Subjects without a tan looks tanned

Good Morning All

I have a Canon T3i shoot in raw mode, the picture named Tan is straight from the camera shot in Tv or AV mode forget which one and opened in LightRoom 4, seems all of my pictures look tanned when somebody that has never been in the sun long enough to get a tan, turns out getting one for some reason. My subject in the pictures is 8 months old, so he hasn't been around long enought to be tanned, Now in LightRoom 4 I can click on the eyedropper and click on the lightest part of the skin that I can find or just do and auto white balance the picture looks like real time instead of tanned. Question is there a setting that I need to adjust to take care of the problem.

Well by default, I think, Lightroom sets the white balance to "As Shot". This means that whatever your camera said the white balance was (and stamped into the info in the RAW file), is how LR will display it. So, if I'm understanding correctly, the solution wherein you don't have to modify it in LR is to set your white balance correctly in camera.

dave_p wrote in post #15232772
Well by default, I think, Lightroom sets the white balance to "As Shot". This means that whatever your camera said the white balance was (and stamped into the info in the RAW file), is how LR will display it. So, if I'm understanding correctly, the solution wherein you don't have to modify it in LR is to set your white balance correctly in camera.

Thanks Dave_P
What would us new guys do without people like you, Oh I know shoot jpg in auto mode and that is what I keep thinking about doing because this stuff is so over my head trying to shoot in other modes that I just want to say oh well it looks ok I quess and move on.
Thanks again
Don

Don't click the eyedropper on skin. Skin is not neutral. The eyedropper needs to be clicked on a neutral grey or white. The bones on his shirt would be a better candidate for the eyedropper but you don't really know if those are truly neutral. This is were shooting a known neutral target like a proper grey card comes in handy.

The first version is too warm (too much yellow) but the second is too cool (too much blue). What color temp and tint is LR4 reporting on the shots you posted?

What was the actual light source? It looks like pop-up flash to me. I'd probably use 5500k and 0 tint as a starting point and adjust to taste. Remember, people usually look better slightly warm rather than cool.

mike_d wrote in post #15233780
Don't click the eyedropper on skin. Skin is not neutral. The eyedropper needs to be clicked on a neutral grey or white. The bones on his shirt would be a better candidate for the eyedropper but you don't really know if those are truly neutral. This is were shooting a known neutral target like a proper grey card comes in handy.

The first version is too warm (too much yellow) but the second is too cool (too much blue). What color temp and tint is LR4 reporting on the shots you posted?

What was the actual light source? It looks like pop-up flash to me. I'd probably use 5500k and 0 tint as a starting point and adjust to taste. Remember, people usually look better slightly warm rather than cool.

Thanks Mike_D
yes it was built in flash, white balance was 6600 and tint was +11, I reset the picture and set it to 5500k and tint to 0
Here's the picture

OK 5500k looks closer in the white balance department. I also like to add some contrast, clarity, and vibrance. I'd probably warm him up a bit but that gets into personal preference and how your monitor is displaying the colors.

mike_d wrote in post #15234075
OK 5500k looks closer in the white balance department. I also like to add some contrast, clarity, and vibrance. I'd probably warm him up a bit but that gets into personal preference and how your monitor is displaying the colors.

Contrast +17, Clarity -24, Vibrance +5

Did you lower the exposure too? Also, I usually add clarity except when shooting older people.

mike_d wrote in post #15234424
Did you lower the exposure too? Also, I usually add clarity except when shooting older people.

Hi Mike
I noticed something different in the last picture and don't know what it was that I did, Exposure is set to zero. On the first picture I did a reset on all the things that I had done to it and cropped, I can't remember if I had adjusted the exposure then or not, the original was 6600k and +11 tint I then exported it to my desktop, the second picture I used the eyedropper, the third picture I set the WB to 5500k and set the tint to zero then I exported it to my desktop, the third picture I add contrast, clairty, Vibrance, the fourth picture I think I did a reset again because I remember I had to recrop it and may have lost any added exposure that I had in the other pictures.
Thanks
Don

DigitalDon wrote in post #15234613
I noticed something different in the last picture and don't know what it was that I did,

Probably the negative Clarity.

DigitalDon wrote in post #15234278
Contrast +17, Clarity -24, Vibrance +5

Don without knowing the actual skin tones of the subject, to me your third pic, post #5, looks the best, "a bit warm"...does the kid have some Asian blood?

tonylong wrote in post #15235365
Don without knowing the actual skin tones of the subject, to me your third pic, post #5, looks the best, "a bit warm"...does the kid have some Asian blood?

Hi Tony
His dad is Hispanic.

D Thompson wrote in post #15235069
Probably the negative Clarity.

I think in the original photo 1 I had set exposure, because all my pictures seem to come out under exposed, Here is what I usually do to all my pictures in LightRoom 4.

I enable the shadow clipping and highlights clippings boxes and move the highlights to the right untill it fills the highlights with red then I back off with the slidder until the red is gone, I do this with the exposure and whites to, then I will decress the shadow and black slidder to the left until they fill with blue then backoff the slidders until the blue is gone, I think I done that in the first picture I posted, the the next picture all I changed was the WB and tint as Mike_D suggested, the third picture I just added Contrast, Clarity, and Vibrance, and in the fourth picture I must have reset it back to the original state because I had to recrop it.

Thanks to all of you for your help it is much appreciated
Don

If you don't mind others taking a crack at it, you can upload your raw file to a file sharing service and setting editing=OK in your preferences in this site.

mike_d wrote in post #15236598
If you don't mind others taking a crack at it, you can upload your raw file to a file sharing service and setting editing=OK in your preferences in this site.

Hi Mike
Editing OK'ed go fo it, I know all of you guys can do better than I can with it.
What file sharing service do you suggest?
Thanks
DON