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How do you get good reds?

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rglass

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I have a hard time getting good reds...the blow out easy and
never do look as deep as the orginial scence....what adjustments
are you guys using? or am I the only one with this problem?

Robert
 
Which camera are you using?
I'll assume 1D MkII since that was an issue with it;

Solutions are:
1/ Shoot RAW and use C1 or ACR.
2/ I think a firmware upgrade solved this but I cannot be sure.
 
I've never had a problem getting good reds, but that's cause I never shoot on auto. Red reflects very little light. The meter in the camera will therefore overexpose a shot with a lot of red in it.



Zidar
Alaska
--
'He's out there operating without any decent restraint, totally beyond
the pale of any acceptable human conduct.'
  • Apocalypse Now
 
Looking at the rose, it's definitely oversaturated. The sports uniforms, it's hard to tell on, but they don't look bad.

Personally, I would experiment with my white balance. The rose picture looks like an overcast day, which tends to produce a bluer hue. Try using a grey card and getting a custom white balance.

If you shoot RAW, you can change the white balance on the computer. Get something red, put a white card next to it (I prefer a white card over a gray card, as the white card will adjust your brightnes level, also. I just use a sheet of epson enhanced matt photo paper), and get some shots. Try changing the white balance in the Canon software.

Use the click white balance on the white card and see what the reds look like. Also, check and see what color space you're using in the camera. I generally stick with the SRB, as the Adobe color space tends to produce muted reds.

Also, if you're using Photoshop, depending on the settings, Photoshop may be converting your color space without asking.

Calibration on the monitor can also be an issue. Start with ground zero. Is what you're printing what you see on the monitor? If not, you might want to look at calibrating your monitor, or (gasp) getting a higher quality one. Since I switched to macintosh, I haven't had any calibration issues, but it can be a HUGE issue on some PCs.

If you're monitor is producing good color, go to the checking in your Canon software with some RAW files. Experiment with both the white balance and the color space, and see if any produce acceptable results.

If none of that works, go to your local camera shop with some samples, and see if the guys there can help you with work flow. BTW, that's one of the reasons that whenever possible, I use a local camera shop.
Hope this helps.

--
http://stephencook.us
 
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