Color correcting no-flashl digital pics

[mandrake]

jiveturkey once bubbled...
Comparison

Before:
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After:
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This is good, but I think you only added in the red layer. That's only the first step. The second step is to make hue/saturation adjustments as necessary, as well as minor color-balance and exposure cleanups if necessary. Here's what I get if I do this with your picture. See my website if you want to see examples of what I do -- http://www.pbase.com/dkusner/photoediting.

Note that I'm not 100% sure what the colors on this fish are supposed to look like, and without this as a guide I may have gone a little wrong. You should always use reality as a guide.

 

[Zept]

Thanks for all the tips, everyone!

I have been playing with Jame's Connell's Photoshop action in Photoshop 6 (hope you don't mind, James). Here's a modified version that uses adjustment layers. Once you have run the action, you can:

-- Adjust the opacity of the red layer to reduce the amount of red
-- Double-click the thumbnail for the Levels layer to adjust the levels (hold down Alt and click the Cancel button to undo the Auto Levels operation)
-- Double-click the thumbnail for the Hue/Saturation layer to adjust the colours

The nice thing about this approach is that you can see how the different operations interact. However you'll probably want to flatten the image before you save it, because otherwise you end up with an enormous file.

Z

 

[Scubapauly]

These pics look fantastic once you've applied the process to them. Does anyone know how to do this in Paint Shop Pro? Or even if its possible?



Scubapauly

 

[James connell]

Zept once bubbled...
Thanks for all the tips, everyone!

I have been playing with Jame's Connell's Photoshop action in Photoshop 6 (hope you don't mind, James).

i just want to say - I didn't come up with the technique!!!! Mandrake posted the steps, i just set them to an action.
HE deserves the credit for it all!

if he doesn't care if it's tweeked , i certainly don't.

 

[mandrake]

Ha, I just wish I could use it! I don't have PS yet. Soon, soon...

By the way, a while ago I mentioned a process called contrast masking and gave a few pointers to websites that described it. I finally put an example on my website. If anyone's interested, you can use the link from my last post at the top of this page.

David

 

[saltywater]

Now if I can just find some free time.......

I am looking forward to giving more of your pointers a try.

You have taught me a few things that I didn't know I could do with Photoshop and in the process I have been able to improve a number of pictures that I otherwise might have ignored or discarded.



Thanks,

Mike

 

[segal3]

Don't worry everyone. Everything nowadays is manipulated. Reality expired in 1999.

~Matt Segal