Color matching for a single shoot

[tim]

I did a shoot yesterday (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=72135), and the light varied between bright daylight, cloudy weather inside a parking building, diffused flash, and some with a little fill flash. The photos came out with the skin tones varying between white and very orange, and the same piece of clothing varied between bright pink and dark purple. Is there a good way of matching colors within a set so they come out consistent?

I've just gone through and chosen the skin tone I want, and changed all the color temperatures so they matched. The temps varied between 4800 and 8000 to get the same skin tone! Now i'm going to have to go through again and re-apply all my edits, like the skin softening and blemish removal. Is there any way to avoid having to do that? I could use the color adjustment sliders but i'd rather not do that, it won't give as good a quality as doing it in RAW.

[BDM]

I did a shoot yesterday (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=72135), and the light varied between bright daylight, cloudy weather inside a parking building, diffused flash, and some with a little fill flash. The photos came out with the skin tones varying between white and very orange, and the same piece of clothing varied between bright pink and dark purple. Is there a good way of matching colors within a set so they come out consistent?

I've just gone through and chosen the skin tone I want, and changed all the color temperatures so they matched. The temps varied between 4800 and 8000 to get the same skin tone! Now i'm going to have to go through again and re-apply all my edits, like the skin softening and blemish removal. Is there any way to avoid having to do that? I could use the color adjustment sliders but i'd rather not do that, it won't give as good a quality as doing it in RAW.

Tim, I'm far from an expert but I used to (and still do) a lot of negative color film shooting. In order to simply printing when the colors were fairly critical, I would shoot a gray card in the same light as the shot. That could be used to set the color printing filters so the colors would come out properly.

Since the color temperature of your light sources varied so widely, if you really want consistency, I think you will need to use the custom color profile approach by shooting a gray (or white) card in each varying light situation and then set a custom color temperature adjustment in the camera before the shot. Depending on the camera you are using that should not be too difficult, although, it does add a bit of time to the shoot.

If you have access to an Expodisk you could do the same thing. Put it on the lens, aim it at the principal light source, and shoot a frame. That should result in a gray frame which is used as the target for setting the custom color profile. You would have to do this for each lighting source change but I think you will find that you have much more consistency. Of course, some color sources may be beyond the range of adjustment available in the camera. After all, sunset colors, for example, are very red and the system really doesn't want to make them look like high noon. At that point you may need to resort to cooling filters on the lens and some later tweaking in Photoshop.

Good luck,

Bruce

[tim]

Thanks Bruce, custom white ballance is probably what i'll have to do.

[PhotosGuy]

Tim, have you seen the Gray card links here?

[tim]

Yes I have. I could do a custom white ballance, but in practice you don't always have time, especially with no assistant and when you're moving around a lot like I was. I ended up doing visual matching on the batch I was talking about, which isn't ideal, but was the best I could come up with.

[PhotosGuy]

but in practice you don't always have time & Now i'm going to have to go through again and re-apply all my edits, like the skin softening and blemish removal.

[tim]

I have plenty of time afterwards, but getting out a grey card every 5 shots during a shoot would be an absolute pain in the arse. I might do that for the wedding i'm doing next weekend, because i'll have an assistant around to help me stay organised.

[mbze430]

there just isn't another way really. Shooting out door on a partly cloudy day will give you this problem. I also have my model hold a macbeth color chart too. This way I can see any color shifts.

[tim]

Good idea, easier than a grey card, but still it's visual color matching. Maybe I have to bite the bullet and use a grey card more often.

[Bodog]

Tim, are you editing with Photoshop? If so, Custom curves and levels can be saved and reloaded and applied to other images. Not sure about the other tools. But you should be able to color correct with a custom curve. Might be worth a try.

Another reason why I shoot RAW... :D

[Chazs]

Another thing to try is Color Match. Open a file you like the color on and a second that you want to to change. Marquee an area on one (the target) and selct the other open one as the source. Playing around with the options can help match colors (up to a point).

[tim]

Is color match a PS tool, or is it just a phrase for "look at it"?

[PhotosGuy]

Thanks Bruce, custom white ballance is probably what i'll have to do. Tim, it appears that you didn't use custom WB even once on that shoot. Did you at least use a WB pre-set?
The "Gray Card" links indicate that Auto Wb is all over the map, so using at least one custom WB might give you a base-line for your corrections.
I find that it's easier to use a white sheet of paper I carry in my pocket on location. It fits in a back pocket & can be used for both WB & exposure checks.

[Jesper]

Is color match a PS tool, or is it just a phrase for "look at it"?It is a Photoshop CS tool: menu Image -> Adjustments -> Color Match
See http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/adobephotoshopcs/page2.asp

[PhotosGuy]

Afterthought: If you wind up having to make corrections in earlier versions of PS, you could make them with Adjustment Layers, & just drag those layers into a different pic to get a starting point for individual corrections.

[tim]

Tim, it appears that you didn't use custom WB even once on that shoot. Did you at least use a WB pre-set?
The "Gray Card" links indicate that Auto Wb is all over the map, so using at least one custom WB might give you a base-line for your corrections.
I find that it's easier to use a white sheet of paper I carry in my pocket on location. It fits in a back pocket & can be used for both WB & exposure checks.

Nope, didn't use custom white ballance, and I used auto, which has always worked fine in the page. The variation in moving from cloudy natural light, to warm sunlight, to flash, and combinations of those, causes more variation that i've seen before. I've learned my lesson, i'll at least use the WB presets, and custom WB if I have time.