Help with WB & skin tones

[yamo]

Folks,

Greetings. Just unsure about WB could use some extra eyes on these...

Sometimes post-PS I look at an image and think it needs a little WB tweak. Now my eyes are broken... A little help would be appreciated.

1. From PS

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

2. Tweaked in LR +1 Temp (warmer) +5 Tint (Magenta)

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

3. Tweaked in LR +7 Temp +5 Tint

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

Your thoughts are appreciated...

Cheers,

-Yamo-

 

[yamo]

Hmmm.... Of course, the web rendering of the sRGB jpeg looks completely different from the Windows photo gallery display of the same jpeg (which looks very close to the LR rendering).

Sigh.

Cheers,

-Yamo-

 

[LAW2]

This is really tough. Very close to each other on my screen. Push come to shove I prefer #2.

 

[LindaZ]

Her skin looks a bit yellow to me, like there's a yellow cast thrown onto her face from some surface nearby. Cabinets looks like that color?

 

[spalding12]

they are all a bit yellow on my profiled/calibrated monitor
#2 would be the best to me

but....
some color balance made this one look more natural

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

 

[fjgindy]

I agree that there is a slight touch of yellow colorcast happening. Try PS and add a Levels adjustment layer. Use the middle eyedropper in Levels and touch a section of the "gray" wall beneath the cabinet with it. Try sampling different areas or shades of that "gray" and see if you get a result you like.

 

[bokehmanedof]

Hey Greg,

What you use for PP?

 

[spalding12]

Hey Greg,

What you use for PP?

well....
photoshop CS2
but.... i must confess that i did run the image through NOISE NINJA (with a custom profile done for this particular image/then sharpened again with USM at 70/0.7/4) before doing the color balancing...
which, i know realize it probably a bit too magenta... :redface:

 

[yamo]

Leland, Linda, Greg, Fred,

Thanks much for your comments... I'm having some sort of strangeness between calibration and jpeg creation that I'll have to track down. (ugh!)... I'm getting different color results from the web rendering of the same jpeg from Windows picture gallery. Perhaps the proPhoto (what I pp in) tag persists even when LR creates a sRGB jpeg? grumble.

But identifying the yellow cast helped calibrate my eyes a little... Here's another attempt...

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

At least it's not yellow anymore :wink:

Greg, interesting pp... A little much on the nr for my taste particularly in the hair. Of course, maybe I'm expecting a little noise from the ISO 6400 shot :wink:

Cheers and again, my thanks,

-Yamo-

 

[spalding12]

Greg, interesting pp... A little much on the nr for my taste particularly in the hair. Of course, maybe I'm expecting a little noise from the ISO 6400 shot :wink:

Cheers and again, my thanks,

-Yamo-

yeah...
i don't know why i've "gotten into" noise ninja again
i must tweak it a bit
nice on the skin here.... too much on the hair

thanks for letting me play a bit
such a pretty girl
________________________________
i re-sharpened it a bit

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

 

[the_traveler]

You really can't prodict on what you see as skin tones in your web browser if your browser doesn't recognize imbedded icc profiles and you don't 'save as jpg.'

(If you 'save for web' you are stripping out profile data.)

None of these look really natural to me. How about posting a larger res picture or just the face alone?

 

[spalding12]

Lew...
you are right
i have looked at this image on all 4 of my (supposedly profiled) monitors at home
and... it looks different on all of them

how frustrating

 

[the_traveler]

Yamo,

There are two completely different issues with color: color correction to get a good rendering and color managment, actually getting what you see in PS to display that way other places.

An excellent short article on color correction of skin tones (not managment) is at http://www.smugmug.com/help/skin-tone

Color managment implies some familiarity with ICC profiles, sRGB, soft-proofing, etc.

Prepare for some confusing crap and do a web search on 'color management'

 

[spalding12]

Yamo,

There are two completely different issues with color: color correction to get a good rendering and color managment, actually getting what you see in PS to display that way other places.

An excellent short article on color correction of skin tones (not managment) is at http://www.smugmug.com/help/skin-tone

Color managment implies some familiarity with ICC profiles, sRGB, soft-proofing, etc.

Prepare for some confusing crap and do a web search on 'color management'

great link, Lew
i just printed it out

thank you

 

[yamo]

There are two completely different issues with color: color correction to get a good rendering and color managment, actually getting what you see in PS to display that way other places.

An excellent short article on color correction of skin tones (not managment) is at http://www.smugmug.com/help/skin-tone

Color managment implies some familiarity with ICC profiles, sRGB, soft-proofing, etc.

Prepare for some confusing crap and do a web search on 'color management'

Wow. Lew, I can't thank you enough. Understanding that there were two different problems that I was trying to tackle has made everything click for me.

So, the solutions are:

1. The problem with the web versions having different colors than what I was seeing in PS and LR: I was/am saving full jpegs but not viewing them in a color managed browser (was viewing in Explorer v7 now viewing in Safari). The web version now looks identical to the other LR, PS and Windows Photo Gallery renderings. My sanity (such as there is) has returned. :wink:

2. The skin tone itself. The SmugMug article is great, hadn't tried curves in CMYK before (and didn't understand what I would be shooting for if I did). My eyes may still need some calibration but at least I think I understand the tools to the point where I can make reasonable adjustments that make sense...

Finally the most recent edit (to be viewed on a color managed browser! :biggrin: )

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

Lew, thanks again...

Cheers,

-Yamo-

 

[the_traveler]

In a data drop out I forgot to say that, in order to make my images acceptable to 'most' browsers, I change the mode to 8 bit (assuming a raw image before), convert my image to sRGB (Edit>Convert to profile:sRGB) and then 'save as jpg.'

This converts the image to the color profile that most browsers assume they see; it also imbeds the color profile that most browsers ignore. Often this will result in a slightly more intense image.

If you save as a jpg but in your original profile (like RGB or Adobe RGB) your image will look washed-out on most dumb browsers.

Be aware that knowing this crap doesn't make my pictures any better but it does keep them from being degraded by anything but my own lack of skills.

 

[Nuteshack]

Wow. Lew, I can't thank you enough. Understanding that there were two different problems that I was trying to tackle has made everything click for me.

So, the solutions are:

1. The problem with the web versions having different colors than what I was seeing in PS and LR: I was/am saving full jpegs but not viewing them in a color managed browser (was viewing in Explorer v7 now viewing in Safari). The web version now looks identical to the other LR, PS and Windows Photo Gallery renderings. My sanity (such as there is) has returned. :wink:

2. The skin tone itself. The SmugMug article is great, hadn't tried curves in CMYK before (and didn't understand what I would be shooting for if I did). My eyes may still need some calibration but at least I think I understand the tools to the point where I can make reasonable adjustments that make sense...

Finally the most recent edit (to be viewed on a color managed browser! :biggrin: )

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

Lew, thanks again...

Cheers,

-Yamo-

i like it ..just wondering why u went 6400iso on this one. 3200 would have given u 400ss

 

[Nuteshack]

In a data drop out I forgot to say that, in order to make my images acceptable to 'most' browsers, I change the mode to 8 bit (assuming a raw image before), convert my image to sRGB (Edit>Convert to profile:sRGB) and then 'save as jpg.'

This converts the image to the color profile that most browsers assume they see; it also imbeds the color profile that most browsers ignore. Often this will result in a slightly more intense image.

If you save as a jpg but in your original profile (like RGB or Adobe RGB) your image will look washed-out on most dumb browsers.

Be aware that knowing this crap doesn't make my pictures any better but it does keep them from being degraded by anything but my own lack of skills.

lol Lew:wink:

 

[Mart61]

Whta a world of difference the advice given here has made to the shot. I know where I'll be coming for input (when I can find someone that will let me take their picture that is).

 

[yamo]

i like it ..just wondering why u went 6400iso on this one. 3200 would have given u 400ss

Oh, I had my bif settings on my camera (auto-iso, min shutter speed 1/1000th) :redface: it just rolled up to ISO 6400

It was just a quick shot of my daughter making cinnamon rolls in the kitchen, no time for messing with settings :wink: uh, the D3 200f2 point and shoot

Cheers,

-Yamo-