Process this RAW, $10 PayPal bounty to winner

Hi-

I can't seem to get this photo quite right... the skin tones are washed out, the image isn't very warm. I think part of the problem may be my ignorance of how to properly set Photoshop's color-space settings, but anyway's $10 PayPal to whoever sends me the best version of this image.

1) Download the RAW from here:
http://www.yousendit.c​om …ad/YTYvTkFoSU9l​cEkwTVE9PQ

2) Email a 1600-wide .jpg version to: bf2.uae [at] gmail.com by 1 August 2011

3) I PayPal $10 to winner

4) Winner emails full size .TIF to me


Please let me know if any questions, and thanks!


//** Edit 29 July 2011 - Updated download link for the RAW ** //


//** Edit 1 August 2011 - Submissions can be viewed and voted on here:

http://www.****com/s/K​L7PK9L Thanks!!! ** //

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Load it into Adobe Camera Raw and use the White Balance EyeDropper tool and then click anywhere on one of the greyish trees. Then you can also turn the Vibrance up a touch which should do the trick.

I would use the WB eyedropper and click on either the lady's black shirt, or one of her black earrings and choose the one you like the most. I would suggest applying the $10 towards a how to book on photoshop and/or raw processing. You know the old saying, "You can fix a man's raw file, but if you teach him how to process them own his own, he will enjoy photography for life."

Bryan Conner wrote in post #12820051
You know the old saying, "You can fix a man's raw file, but if you teach him how to process them own his own, he will enjoy photography for life."

I believe that is from the mouth of the lord.

Thanks for the comments and suggestions, and special thanks for the submissions thus far.

I do generally utilize Adobe Camera RAW, and in fact am already familiar with the white balance eyedropper tool. And yet, I never could get the colors to look natural. Like I said before, one thing I believe that I need to do is iron out color-space issues, because what I see in Camera RAW doesn't match how the image looks once I bring it up in Irfanview or Picasa. (Images that look vibrant and lovely in Camera RAW look dull and muted in Irfanview and Picasa, which makes me believe that there is a Adobe RGB vs. sRGB discontinuity that I don't have properly sorted.) That issue aside, this image is particularly troublesome for me, for some reason.

I have Scott Kelby's '7-Point System of Adobe Photoshop', and went through his usually great 7-steps on this image, but even still, something just wasn't right in the end! The lady and kids have fair skin, and combining that with yellow sunset light filtering through greenish trees... I give up. Time to call in the experts: you.

Thanks again to all -- this will be really interesting to see the variation in the results. I'll post the 'winner' on 1 August. And one note: there are no 'losers' in this contest... image preferences are subjective, of course, and some folks may submit something that looks perfectly great, but it's just not what I'm after.

UV254 wrote in post #12820316
what I see in Camera RAW doesn't match how the image looks once I bring it up in Irfanview or Picasa. (Images that look vibrant and lovely in Camera RAW look dull and muted in Irfanview and Picasa, which makes me believe that there is a Adobe RGB vs. sRGB discontinuity that I don't have properly sorted.)

^ That could be very likely what the problems is. A Color Management issue between applications!

Have you tried Correcting the White balance and color with DPP? Probably a little more accurate for a Canon CR2 file.

My guess is that the photo was over exposed to begin with. When that happens it is almost impossible to get the color to look great. You may tweak it to look acceptable but proper exposure will get you the best starting point. I only know this because it has happened to me too many times LOL

queenbee288 wrote in post #12825849
My guess is that the photo was over exposed to begin with. When that happens it is almost impossible to get the color to look great. You may tweak it to look acceptable but proper exposure will get you the best starting point. I only know this because it has happened to me too many times LOL

Take a look at the Histogram and it reveals the exposure is good. Not underexposed nor overexposed, neither clipping shadows or highlights.

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All the corrections in the world aren't going to help if your color managed applications are using different profiles or if you are using non color managed apps.Picasa viewer makes automated adjustments when I open photos on my screen and it screws them all up often. Don't use it unless it's just to browse through images. If your screen is calibrated and you have photoshop setup for proper color management, trust what you see in photoshop and don't worry too much about it. If you don't have these things setup, then do so and you will find things much easier to deal with. You have to remember that any image you post online will likely look different on every other person's computer unless they are viewing it in a color managed and calibrated environment as well.

Email Sent.

I made several and put them in a folder. This particular one makes you a San Diego Chargers fan.

I'll mail you the serious ones.

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Looks like it was over exposed a bit. Couple quick tweaks in Lightroom: