Photographing Purple

[mstinso]

The other day I was trying to photograph a purple flower. Apparently it was the right shade of purple to fall off the color map. It came out blue. So avoid this problem in the future, is their anything I can do? I am using a D200. Can I set the color space to AdobeRGB and then use Photoshop? What about shooting in raw? Yes, I can make the flower purple in Photoshop by tweaking the colors, but without looking at the flower, I have no idea if I am getting it accurate or not.

 

[PepsiCan]

The other day I was trying to photograph a purple flower. Apparently it was the right shade of purple to fall off the color map. It came out blue. So avoid this problem in the future, is their anything I can do? I am using a D200. Can I set the color space to AdobeRGB and then use Photoshop? What about shooting in raw? Yes, I can make the flower purple in Photoshop by tweaking the colors, but without looking at the flower, I have no idea if I am getting it accurate or not.

There are a few things you can do.

• Shoot RAW (or RAW + JPEG). RAW has no inhibitions towards color spaces
• If you do shoot JPEG only, shoot in AdobeRGB. That is a larger color space
• Was your white balance set correctly?
• Is your camera profiled? If not, at a minimum use a grey card so you can get the correct white balance, but for better results look at colour checkers from X-Rite and DataColour (the guys that make the Spider)
• Is your monitor profiled? If not, profile it! Even a simple X-Rite Pantone Huey will get you a better result than not calibrating it. And you can combine the hardware with Freeware software like ArgyllCMS for the more advanced options.

Above all, get a good book on colour!!

 

[PepsiCan]

When you are done with your photo, consider how you want to show it to people.

• in electronic format: ensure that the picture has an embedded profile in it. At least then when people view it in a colour managed environment, they will see it the way you saw it.
• in print: again, when printing you need to ensure your printer is profiled or you need to contact the printing shop you use and ask them what you need to provide to them to print in a colour managed way so you get the picture pretty much the way you saw it.

Also be aware that moving between colour spaces can change results. From RAW to ProPhotoRGB (happens when you start processing the picture in ACR/Lightroom) to AdobeRGB or sRGB (happens when you make a JPEG or print) does mean you lose colours along the line. If the colours you shot are lost while moving to a more restrictive colour space, those "true" colours will get remapped to something that is close to it (determined by colour profile you use). But the result will never be 100% identical.

 

[Don89]

fyi, some purples are also hard to produce with film too.

 

[MRM4350]

I have had trouble with purple in any light except direct sun with my D90. I have tried all of the color temperature settings in the WB without success. The D7000 does much better.
--
Michael
http://www.flickr.com/photos/c36sailor/

 

[jkjond]

Purple flowers used to always be a prob for film shooters as film is sensitive to the UV wavelength - which is invisible to the human eye. It looks like the same could be true of digital sensors. You could try correction filters for the blues/purples (physical/pp), but it will throw out the other colours.
--
UK wedding photographer in the Lake District
http://www.johnleechstudio.co.uk
http://www.johnleechstudio.blogspot.com

 

[olyflyer]

...remove it.

 

[b2martin_a]

I get reasonable results processing RAW files form a D200 using a custom camera profile with the Adobe RAW converter in Photoshop CS5. I generated the custom camera profile using Adobe's DNG Profile Editor and a RAW photograph of the X-Rite ColorChecker using the D200. I also get excellent Red's with the custom profile.

 

[The Andy G]

Purple is largely made up of blue and red, which is not what your bayer pattern sensor does well. Indigo (which doesn't have green in it) is even harder.

The short answer is: shoot film or use a Foveon sensor.
--

Your lens has high frequency of nyquists
in the micro contrast of the bokeh.

 

[RomanJohnston]

1. Color calibrated monitor (if you dont have one already). If not get a spyder or puck and the associated software.

2. Shoot RAW. (dont worry about the settings in the camera......sRGB (satanic RGB) is what kind of device your rear screen is so leave it at that so your rear screen at least has a hope of showing what you shot close to the way photoshop will. (set screen brightness to -1 too and you might be suprised at how close the rear screen will be to your calibrated monitor.)

3. Set RAW converter to ProPhotoRGB as the conversion space. That color space will be your best shot at having a color space large enough to encompass the color your working with.

4. After editing your shot, convert the color space from ProPhotoRGB to sRGB and play with the rendering intents to get the best conversion.

Your basic two are Relative and Colorimetric.

Relative will try to remap the color to the new color space in the same area shrunk down (hence the "relative" name)

Color metric will remap the color to the closest edge of the smaller color space.



Getting the first 3 parts right and then playing with what works on the last step should get you close to where you want to be.

Roman

--

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious; It is the source of all true art and science.
~ Albert Einstein

http://www.commercialfineart.com/

http://www.pbase.com/romansphotos/

 

[L Bourdillon]

Purple "can" be formed from red and blue - in this case an RGB sensor can usually do a reasonable job in depicting the true color. Many/most fabricated dyes are a mix of red and blue.

However, in nature, most flowers that are purple actually have a true spectral line in the violet region - this is quite problematic for an RGB sensor. Pollinating insects often have a vision that peaks in the V or near UV.

Larry

 

[Island Golfer]

I always had this issue with reds & purples with my D300 and 17-55mm lens. It drove me nuts. I was constanly trying to adjust the color. I was pleasantly surprized to see that the D800 and 24-70 produce a much more acceptable result.





--
truview

 

[Catallaxy]

Thanks Roman for the explanation of Relative vs Colormetric. I have a few purple shots that I am going to re-do from the RAW now that I understand this better.

--
Catallaxy

 

[dwa1]

fwiw...

I use the older version of this WhiBal card...

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/768395-REG/WhiBal_WB7_PC_G7_White_Balance_Pocket.html

At the beginning of each shoot and whenever I change lenses and / or filters or when the lighting changes (sun to clouds, etc.), I take a shot of the WhiBal card. Now I have a white balance (neutral grey) for a series of "related" images.

The documentation will tell you how to use the image of the WhiBal card to set the white balance when editing other images.

For printing (output device), in CS5 you can edit with the out of gamut warning turned on. You must "associate" a printer / paper profile with the image being edited. When you increase saturation you will normally see the gamut warning colors appear in the image. Then you just need to lower the saturation a bit.

The key to this is getting white balance / neutral grey set correctly by using the WhiBal card. Not only should the purples come out more accurate, but other colors as well.

For images already done without a WhiBal card reference image, you can use Scott Kelby's trick for finding neutral grey in any image. A google should find this somewhere on the net.

Hope this helps,

Wayne

 

[rmpossible]

ditto on the thanks on this one. I particularly like that chart. Illustrates what I have known from text only explanations.

Cheers!
--
Roger
(old DPreview ID: rmcovering)