White Balance/RAW Image Help Please....

ralph III · August 24, 2012

Hello All,
I'm trying to edit some RAW photos and need some feedback.

1) Please let me know which image looks best in regards to color(WB). My new Laptop is varying from my wife's desktop color-wise, so I need to decide which computer to edit with.

Just FYI, I tried setting WB in Photoshop Elements RAW editor manually with the droper. However, the colors vary quite a bit when I check it against the "Auto" feature under Photoshop Quick Edits. I seem to be adding to much yellow/green when on my computer? The other image looks a little flat though minus such?

2) What is your basic procedure when editing in RAW as I'm used to just tweaking JPEG? I mean do you always apply a little sharpness, saturation, and/or adjust WB, etc? BTW, I do have DPP available but seem to be prefering the Elements RAW editor...

Thanks

ralph III · August 24, 2012

I used the "Auto" WB control in Elements Quick Edits on the above photo and this is what it gave me. It seems a little colorless (on my computer) with this image. I can see a clear advantage with it in other images though...

basflt · August 24, 2012

IMO #1 looks better
i never let it to "auto" but adjust everything until i think it looks good to me

as for your monitors , try to adjust them
i use these test pages
http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/

adbsgicom · August 24, 2012

First one looks spot-on to me. Second one is too blue for my taste. I find auto is generally too cool for what I like.

MileHighAko · August 24, 2012

1) The first images looks great. The second image is off. It's really easy to start second guessing yourself when staring at the monitor for too long. For me, I can generally trust the auto-WB of my camera to get it right the first time, but I NEVER trust the software to auto-WB. When doing portraits I try to always shoot a reference photo using a target (this is the one use and it works great).

2) I use Lightroom, and have found that the camera profiles do a pretty good job getting the image to a good starting point. I typically adjust saturation, vibrance, and clarity just slightly depending on the shot. I usually spend several minutes on the first shot, and then create a preset in lightroom from that first shot and apply it to the remainder of the shoot, and then tweak as necessary.

ralph III · August 25, 2012

Thanks for the replies!

CunninghamPhotography · August 28, 2012

In the future, if you can, I would buy one of these (or something similar), shoot a quick picture and set your WB to custom (check your manual). I do this and it only takes a few seconds. Saves me a bunch of time correcting white balance on all my raws. And its better than the built in auto white balance which can be easily fooled by shooting a light colored background or a white shirt/dress on a dark color background.

http://www.amazon.com/Promaster-77mm-White-Balance-Lens/dp/B003XJH1IY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1346196206&sr=8-2&keywords=white+balance

As for color inconsistencies you'd need to get a colorometer to fix those like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Datacolor-DC-S3X100-Spyder-Express/dp/B0037255LC/ref=sr_1_9?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1346196364&sr=1-9&keywords=spyder

They can range from expensive to not too bad. Especially if you pick an older generation one.

Remember that ambient light can make you see colors differently. So a bright like behind you when you're viewing the images is bad, especially if its coming through a colored curtain.

White Balance/RAW Image Help Please....

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