog/quick-skin-tone-retouching-in-photoshop/

http://layersmagazine.com/take-control-of-tonal-blending.html

http://photodoto.com/how-to-master-blending-modes-in-photoshop/

https://iso.500px.com/luminosity-masks-in-digital-blending/

How to reverse "tungsten" effect

Comments