Fixing WB issues and skin tones in CS3
harjtt
Registered Users Posts: 223 Major grins
Hi All!
I'm sure there's a really good tutorial on the site and I'll be scouting around for it as soon as I've finished posting this wee question regards fixing WB and getting the right skin tones.
I was at the Nikon Expo in London last week, and during the workshops their was 3 different types of lighting in use and with the last shoot all of them together - flourcesent, tungesten (studio lights) and camera flash Nikon SB800's on stands, as well as a lot of on camera flash from all the other shooters. I set my E1 to shoot in RAW and Auto WB, so that I could fix the WB and exposure if I messed up (force of habit
as I usually do).
The RAw files stated that the camera WB was at 5800 and after setting the WB in CS3 to flash (I was also using an FL50 strobe) I was getting this:
Now the background should have been grey so I know that the WB is still out.Some of the other pics in this shoot show part of the white background and using the picker and Auto WB in CS3 - the WB was showing up as 3750. The same image then looks like this:
I know the second image looks more accurate in terms of colour but I'm not sure about the skin tone in this or in some of the other images. Is the skin tone in the above shot correct or is it off and if it is how do I go about fixing it within CS3 ? Also how do you fix the WB in a shot where there is no white in the scene ?
you can check some of the other shots in the gallery itself and let me know if I need to redo them (My positioning was not brilliant either and was to the right of Katie by at least 10 feet):
Starting from http://harjtt.smugmug.com/gallery/3900589/1/228749745/Large
Cheers
HarjTT
:thumb
I'm sure there's a really good tutorial on the site and I'll be scouting around for it as soon as I've finished posting this wee question regards fixing WB and getting the right skin tones.
I was at the Nikon Expo in London last week, and during the workshops their was 3 different types of lighting in use and with the last shoot all of them together - flourcesent, tungesten (studio lights) and camera flash Nikon SB800's on stands, as well as a lot of on camera flash from all the other shooters. I set my E1 to shoot in RAW and Auto WB, so that I could fix the WB and exposure if I messed up (force of habit
as I usually do).The RAw files stated that the camera WB was at 5800 and after setting the WB in CS3 to flash (I was also using an FL50 strobe) I was getting this:
Now the background should have been grey so I know that the WB is still out.Some of the other pics in this shoot show part of the white background and using the picker and Auto WB in CS3 - the WB was showing up as 3750. The same image then looks like this:
I know the second image looks more accurate in terms of colour but I'm not sure about the skin tone in this or in some of the other images. Is the skin tone in the above shot correct or is it off and if it is how do I go about fixing it within CS3 ? Also how do you fix the WB in a shot where there is no white in the scene ?
you can check some of the other shots in the gallery itself and let me know if I need to redo them (My positioning was not brilliant either and was to the right of Katie by at least 10 feet):
Starting from http://harjtt.smugmug.com/gallery/3900589/1/228749745/Large
Cheers
HarjTT
:thumb
0
Comments
Will you be correcting the raw camera data in raw conversion software, or will you be correcting processed images in Photoshop? If raw camera data, a link to a raw file may help - and information on what platform and programs will you be using so that answers can be more specific.
In the corrected version, the backgrond is more neutral, but still not neutral.
The clothing is not neutral black.
The model appears to need more yellow in her skin for an "ideal" bronzed tan.
Stephen Marsh.
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~binaryfx/
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~binaryfx/
http://prepression.blogspot.com/
http://www.smugmug.com/help/skin-tone
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
Hi Stephen
1. Will you be correcting the raw camera data in raw conversion software, or will you be correcting processed images in Photoshop?
I'm currently using CS3's Camera raw 4.0 and want to try and correct as much as I can there before taking the file into photoshop itself. I'm running CS3 on OSX and as soon as I can I'll try and post a link to an original RAW from the E1.
2. "In the corrected version, the backgrond is more neutral, but still not neutral.
The clothing is not neutral black."
I've noticed that as well, and I know her dress was a deeper black than what even the corrected version is showing. I do have a problem with my monitor at home as it looks as if its on its way out - 80% black looks like its 100% black
3. "The model appears to need more yellow in her skin for an "ideal" bronzed tan."
I knew there was something wrong there as she definetly had a tan and you can see that in the earlier shoots.
Hi Ziggy,
Thanks for the link to that how to as I had remembered seeing it earlier but couldn't remember where it was. i'm going to go and have a real good read in a wee bit.
Now my final question - more technical and I'm not sure if this part of the forum is the correct place for it but how do you deal with multiple light sources all at the same time and how would one deal with it in pp ?
Cheers
Harj
The reality is that mixed light sources are often not totally correctable. You need to determine the component of the image that needs to be the most corrected and work from there.
In a truly difficult situation you may have to mask individual subjects and work each individually.
I've seen, and shot, situations so bad that B&W conversion is the only practical solution.
Two of my kids graduated from a local community college and the graduation ceremony was held in the school's gymnasium. I was using flash for fill and the dominant ambient light was some kind of newer sodium light.
I wound up using the channel mixer to help correct the images and it worked pretty well to smooth out the differences.
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
I concur, do as much as you can in ACR if starting with raw camera data (just don't go overboard and make things harder to finish off in Photoshop).
Posting a link to a raw camera file would help a great deal, if one is to comment on raw conversions!
P.S. on your last point, ACR only handles (but very well) one colour cast, so you will need to go into Photoshop if the colour issues are more challenging. Do the hardest WB in ACR, then fix the rest in Photoshop (either by blending in further raw camera file renderings using different WB or with more regular Photoshop methods).
Attached below is a rough sample from the jpeg, done with RGB apply image, RGB curves and Lab curves in Photoshop (no selections or masks). This is by no means a final edit, but a rough visual indication of where I would be heading with my rendering in ACR with the raw camera data. It could be batched and tweaked for individual imges, but this is where ACR would be better for the grunt work. I am not sure if the hue change in the hair is correct or not, but it should be easy to isolate the addition of yellow to the lighter red tones if the hue change in the hair is unwanted.
In ACR I would attempt to get the WB and exposure right. I would then use the various hue and colour tools in ACR to attempt to isolate the background and make it neutral while at the same time increasing yellow in the skin (but not the background) and setting the black point to be more neutral.
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~binaryfx/228738919-L-RGBLABCURVES.jpg
EDIT: The quick example done last night on my laptop looks a bit too yellow on my work CRT this morning!
Regards,
Stephen Marsh.
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~binaryfx/
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~binaryfx/
http://prepression.blogspot.com/
Thanks for that and I just checked the file your posted and your updated version looks much better ! Now I know how to go about fixing all of the other files.
I'm at work atm, but as soon as I get home I'll put a RAw file up as well.
Cheers
Harj