Matching tones between images

[c h u n k]

I took these photos in 2019 and 2018 with the intention of making a series, and didn't follow through with it as I obviously messed up perspective just on the 1st 2. The vision just wasn't happening and my daughter stopped wanting to do stuff like this... I usually photograph wildlife, birds, macro insects, but it's been cold so decided to revisit some old shots. I decided to get these as close as possible to print...

I went insane trying to match skin. This is the absolute best I could get them. I guess I could only do so much considering her skin tones are different due to time of year mostly and the light was a bit different. Im wondering if there is a better method or approach than just eyeballing it. I know I can hold the droppers over parts of image to get the RGB% in Lightroom, but how to match them from there??? I have not a clue and had to wing it. Any instruction or resources would be greatly appreciated.









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Some of my photos here: https://flic.kr/ps/2i6XL3
“You're off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, So... get on your way!” --Dr. Seuss

 

[c h u n k]

Oh, and don't ask me what I was doing with those settings. I kind of chuckled when I looked at them. I did thoroughly know what I was doing even well before this time in terms of any camera settings, so really no idea what was happening. I guess at the end of the day differences would have probably been negligible in results anyway.

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Some of my photos here: https://flic.kr/ps/2i6XL3
“You're off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, So... get on your way!” --Dr. Seuss

 

[AndyGordon]

Have you looked at Capture One and its Match Look tool?

 

[c h u n k]

Have you looked at Capture One and its Match Look tool?

Ive looked at Capture One and did again kind if recently bc Adobes price hike is a little scary to me. The bottom line is I didnt spend much time because I have around 200,000 photos catalogged and tagged in LR and of those many thousands of RAW edits. Adobe basically owns me. Its horrifying when I think about it.

 

[AndyGordon]

Maybe time to bite the bullet and move? Alternately maybe try the trial again just for match look and those 2 photos?

 

[Lan]

What you could do is select just the faces, choose the one you prefer, and then use the Match Color option in PS?

 

[tbcass]

Oh, and don't ask me what I was doing with those settings. I kind of chuckled when I looked at them. I did thoroughly know what I was doing even well before this time in terms of any camera settings, so really no idea what was happening. I guess at the end of the day differences would have probably been negligible in results anyway.

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Some of my photos here: https://flic.kr/ps/2i6XL3
“You're off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, So... get on your way!” --Dr. Seuss

That happens to me when I am in shutter priority and accidently boost the shutter speed to an unnecessarily high level.

 

[JohnWheeler]

I took these photos in 2019 and 2018 with the intention of making a series, and didn't follow through with it as I obviously messed up perspective just on the 1st 2. The vision just wasn't happening and my daughter stopped wanting to do stuff like this... I usually photograph wildlife, birds, macro insects, but it's been cold so decided to revisit some old shots. I decided to get these as close as possible to print...
I went insane trying to match skin. This is the absolute best I could get them. I guess I could only do so much considering her skin tones are different due to time of year mostly and the light was a bit different. Im wondering if there is a better method or approach than just eyeballing it. I know I can hold the droppers over parts of image to get the RGB% in Lightroom, but how to match them from there??? I have not a clue and had to wing it. Any instruction or resources would be greatly appreciated.

There are probably a lot of ways to do this.

I put the images side by side and picked 3 sampler points on each side with the Values set to HSB.

Then, add an HSL adjustment layer masked to the right side of the face and adjust it for a near match by changing each of the sliders. Here is my result:







--
John Wheeler
Never give up. Never surrender. Galaxy Quest

 

[c h u n k]

Oh, and don't ask me what I was doing with those settings. I kind of chuckled when I looked at them. I did thoroughly know what I was doing even well before this time in terms of any camera settings, so really no idea what was happening. I guess at the end of the day differences would have probably been negligible in results anyway.

**********-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-**********
Some of my photos here: https://flic.kr/ps/2i6XL3
“You're off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, So... get on your way!” --Dr. Seuss

That happens to me when I am in shutter priority and accidently boost the shutter speed to an unnecessarily high level.

 

[c h u n k]

Maybe time to bite the bullet and move? Alternately maybe try the trial again just for match look and those 2 photos?

I still like LR and PS more for what I do...given, I havent spent a ton of time with Capture one, but at the wnd of the day, I highly doubt either will suddenly make someones results much better. C1 is still more expensive I think too

 

[HarwoodF]

I went insane trying to match skin. This is the absolute best I could get them. I guess I could only do so much considering her skin tones are different due to time of year mostly and the light was a bit different. Im wondering if there is a better method or approach than just eyeballing it.

I think eyeballing it is your best bet. If you try to set sample points and tweak them to make RGB values match, you're probably going to make things worse. Trust your eye, and keep reciting the old adage: Don't let the perfect become the enemy of the good enough. I made a few small tweaks using curves and selective color (without setting sample points) and came up with this. For my money, it's good enough.



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Harwood

 

[c h u n k]

I went insane trying to match skin. This is the absolute best I could get them. I guess I could only do so much considering her skin tones are different due to time of year mostly and the light was a bit different. Im wondering if there is a better method or approach than just eyeballing it.

I think eyeballing it is your best bet. If you try to set sample points and tweak them to make RGB values match, you're probably going to make things worse. Trust your eye, and keep reciting the old adage: Don't let the perfect become the enemy of the good enough. I made a few small tweaks using curves and selective color (without setting sample points) and came up with this. For my money, it's good enough.



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Harwood

I understand that. I do. My main reason for asking was for a way to get me close enough. I was pretty satisfied with where i got it to, but it took forever. I was just looking for a way to get close with some accuracy, but I realize depending on other elements in the image an exact color match might be worse.

Remember, what you guys are tweaking here is after I got it close as I could by eye. They were no where close prior to my adjustments. Not to mention in the one image she was very red around the eyes and had bags - I dont remember but she may have just woken up from a nap, had a small reaction to the grass after a long pent up winter, I dunno, but a lot was done, had an orangish glow around her hairline, along with the normal minor blemishes, a lot of skin on the lips, some gunk in the corners of her mouth etc etc.

I often dont use the exact white balance I get when I use white cards, but its usually a good starting point and a way to sort of clean the pallet before tweaking to what I want for instance.

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**********-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-**********
Some of my photos here: https://flic.kr/ps/2i6XL3
“You're off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, So... get on your way!” --Dr. Seuss

 

[HarwoodF]

I was just looking for a way to get close with some accuracy, but I realize depending on other elements in the image an exact color match might be worse.

Suggestion: Start with a Threshold adjustment layer and find the darkest shadows and brightest highlights, and equalize those. Then tweak midtone areas using curves or selective color or other color adjustment layers.

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Harwood

 

[A-Marc]

you could gradient map the skin tones in both by applying and masking. using the same gradient map settings will have identical outcome.

https://fstoppers.com/photoshop/gradient-map-perfect-skin-color-61864

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