Wrong colors. Why ?

[furiacdg]

Hi All,

please check first 2 images:
http://photo.alecab.it/provemacro/

someone can explain why colors are wrong ?

Second images are modified with Acdsee 3.1+Auto Level.

Note that 3d image has right colors ..

Photo info: P-mode, AWB, jpeg s-fine.

Thanks.
F.

[mpkirby]

My first thought is that white point is messed up. If part of the flower is supposed to be white (difficult to tell if the Auto leveling got it right), you could try using the manual white point setting of the camera.

Alternatively, shoot in raw, and fix it on import with convert raw with user specified preferences.

Finally, I note that there is substantial water in the background. I don't suppose a circular polarizer might help. (although I doubt its affecting the white point...But who knows.. I don't actually own one, so I speak from hearsay on this one :-) .

Mike



furiacdg wrote:
Hi All,

please check first 2 images:
http://photo.alecab.it/provemacro/

someone can explain why colors are wrong ?

Second images are modified with Acdsee 3.1+Auto Level.

Note that 3d image has right colors ..

Photo info: P-mode, AWB, jpeg s-fine.

Thanks.
F.

[picnic]

Are you saying that all three are the same flower?? The first 2 are water lilies and the 3rd is a lotus. The water lilies look more correct in color than the lotus to me (I say this because I have these in my water gardens--here are pics--BTW, yellow seems difficult to get right). Here is a photo of a yellow water lily and then a lotus--a pink one. These I know are correct colors--so your yellow looks more correct to me.

http://www.fototime.com/95D4E25ED51F448/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/2005CC27CF4B7FF/standard.jpg

Perhaps I'm not understanding. Since you took the photos, maybe you could explain more.

Diane

[furiacdg]

Thanks for replies.

Photos are takes from the same place, different flower (about 10cm).

Lily is less yellow than the original photo. My question is how to help G1 to find right colors. I take photo with viewfinder, so often I can't watch result immediatly.

I know that RAW can help me, but since acdsee doesn't implement RAW plugin, I prefer jpeg.

F.

[picnic]

*smile*--I see now. I went back and looked again and see what's happening. You used 'auto level' in ACDC--that altered the colors. It 'brought up' the yellow to some point it thought was correct for the photo. I would not use 'auto level'. I don't use ACDC, but use Paintshop Pro 7.02 and Corel Photopaint for my post work. I also have Irfanview, but only use that for viewer. Does ACDC have some manual leveling available?? I would use that--and I imagine it has an 'undo'--if they don't look correct, undo and try again.

Diane

[furiacdg]

picnic wrote:
*smile*--I see now. I went back and looked again and see what's happening. You used 'auto level' in ACDC--that altered the colors. It 'brought up' the yellow to some point it thought was correct for the photo. I would not use 'auto level'. I don't use ACDC, but use Paintshop Pro 7.02 and Corel Photopaint for my post work. I also have Irfanview, but only use that for viewer. Does ACDC have some manual leveling available?? I would use that--and I imagine it has an 'undo'--if they don't look correct, undo and try again.
Diane

ACDsee have manual leveling. My hint is, however, find a pratical method to help G1 to save correct colors ..

I don't like manipulate images, I prefer a good real photo instead of a superb manipulated one :)

F.

[Del K]

furiacdg wrote:

I don't like manipulate images, I prefer a good real photo instead of a superb manipulated one :)

F.

I once had the same point of view, but then I began to consider what I did when using film. I took the shot, developed the negatives in a standard way (unless I wanted to "push" to extend sensitivity), exposed the paper with the enlarger (sometimes dodging or burning) and developed the paper (sometimes using agitation or rubbing to intensify development), then chose a finish for drying. Occasionally, I would use specialty chemicals (intensifier, fine-grain developer, toner).

There was nothing real in this process after the exposure, and that was a combination of light, film choice, and my mood at the time!

I think a lot depends on what we call manipulation. There is not a thing wrong with trying to get a good high fidelity rendition of what was seen, which is how I interpret your term "real photo". At the same time, I think there is nothing wrong with choosing the best color balance (white balance), setting the white and black levels correctly (because sometimes the exposure does not result in correct levels), and cropping to improve the composition.

Within the past two days I have taken macro photos of roses in my garden (and "manipulated" as described above to get a good rendition of the scene) and made a "sandwich" of a night shot of an old building on my campus with six different shots of fireworks. The first I classify as a "real photo", the second obviously is not. I enjoy both for what they are.

People sometimes cite great photographers as justification for what they do or do not do. My favorite is Ansel Adams. I have heard people describe him as one who used a formulaic approach to achieve high detail and superbly accurate renderings of landscapes. Nothing could be further from the truth. He used his Zone System to guide both exposure and development, and many of his most famous works had combinations of burning, dodging, and special development. What made him a great photographer, to me, was his ability to visualize a finished photograph in a scene before he shot it, and then to use the tools of his craft to achieve that visualization.

Del K

[picnic]

Well, is the first photo correct colors?? If so, I would just print it--not do any leveling at all. I get the correct colors in Av mode with -1/3 or -2/3 exposure compensation--I leave the -1/3 as my default exposure compensation. However, I also mostly use manual operation.

There are 2 excellent threads in www.dpreview.com in the Canon forum. REad this post and the next one and several further down. They may help you.

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1010&page=1&message=1234462

Diane

[picnic]

del k wrote:
What made him a great photographer, to me, was his ability to visualize a finished photograph in a scene before he shot it, and then to use the tools of his craft to achieve that visualization.

Del K


This is exactly how I feel. I'm not a 'photographer' per se. I'm a textile artist--so visualization of the final object is extremely necessary for me because I have so many processes involved. Also, I tend to be process driven at times. I'm approaching my photography (which has just gotten off the ground again after many years with digital--and esp. since I got my G1 this Spring) the same way. I've worked with 2D and 3D graphics for a number of years now--sort of as an offshoot of my other 'real' work *S*--and so I'm very comfortable in post processing--or not. Its whatever floats my boat at the moment.

[furiacdg]

picnic wrote:
Well, is the first photo correct colors??
Diane

Hi picnic,
The first photo was taken by camera. I *think* that there is too much yellow. Second photo (modified with acdc) is more realistic.

However, thanks for information/comments.

F.