Passport Color Checker on Feb 8 ONLY

[Glen]

Very Good.......I'll work on images accordingly. Thanks Karen

I will also add that the RAW images using live view point focus on eyes etc are really very good if good technique was used for creating slide itself. And getting through batches selecting Develop Sync menu items correctly really speeds finished photo. I tried my 'sun outdoor color checker profile' on the outdoor lit slides and yup, much better white balance. Really appreciate guidance and this forum.

 

[bleirer]

Thanks Karen and Bill for your replies and most helpful. I feel I'm getting there; rounding bases but still at third base. If I might ask further clarifying questions please. To correct white balance with the eye dropper am I choosing one of the white squares on the Calibrate Color Checker itself (if so first white in the row?) or some where on the photo of the slide itself? I hope not the latter. I'm confused to be sure and never know the proper use of the eyedropper. Me using the eyedropper makes for really messed up photo so I leave it parked and stay with 'as shot'. Question: given the LED is the light source, the slide is the scene, is it not the same as if it were a sun lit live shot outdoors only difference being a different light source? I rightfully or wrongfully concluded the RAW photo shot I take of slides have NO color, and further, the color applied in the Preview I see in LrC is via the Calbrite Led Profile I created; analogous to Nikon Standard Profile etc. Thus the white balance is automatically corrected via the smarts in the Profile itself? Knowing how and when you employ the white dropper in your outdoor photos would help clear the fog for me I believe.
Much appreciated,
Glen

You want a neutral in today's light. If I have time I'll place the color checker in the scene and take a test shot. Just using it as a white balance card. Then use the eyedropper to click the white balance in that test shot, then copy that temperature and tint setting to the real pic. Either just type in the numbers or use the right click copy and paste develop settings. It doesn't really matter which neutral you use as long as it is not blown or clipped. Neutral just means R, G, and B are all equal.

If you don't have a target in the scene check if there is something neutral in the scene to use as a starting point, and/or use your eyes and best judgement.

 

[Glen]

You want a neutral in today's light. If I have time I'll place the color checker in the scene and take a test shot. Just using it as a white balance card. Then use the eyedropper to click the white balance in that test shot, then copy that temperature and tint setting to the real pic. Either just type in the numbers or use the right click copy and paste develop settings. It doesn't really matter which neutral you use as long as it is not blown or clipped. Neutral just means R, G, and B are all equal.

If you don't have a target in the scene check if there is something neutral in the scene to use as a starting point, and/or use your eyes and best judgement

Bill, thanks very much for step by step. Will do. Moving on now from third to home base thanks to you and Karen.

 

[bleirer]

Bill, thanks very much for step by step. Will do. Moving on now from third to home base thanks to you and Karen.

Best of luck.

 

[Glen]

Best of luck.

Hi Bill, thanks to your link to https://www.keptlight.com/use-your-passport/ I found https://www.keptlight.com/remove-color-cast-in-lightroom/ and now well on my way. Slide Photos via my D850 sent to PS Blur/Average for White Balance back in LrC look really good using this method. Once your onto it, it goes fairly quickly. Odd times simply working white or black sliders, (No Clipping) or moving highlight slider down a bit and you got a finished accurate looking photo. Keptlight link has some really good information. Thanks for posting it earlier.
Best.....Glen

 

[dabhand16]

how often do you need 100% accurate colors. I mostly shoot natural light and adjust color to taste, i.e., what looks good to me.

Try doing that when you are colour blind.

 

[RichF]

Try doing that when you are colour blind.

Are you a master of B&W images?

 

[Robert S]

I just found this thread and am now truly confused. My thoughts on things. I got good advice on WB from this forum. Both camera bodies are set to AWB and will be staying there. One of my supervisors was Russian. He told me that early attempts to develop computerised translation in Russia resulted in this:

English "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." Russian "The vodka is good but the meat is rotten."

Hopefully things are now more advanced. In any case I can stuff up images in more ways than is humanly or AI [ ? AR ] imaginable so I will give the passport thing a miss.

PS I don't go near lions unless there are steel bars between me and it.

 

[bleirer]

I just found this thread and am now truly confused. My thoughts on things. I got good advice on WB from this forum. Both camera bodies are set to AWB and will be staying there. One of my supervisors was Russian. He told me that early attempts to develop computerised translation in Russia resulted in this:

English "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." Russian "The vodka is good but the meat is rotten."

Hopefully things are now more advanced. In any case I can stuff up images in more ways than is humanly or AI [ ? AR ] imaginable so I will give the passport thing a miss.

PS I don't go near lions unless there are steel bars between me and it.

Color calibration and white balance are different. The passport does color calibration. It takes a picture of the color squares that have a known color value for each color then runs software that adjusts the output in lightroom so it matches the real color.

It's not for everybody, you can definitely do without it.

 

[Robert S]

Thanks Bill for the post. Interesting. I guess this means that the characteristics of the sensor vary depending on other things than ambient colour temperature. That makes sense. So each time I take a photograph in order to get the correct colour in the final image I should run the software? I can understand that this would be desirable when recording 'The Night Watch' however it would be somewhat inconvenient when photographing birds in the wild. Then again I only have one monitor. Does that matter?

 

[bleirer]

Thanks Bill for the post. Interesting. I guess this means that the characteristics of the sensor vary depending on other things than ambient colour temperature. That makes sense. So each time I take a photograph in order to get the correct colour in the final image I should run the software? I can understand that this would be desirable when recording 'The Night Watch' however it would be somewhat inconvenient when photographing birds in the wild. Then again I only have one monitor. Does that matter?

It doesn't matter unless color accuracy is important. If you were doing a product shoot and the Pepsi logo had to have the exact right blue, or if you had two cameras and the bride's dress had to look the same on both cameras, etc. Mostly the color profiles the camera maker gives you are quite good. Choose standard or faithful or landscape, etc and see which one you like. Each is a little different but it all looks good..

 

[dabhand16]

Are you a master of B&W images?

I certainly couls not do colour printing, and yes, that is where my love of mono started. I used to do mono cnversions in PS with the chanel mixer but was told the my iages had a magents cast that I could not see. So I use Silver FX Pro to give e a true mono image to start my mono editing off.

Now I'll bet nobody would think that I'm colour blind from looking at my imges, but I do rely on technology and very rearly touch at coulor cotrols.

 

[Butlerkid]

Thanks Bill for the post. Interesting. I guess this means that the characteristics of the sensor vary depending on other things than ambient colour temperature. That makes sense. So each time I take a photograph in order to get the correct colour in the final image I should run the software? I can understand that this would be desirable when recording 'The Night Watch' however it would be somewhat inconvenient when photographing birds in the wild. Then again I only have one monitor. Does that matter?

Each camera manufacturer represents colors differently. If one compared the same image taken by Sony, Nikon and Canon cameras, each image would vary slightly, especially red and greens. When making images of wildlife, especially colorful birds I want the colors to be as accurate as possible. When doing architectural photography, I want the colors in the cathedrals, state capitols, etc to be as accurate as possible. That is important to me. To others, not so much.

You can use the Calibrite software to calibrate your camera.....to see if the camera at the time of capture is representing colors accurately. If not, the Calibrite software writes a very small program to correct the variance. You take a photo in the type of lighting that you shoot in. For me that is natural/daylight. So I only need to create one camera profile. If you shoot in incandescent light, you can create additional profiles to for other types of lighting. Same for other types of lighting such as fluorescent, etc. You only have to calibrate the camera once for each type of lighting.

Then when, for instance, using LR or PS or other processing software, you can select that color profile you created for your camera. This is instead of selecting Sunlight, Shady, Flourescent, etc.

 

[Robert S]

Thanks for the reply Karen.