Why does this photo look like this?
- Thread starter GAD
- Start date
N2N Mags Dad
New member
Is something amiss with your ball head?
Just kidding. I don't know the answer to this test, but I GUESS its a relatively true rendition of the reflection of the incandescent light color and glass of the lamp. As this is some sort of test, I will have to ask my father-in-law who was a professional photographer at a little company in Rochester...
No idea how to fix the photo, though I'll bet filters can be employed to negate the wavelengths created by the bulb....
What's the practical answer?????
[ 01-31-2006, 08:06 PM: Message edited by: N2N Mags Dad ]
Just kidding. I don't know the answer to this test, but I GUESS its a relatively true rendition of the reflection of the incandescent light color and glass of the lamp. As this is some sort of test, I will have to ask my father-in-law who was a professional photographer at a little company in Rochester...
No idea how to fix the photo, though I'll bet filters can be employed to negate the wavelengths created by the bulb....
What's the practical answer?????
[ 01-31-2006, 08:06 PM: Message edited by: N2N Mags Dad ]
ina/puusty
New member
Are the lights hot enough to toast a cheese sandwich? It's the important things..that I focus in on..besides..I'm avoiding 'you know whos speech'..and when I get the baked potato..out the oven..I'll be ready for my movie and my ale. 
Ok..I'll go quietly now.
ina n HB
Ok..I'll go quietly now.
Elly May
New member
I think the picture may be underexposed. The shutter needed to stay open longer, so to prevent it from happening, you'd need to decrease the shutter speed. That would let in more light inside the camera. Not sure if it could be corrected, but I'd assume that Photoshop has the power to handle something like this.
Edited to add: Or possibly, if we're talking 35mm film and not digital, that it could be corrected in the darkroom. I don't have any experience there...
[ 02-01-2006, 03:15 PM: Message edited by: Elly May ]
Edited to add: Or possibly, if we're talking 35mm film and not digital, that it could be corrected in the darkroom. I don't have any experience there...
[ 02-01-2006, 03:15 PM: Message edited by: Elly May ]
Good try, but this is not an exposure issue.
Photoshop can't really correct eposure issues with JPGs much. With RAW files I can adjust exposure two full stops in either direction though.
If I take the RAW file on this image and adjust the exposure, I get differing levels, but the colors are still all wrong.
An additional not on color. My Laptop here at work (where I should be working) renders this image very differently than my PC at home (Which is color-matched). Everyone's individual computer may show this image a little differently, but the core problem is that the colors are all off.
GAD
Photoshop can't really correct eposure issues with JPGs much. With RAW files I can adjust exposure two full stops in either direction though.
If I take the RAW file on this image and adjust the exposure, I get differing levels, but the colors are still all wrong.
An additional not on color. My Laptop here at work (where I should be working) renders this image very differently than my PC at home (Which is color-matched). Everyone's individual computer may show this image a little differently, but the core problem is that the colors are all off.
GAD
Sailorgirl
New member
Moral of the story: Shoot Raw. Buy some more memory cards if you have to, but shoot raw.
ardeagold
New member
Shoot in the daytime with shades wide open, or in the evening/night with the room lighted by more powerful spotlights?
Usually the glow of a lamp causes the reflection on the walls and surrounding areas to be yellow. I'd guess it's the type and wattage of the bulb used.
I have a few photos shot in incandescent lighting situations, and they're always yellow no matter how wide open my lens is. Some have a nice feel to them...warm and soft, but if that isn't the effect you're after, then you need more light!
Usually the glow of a lamp causes the reflection on the walls and surrounding areas to be yellow. I'd guess it's the type and wattage of the bulb used.
I have a few photos shot in incandescent lighting situations, and they're always yellow no matter how wide open my lens is. Some have a nice feel to them...warm and soft, but if that isn't the effect you're after, then you need more light!
"And do a custom white balance" would solve the problem, because "it is hallogen (spelling) light"!
White balance. The "color" white from a hallogen is different then the "color" of white from an incandescant bulb.
The camera is simply too stupid to figure out what white really looks like. Your brain compensates on the fly, but the camera has to pick one, and in this case, picked wrong.
this was a HUGE problem for me shooting a kids party in a barn which had flourescent lights. With the barn doors open and the natural sunlight pouring in, every spot in the barn had a different white balance. It was maddening!
So how to fix?
1) Custom white balance up front. Since there are two types of light involved, you'd have to either shoot a grey card or use something like an expo-disk (I have one but rarely use it).
2) Shoot RAW and adjust the white balance in post-processing. This is a HUGE benefit to shooting RAW
3) Paint Shop Pro will let you alter the color temp of a jpg as I recall.
4) Here's a cool trick for you in Photoshop, which works with any image that has a color cast to it:
a) Duplicate the layer
b) choose "filter" "blur" "average". You'll now have a solid color. This is the average color of the entire image.
c) choose "image" "adjustments" "invert". Now you have the opposite color!
d) on the layer palate, change the layer type from "Normal" to "Color".
e) Adjust the "Fill" to taste, and you'll counter the color cast!
Feel free to try it on my image!
GAD
White balance. The "color" white from a hallogen is different then the "color" of white from an incandescant bulb.
The camera is simply too stupid to figure out what white really looks like. Your brain compensates on the fly, but the camera has to pick one, and in this case, picked wrong.
this was a HUGE problem for me shooting a kids party in a barn which had flourescent lights. With the barn doors open and the natural sunlight pouring in, every spot in the barn had a different white balance. It was maddening!
So how to fix?
1) Custom white balance up front. Since there are two types of light involved, you'd have to either shoot a grey card or use something like an expo-disk (I have one but rarely use it).
2) Shoot RAW and adjust the white balance in post-processing. This is a HUGE benefit to shooting RAW
3) Paint Shop Pro will let you alter the color temp of a jpg as I recall.
4) Here's a cool trick for you in Photoshop, which works with any image that has a color cast to it:
a) Duplicate the layer
b) choose "filter" "blur" "average". You'll now have a solid color. This is the average color of the entire image.
c) choose "image" "adjustments" "invert". Now you have the opposite color!
d) on the layer palate, change the layer type from "Normal" to "Color".
e) Adjust the "Fill" to taste, and you'll counter the color cast!
Feel free to try it on my image!
GAD