Rebel XT with kit lens and outdoor photography.... magenta and off-color shots.

[yobri]

For those of you that might know... it seems that all the outdoor photos that I take during sunny (or bright) days seem to be a bit on the magenta side. And many/most of these photos even seem to lack the correct flesh tone coloring and seem rather pale compared to shots that I have taken with point-and-shoot cameras in similar lighting conditions in the past.

I was shooting on P mode and Auto focus during these shots of my girlfriend at the Japanese Tea Garden in SF. The day was bright, and a bit overcast (so no direct sun in these shots).

http://www.interwebnets.com/images/pic02-tg.jpg

http://www.interwebnets.com/images/pic01-tg.jpg

Although I am very much an amateur, what I am looking for is a few things from you pros...

1) Are there settings that I need to use on my camera (XT) to make these pictures better without/before post processing?
2) Is what I should expect from the kit lens, in terms of mediocre color photos? (I've been told this on another board)
3) Is there something wrong with my camera that I should have looked at or fixed?
4) Anything else that you experts might suggest that I should do while shooting in outdoor setting/conditions.

I really appreciate all of the help that any of you pros can offer. I sincerely appreciate your helping this newbie :mrgreen:

[tim]

I don't see a magenta cast, you probably need to calibrate your monitor. Mine's half calibrated - in that i've used calibration hardware/software but the screen's a bit dark.

Answering your questions: custom white ballance (see manual), kit lens is fine, no, see (1).

HTH :)

[malcolmx]

can you shoot raw with your camera try that as this will give negative equivalent your ladies skin tone seems pinkish on my monitor but it may not be affecting the shot in raw with no post processing you will be able to see if you have a true magenta cast . i do not have your camera but you may have some custom functions that could be already set or need adjustment hope this helps

[Mitcon]

I don't see magenta problems with this either IMO, the image doesn't seem very sharp to me though. As Tim said I think the kit lens is not that bad at all, try stopping it down a little to help sharpen it up. Also as suggested try using custom WB or use RAW. There are settings in the 350D/XT to adjust sharpness, saturation, contrast and colour I think if you prefer to shoot jpeg and don't like to pp alot.

I'm not sure I would say what is the best settings as I think it depends on personal tastes, but read the manual and play with some of the settings to get more of the type of image you prefer.

[CyberPet]

Well, I see a red cast since all images comes out a bit on the red side with the 350D (at least)... I'd suggest you try slide the Hue slider 5+ to the right in Hue/Saturation in Photoshop. Otherwise you can change to "Reds" and lower the Saturation of the reds to -15 or so. I'm still trying to figure out if I should fix this in the camera or just leave it for post processing.

[tzalman]

can you shoot raw with your camera try that as this will give negative equivalent your ladies skin tone seems pinkish on my monitor but it may not be affecting the shot in raw with no post processing you will be able to see if you have a true magenta cast .

Excuse me Malcolmx, and with all due respect, but I think you need to learn what Raw is. Not only can you not see a color cast in a Raw file - you can't see anything at all because the Raw is not an image file. It is a data file that provides the information required to build an image file. You can view either the Jpg embedded in the Raw, which has been built in-camera according to the WB and other parameters set in the camera's menu by you or left at default, or a Bitmap - which will be saved in an image format - which has been built in your computer according to those same parameters or others you have substituted. There is no way to see a "virgin" image uninfluenced by the processing.

Yobri - The XT offers many ways for the photographer to interface with the in-camera (Jpg) processing. As others have said above, you can make a custom WB or use a preset WB that might be better than the AWB or change the color bias on green-magenta and blue-amber axes and even bracket the WB.
One tip I might offer: for portraits don't increase the saturation; keep it at 0 or less. Of course, in pictures like those you posted you will have to decide what is more important, the portrait or the surrounding landscape.
Elie

[yobri]

Thanks all for the replies. I'm going to read up on WB and see how I can use it to improve the clarity of my pictures :)

[pierrot]

many/most of these photos ... seem rather pale compared to shots that I have taken with point-and-shoot cameras in similar lighting conditions in the past.
This is quite normal: in a P&S the firmware is set to produce more appealing pictures, in increasing sharpeness, brightness and saturation. Just as you can do in setting your Rebel XT parameters to "1" instead of "2" (default setting which introduces no bias).

[Citizensmith]

They look fine to me as well. No particular color cast.

Not sure the first one is in the tea garden though. At least if it is its a corner I've never made it too. :)

[cfcRebel]

I don't know if i should reply or not since i'm no pro nor an expert.:D

In my 300D parameter setting, there is a slider for "Color Tone" besides Saturation, Contrast, and Sharpeness. Play with that and the white balance to see if u can get the result you want.

[PhotosGuy]

AutoWB is not your friend! At least, it's not mine. Take a look at this:
Gray card: Why your meter may be lying to you! (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=54281)

[yobri]

This is quite normal: in a P&S the firmware is set to produce more appealing pictures, in increasing sharpeness, brightness and saturation. Just as you can do in setting your Rebel XT parameters to "1" instead of "2" (default setting which introduces no bias).

Hmm... I'll try setting that to "2" then to see what the changes are like, thanks!

Citizensmith, you're right... made a mistake there. The first shot was taken across the way in the Arboretum. We went to the JTG afterwards, as this was our destination that day (and the Arboretum happened to be conveniently located in the same place as well) :D

[yobri]

AutoWB is not your friend! At least, it's not mine. Take a look at this:
Gray card: Why your meter may be lying to you! (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=54281)

Looks complex to someone of my experience level, but VERY informative nonetheless. Thanks for the link. I've got some learning to do! :D :lol: