Photography Peeps Inside...
 

OK after 10 years in the business I am still learning lol... I still struggle with White Balance ect... anyways for the last few years we've shot in RAW as well as JPG... I just started playing with LightRoom... and OMG ! It's amazing how it lets you tweak pics !!!

Still playing around... but here's some results... wondering what image people like the most...

http://modelgirlfriends.com/images/b...eThreeTake.jpg


This was of a girl called Chloe... she had a light tan, had been on holiday in Turkey and was showing off some white bits ! The images were shot in a fairly small apartment, the images were shot on F11 with the ISO set at 125 and a shutter speed of 1/160 sec (I shoot with a Canon EOS 50D)

http://modelgirlfriends.com/images/b...ThreeTake2.jpg

Far right in both examples.

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It's about preference but yes I agree with L-Pink, the right looks the best (middle is ok), however I would take her farther away from the wall, create some depth to your photos.

Thanks
 

Thanks you two :thumbsup

Keep the comments coming, especially the ways it can still be approved on :) And any LightSpeed experts who might spot something I am doing wrong lol :winkwink:

Top one, far right is best. Actually yeah far right on both is best. The wall is white.

I think it may be your lighting set up, not your white balance.

If you are talking about Steve LightSpeed then that's wrong enough. :1orglaugh

I think it's a bit of both. The far right pics wash out her tan but the white is better. :2 cents:

Hey Robert...
 

Yeah I think when we shoot on Wednesday... I might do a cheesy video and give people a insight to where we shoot, and the light set up... I would be interested to see if anyone can spot something we do wrong...

I think even with the improvements LightRoom allows us to make, it would still be beneficial if the original images were better...

I have to say (to all you US guys) we do shoot in the UK, so real light is always a issue... we shoot in an apartment which as a lot of glass, so natural light comes in... but in the UK that could mean on Pic 1 blazing sun, and on Pic 2 the sun gone in behind big ass grey clouds !!!

Also all the apartments we shoot in seem to have magnolia walls... which just seems to make every thing so "creamy" hence the pics on the extreme left...

Lol...
 

Fuck me I am getting old and senile... time to put on a pair of white socks and some flip flops and change my middle name to Markham !

No of course I meant LightRoom lol... but good spot ! :1orglaugh

Hmmm...
 

So you like the middle one then :winkwink:

No, I don't like any of them but I was being nice by leaving that out. :winkwink:

Go buy yourself an ExpoDisc and that will address a lot of your concerns. Then work on the lighting. :2 cents:

LOL I am so hurt :winkwink:

I made a note of that... will take a better look. We also use a real basic grey card, but thinking of buying a more proffessional one... not sure what you guys use...

Also here's the Histograms... when I see other's on tutorial sites, the lines always seem more like mountains... myn are always so flat lol...

http://modelgirlfriends.com/images/b.../Histogram.jpg

http://modelgirlfriends.com/images/b...Histogram2.jpg

I initially thought far right for both. But really the main improvement for the far rights is that the wall is much whiter (I have UK relatives so know that Magnolia is the default UK wall color lol)

The middle ones IMO are better for skin tone and hair color. Personally I think she looks a little too pale in those far right ones.

That big ole plug is going bye bye, right ;)

Are you using 110 or 220 volt lights?

I like the middle ones and would throw in just a smidge of extra contrast to that. Yeah man, shooting .raw is pretty easy to fix wb issues. It's all about the color temp in the image imho!

Depends on how you see the real colors. Only you can judge the photos and say which one has the correct color interpretation. We have not seen the girl and the room, so ask yourself if the photo matches the wall and the girls colors.

I think the picture #1 may have the most realistic colors, even though the picture #2 may look nicer.

I agree :pimp

I love using my Expodisc. It's a great tool to have in the photobag. It works well for the color balance and also for the exposure (it's middle grey; most people forget to recognize that the resulting histogram spike is a perfect indicator for exposure).

I also use have used a color card (I carry the small credit card sized one), a grey card, etc. All get you close into the proper color space and then it's just editing for personal preference from there.

Make sure your monitor is profiled as well. You may think the pic looks great and it can look like hell for everyone else.

Those are great.


I also use this:


http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/c...ur-patches.jpg


1st: YOu need to make sure your monitor is color calibrated properly and keep it updated with a new profile monthly.

2nd: You need to know what white is when you shoot.


These 2 things are crucial for making color corrections.



I have lost work because my monitor was off and I made color corrections from what I incorrectly thought I was seeing. Everything looked good to me on my monitor. But not good on my clients monitor.


Color is so important in what we do. :thumbsup

Dave it was pointed out to me that 99.99% of people, including clients, use factory default on their monitors. even though I have color corrected monitors AND over 10 years worth of content to look at online I really don't get to worked up about it. if your monitor was off, it must have been off by a giant redhot motherfucker for you to get fired. just saying is all...

Hmmm...
 

Again this is where my untechie head rears its ugly head... I shoot with 2 Elinchrome 600S lights.. ?! :Oh crap

It was big time off. As a result another photog was chosen for a particular project(4 years ago). When I did actually use pro equipment to color calibrate my monitor, I was like WTF?? When I was properly calibrated I went back and looked at some of my pics that I shot earlier and I was like; "These suck!"


I am definitely my own worst critic.


You are right about most monitors being off, but thats no excuse for mine to be off. I am a firm believer that you need to see what is correct in your monitor before you can make any type of color corrections to any photos or video.

Since then I have become a color stickler. My monitor gets calibrated once a month, I have camera color profiles I make for every lighting condition and I use the mcbeth color chart that I posted above.


I have a friend of mine who gets paid big bucks to color calibrate monitors for "Hollywood" and for a few big Photogs. I had no idea color was so detailed and such a big business. He educated me and point me in the right direction for anything and everything color.



Paranoid? Maybe, but I hate loosing and I will be damned if its because my color is off next time.:2 cents:

I'm 'very aware' of color for sure :) you have vibrate colors from what I remember of your work :thumbsup if you get a chance to pick up the 'x' please do... most accurate color I have even seen from a body, it's unfucking believable... I have the 3s and the x set to the same WB and using them both on the same shoot... well it's very noticeable. makes me not want to use the 3s at all...

And are you using a wireless trigger with these strobes?

Re: the monitor aspect, I think it makes sense to use a carefully adjusted monitor for print work, but it is best to use a fairly standard monitor with default settings for final proofing on web work. I've definitely done some stuff on a high end print production monitor where I was horrified when I saw how it looked to most internet users.

I have to be honest... I dont even know how to color correct my monitor... eek :Oh crap

Yes...
 

Yes Rob, we shoot with 2 Elinchrome 600S lights, both with soft box's and yes a wireless trigger...

Agreed...
 

That does seem to make perfect sense :thumbsup

Second shot looks more natural. A lot of light in that room though. In first set id almost want to see a spot between #2 and #3 but I think it would just start getting "whitewashed"

Photography is not photocopying.

The idea is not to reproduce was is being photographic but to change the image to present a new image of the photographers vision. Unless you are a police photographer.

The danger is to get obsessed with technical details, to make a fetish of technical points that no one else sees except another techy.

The demands of the porn industry to produce lots of content leads to millions of similar photographs, a sausage factory.

How many studios have flash lamps set up which never get moved, flatly lit picture after picture.

Better photography by understanding the rules then playing around with them.