What color does the sky look like to you?

marlinspike

What color does the sky look like to you in these pictures?

http://Davidson.smugmug.com/photos/9011332-M.jpg
http://Davidson.smugmug.com/photos/11314139-M.jpg

On my monitor they are very blue, on my prints they are purplish. I'm trying to figure out which needs profiling.
Thanks,
Richard

fish

marlinspike wrote:

What color does the sky look like to you in these pictures?

http://Davidson.smugmug.com/photos/9011332-M.jpg
http://Davidson.smugmug.com/photos/11314139-M.jpg

On my monitor they are very blue, on my prints they are purplish. I'm trying to figure out which needs profiling.
Thanks,
Richard

On my iMac, the first shot looks periwinkle.

marlinspike

OK, that's what people have been saying on other forums too. So the smugmug printing is dead on, but my laptop is way off (though the prints came out good enough). So...anybody want to rent me a monitor profiler?
Richard

marlinspike

How about now?
http://Davidson.smugmug.com/photos/12540803-M.jpg

fish

Blue-er.

ubergeek

Not quite blue
Colors like that deserve fancy names like "lavender" or "periwinkle." Definitely there's a slightly higher red component in the sky than should be there. However, your color-corrected photo that you posted later does look more like the light blue/cyan color that a clear sky usually ought to be.

Cheers,
Jeremy

marlinspike wrote:

What color does the sky look like to you in these pictures?

http://Davidson.smugmug.com/photos/9011332-M.jpg
http://Davidson.smugmug.com/photos/11314139-M.jpg

On my monitor they are very blue, on my prints they are purplish. I'm trying to figure out which needs profiling.
Thanks,
Richard

marlinspike

OK, so unless somebody can rent me a monitor calibrator (I'm a broke college student and can't afford to buy one, unless I wanted to bankrupt myself and get the colorvision colorplus, which I hear isn't worth buying), something I don't think worth pursuing, I'll just make my photos look good to me and then before saving shift the blue hue -20.
Richard

ubergeek

Color calibration
I don't know what image editing software you use, but I do know that Photoshop and Photoshop Elements ship with the "Adobe RGB" control panel. While not as accurate as a true calibration tool, this utility will get you colors that are within the ballpark. I'm not terribly familiar with other image editing applications, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of them shipped with a similar utility as well.

Cheers,
Jeremy

marlinspike

I use PS CS, but laptop screens cannot be calibrated by software.
Richard

ubergeek

LCD calibration
I'm not so sure. I have "calibrated" laptop screens using the Adobe Gamma utility, and although the LCD color response is a bit different than a CRT's, in my experience the tool is still useful. While I wasn't been able to set the black level at the point where the utility "wanted" it to be (meaning that highlight and shadow detail wouldn't be as accurate as they should be), I was at least able to get the color balance correct. Sure, it's not as accurate as it could get with dedicated calibration hardware, but it's far preferable to an uncalibrated display.

And by the way, since when can "broke college students" afford laptops and Photoshop CS but not a $99 calibration tool?

Cheers,
Jeremy

marlinspike

Dear ol' dad paid for the laptop ($1100 1.5 years ago) and let's not discuss how I came across PS CS. Like I said, I could bankrupt myself and get the colorplus one, but I've heard that that's not so hot, plus I may need some parts for my car (hopefully just a line and not a water pump...working on the car is such a pain in the winter), so that might not be the wisest thing to do. If I get one at some point, is the spyder 2 worth the $80 premium over the colorplus?
Richard

ubergeek

Calibration tools
I've used a GretagMacbeth Eye-One, but not any of the Pantone devices (Spyder, etc.), so I don't have any basis for a comparison. I'm curious as to what the differences can really be--as far as I can tell, the major difference between a $100 package and a $300 one is the feature set of the software that comes with it.

Any chance you could ask for a calibrator for Christmas?

Cheers,
Jeremy

marlinspike

I can't ask for a calibrator for two reasons
1 - the parents don't exactly support my photography habit (even though I make money doing it)
2 - I think I'll be asking for the funds for a ball joint and fan clutch insted. My poor tired old car...I'll never let this race horse out to stud, but I think it really wants me to...please don't call PETA on me

Ugh, at some point I'm going to have to sell my dRebel for the cash. If I never bought that damn sigma 70-200 I would be a lot better off (for one thing I would have been able to keep shooting instead of being without a lens because it won't focus...I'm out probably about $400 in print sales profits thanks to that, and I would haev spent $40 sending to the sigma multiple times). It seems I never catch a break.
Richard

ginger_55

I am in trouble: they all look blue on my monitor, to my eyes, as my brain interprets them.

ginger (I understand perfectly having a laptop and CS, but not having the money for a sandwich, to say the least of a calibrator)


I have the solution, we can just shoot sunsets, or close to that time, then the sky would be as we say it is.

Michiel de Brieder

sometimes the brain fools

ginger_55 wrote:

I am in trouble: they all look blue on my monitor, to my eyes, as my brain interprets them.

First I thought, when looking at the sky: well it's blue, then I started to look whether it is purple and then it was purple.... The mind sometimes plays games with us, I'm sure. Without reference it is hard to see what we see if you get my meaning The brain might think: "Hey, that should be blue, okay, I'll just let this guy think it's blue". Just like those word sequences: reading words is just as easy when the letters are mixed if only the first and last are at the correct place , like this example:
"Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe."
Enjoy your sunday!

pathfinder

Michiel de Brieder wrote:

First I thought, when looking at the sky: well it's blue, then I started to look whether it is purple and then it was purple.... The mind sometimes plays games with us, I'm sure. Without reference it is hard to see what we see if you get my meaning The brain might think: "Hey, that should be blue, okay, I'll just let this guy think it's blue". Just like those word sequences: reading words is just as easy when the letters are mixed if only the first and last are at the correct place , like this example:
"Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe."
Enjoy your sunday!

On a MAC in the utilities folder in the applications folder there is a program called "Digital Color Meter" that can read the actual RGB values in the pixels in the sky and this should tell you if the color is displayed correctly or not. I think there is a similar program in Windozs also somewhere.

wxwax

First one looks purple to me, second one is more blue.

fish

pathfinder wrote:

On a MAC in the utilities folder in the applications folder there is a program called "Digital Color Meter" that can read the actual RGB values in the pixels in the sky and this should tell you if the color is displayed correctly or not. I think there is a similar program in Windozs also somewhere.

Excellent idea, pathy...

In 8-bit actual, the first image reads:
R 121
G 128
B 244

second image reads:
R 128
G 148
B 234

gubbs

Michiel de Brieder wrote:

First I thought, when looking at the sky: well it's blue, then I started to look whether it is purple and then it was purple.... The mind sometimes plays games with us, I'm sure. Without reference it is hard to see what we see if you get my meaning The brain might think: "Hey, that should be blue, okay, I'll just let this guy think it's blue". Just like those word sequences: reading words is just as easy when the letters are mixed if only the first and last are at the correct place , like this example:
"Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe."
Enjoy your sunday!

How many "F's" in the following text?

"Finished files are the result of years of scientific study combined with the experience of years"

gubbs

gubbs wrote:

How many "F's" in the following text?

"Finished files are the result of years of scientific study combined with the experience of years"

By the way its 6

wxwax

gubbs wrote:

By the way its 6

Huh?

marlinspike

When you do it in your head you're supposed to miss the f's in of. I did the first time I saw something similar, but for some reason this time i caught them.
Richard

fish

wxwax wrote:

Huh?

He's right. It's six.

wxwax

I'll be damned.

gubbs

wxwax wrote:

I'll be damned.

Most people (including me) only see 3, my wife tells me "if you see all 6 straight off your some kind of genius" (she saw 6).

I personally think that if you see only 3, you're the type of person that is able to quickly recognise the important details & prioritize accordingly

ginger_55

I saw six, can't speed read those things.

g

luckyrwe

I just scanned the top of the sentence structure to look for the curve of the f above the other letters. I found 6. I didn't read the sentence, the instructions didn't ask me too.