Colour Saturation

[MENTAL DENTAL]

I'm getting a tad annoyed at the pics I take not looking the same as the model does on the bench, that is, the pics are too rich in colour and whites tend to loose all the shading looking washed out. I use a Canon D60 with a Tamron 90mm macro lense. I've set the white balance against a white card etc, but I'm still plagued by too much colour. The Senegalais Tirailleur has a lot of subtle detail lost in the photographic process. The red hat is almost glowing!

I'm sure there must be an easy way to sort but I don't have the know how. Any ideas anyone??



I didn't particularly want to spend all my time faffing about with Photoshop or the like, just snap and publish!!


David

 

[Ron Tamburrini]

I too have problems with colour washing out especially on the lighter shades
but don't know how to solve the problem either so hopefully someone will
help.

 

[megroot]

Try Photoshop or something similar. You can reduce/higher the contrast, also the brillance. There are alot of things you can correct with Photoshop.
But a bad picture never gonna be a good picture.
In the old days without digital I could do it into the Darkroom with the developping from the film and the developing from the picture.
The variables are hugh.......
So into the digital time it is just the same, but in my opinion more complex.
That's why i still struggle with my pictures also.
But a good white balance, good light must do the trick. The rest is for photoshop or something like that.

Marc

 

[gordy]

I understand your plight David, and yes I cannot tolerate having to photoshop each picture either, slows things WAY down.

The solution I've come up with that has worked well for me was to set the camera to plain old auto, stock lens (I'm using a Canon G6) and using lots of light, two desk lamps and a solid back ground, similar to how Giovanni and Fernando setup :

http://www.planetfigure.com/articles/giovanni_azzara/how-to-photograph-your-figures.html

Hope that helps and please let us know your results!

 

[Ron Tamburrini]

Try Photoshop or something similar. You can reduce/higher the contrast, also the brillance. There are alot of things you can correct with Photoshop.
But a bad picture never gonna be a good picture.
In the old days without digital I could do it into the Darkroom with the developping from the film and the developing from the picture.
The variables are hugh.......
So into the digital time it is just the same, but in my opinion more complex.
That's why i still struggle with my pictures also.
But a good white balance, good light must do the trick. The rest is for photoshop or something like that.

Marc

Marc there has got to be an answer at the source IE camera settings and lighting, when you see photos of real life small objects butterflies and such they seem ok, so me thinks it is the camera man

 

[Ron Tamburrini]

I understand your plight David, and yes I cannot tolerate having to photoshop each picture either, slows things WAY down.

The solution I've come up with that has worked well for me was to set the camera to plain old auto, stock lens (I'm using a Canon G6) and using lots of light, two desk lamps and a solid back ground, similar to how Giovanni and Fernando setup :

http://www.planetfigure.com/articles/giovanni_azzara/how-to-photograph-your-figures.html

Hope that helps and please let us know your results!

What colour of background Gordy

 

[kagemusha]

Hi David, looking at your picture I would guess you are only using one source of illumination, which is to the right of centre, (as you look at the figure). This is not ideal for a 3D object as it creates heavier shadows than painted. Also it causes the camera to over saturate the image. Hence your glowing red and washed out whites. I took the liberty of using your image and adding a virtual second light source to illustrate how it changes the overall look of the figure and, hopefully, gives a closer representation of what the piece actually looks like.

Regards

Ron

 

[Christos]

I use a special soft-box that can reduce shadows produced by the lights or the "too much light effect".
example:
http://www.theatlasstore.com/p/519770/29-photo-shooting-tent-soft-box-light-tent-cube-softbox.html

 

[Ron Tamburrini]

Hi David, looking at your picture I would guess you are only using one source of illumination, which is to the right of centre, (as you look at the figure). This is not ideal for a 3D object as it creates heavier shadows than painted. Also it causes the camera to over saturate the image. Hence your glowing red and washed out whites. I took the liberty of using your image and adding a virtual second light source to illustrate how it changes the overall look of the figure and, hopefully, gives a closer representation of what the piece actually looks like.

Regards

Ron

That makes a big difference and changes the figure,a great improvement and
and good tip

Ron T

 

[Einion]

I didn't particularly want to spend all my time faffing about with Photoshop or the like, just snap and publish!!

Understandable David but while it is best to try to get the photos just right in-camera even professional photographers sometimes can't do this. For hobbyists some slight tweaking is the norm to get things looking their best.

So think of it as a necessary step rather than something to be avoided at all costs - good news is that if your photos are only a little off you can learn to adjust very quickly, no more than a couple of minutes per image... and you are in the software already to crop and resize for posting to the web

For the sample pic you've posted above, you could apply two simple tweaks and resave in less than 20 seconds.

Einion

 

[Akritas]

I think the only problem is the lighting set up and agree with Christos that a softbox/diffuser would work wonders.

There are some portable photo studios available on Amazon UK complete with light source (two) and coloured backgrounds for something like GB£30.00. I think these would greatly imrpove the process.

I've attached a link for easy reference.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/PROFESSIONA...J6RI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1328255189&sr=8-2

 

[housecarl]

Sorry Nicolas, I got one. The stand fell to pieces, bulbs are £5 each and they get mad hot. This is probably down to me, but the standard of my photography as stayed the same, rubbish.
Carl.

 

[Akritas]

To tell the truth Carl I built my own soft box from balsa and tracing paper and used some decent lights from Ikea. I did see other people use the commercial staff however to good effect but don't know whether they are satisfied with the quality.

I must admit however that originally I was facing similar problems with my photos and could not get anything decent (whether using soft box or not). I just could not get the hang of my bridge DSLR

In the end I bought a Nikon Coolpix 9100 point and shoot camera with a high ISO sensitivity and powerful macro. That's it!!! Problem solved. It's a bit embarrassing admitting that as a photographer I am absolute crap but thank God for the fully automated Nikon which does the job for me


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[housecarl]

Nicolas, I think my problem is lack of skill, not the quality of equipment.
Carl.

 

[pmfs]

...there is not equipment problem. The real problem is some users do not know how to use is cameras the best way.
I see here many talented photographers and when I downloaded those pictures I go straight to his properties, and many times, I see old cameras without WB taking clear and vivid pictures...
For long time, I use a Fuji finepix JX250 without studio and lamps, I shoot my pics in daylight with a black background. I know my pics are not the best, but I dont want to be an example for anyone, I am happy with my results. I like what I´m doing so far with my auto camera without those professional tricks, for me this is ********, sorry the language!
Your white balance setting is incorrect for sure take a look at this:
1
2

Hope it helps!

 

[P GREEN]

Hi David
Not sure if this will help, I have a T3I which can kind of do the same thing.
but here is the photo guys solution for the D60

> In the D60 camera menu select "Parameters" then "Set up." Contrast is
> one of the parameters, along with sharpening, saturation and color tone.
> You can assign higher contrast in one of the three parameter sets.
> See page 52 of the D60 manual.

Good luck
Paul:thumb down:

 

[MENTAL DENTAL]

Paul,
I've just got home from a tri camp in Lanzarote. I'll check this out tomorrow as I'm frazzled.