Deeper, richer colors without over saturating

[nimitzbenedicto]

GIMP 3 should be available in the not too distant future, I hope. That should be quite something. It's been a long time coming.

John
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The latest GIMP 2.8.6 version can be downloaded here.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/gimp...5&source=accel

Features page here:
http://www.gimp.org/features/

gimp 2.8.6 version"



HTH

[SaLynn]

Hi SaLynn,

You may be somewhat surprised to learn that what you have here ISN'T a saturation issue - it's a levels issue.

You've basically got 3 issues going on;

1. You haven't set your black clipping point correctly, which has left a gray cast / washed-out look over the entire image.

2. With the black point set correctly, the the white point needs to be re-adjusted to stop the image looking too dark.

Just those two things will fix the young lady, but still leaves a problem with the foliage that's in shadow, so

3. To fix that you can either hand dodge or (in my case) I used a digital GND filter along with a touch of highlight recovery.

The result (below) returns the saturation to the top and improves the skin tones - all without making ANY saturation adjustments.

All colours are sensitive to certain levels of brightness; above that point they start to washout (as in the case here), below that point they go too dark.

Hope this helps



PS: With this kind of shot you really need to be using some kind of fill light. Not sure if you've seen my "School of Portraiture" series, but you might find some things there that help.

School of Portraiture - Links to Lessons 1 through 8

Indeed I do need fill light!! I agree 100% The only thing is i was just messing around with my old camera at the time and getting some nature shots... Autumn just turned slightly and i saw a nice shot and took it lol.. Of course i had to tell her to not move while i got the camera ready So it was un expected.

I am definately going to have a loot at your school of photography lessons though! I welcome any help i can get my hands on Thank you so much for your insight!!

[ajohnw]

Thanks for the lesson black points etc here Colin. I did get closer to you this time by basically what is really a relight. via Lightzone.

I do wonder about black point setting though and how much care is needed. I remember a discussion on how much could be bought out of jpg's and worked on one of your shots and found that some areas of hair were 0,0,0 and clipped so nothing could be bought out. Once the clipping was removed detail could be bought up easily. I was reminded of that recently with the b/w conversion of dog kissing little lady shot. Here I feel default clipping to remove any noise as you sometimes do also removed detail from the dog in particular and spoilt the shot. The same thing can happen using curves.

Thought it was worth mentioning this in case some one starts adjusting that way and the shot has black detail they want to retain. On the dog / girl shot for instance I suspect there is no scope for black end clipping at all. May be wrong on that score but with a decent exposure it's amazing how much dark detail cameras capture these days.

John
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[Colin Southern]

Hi John,

No worries.

With a RAW capture these days it's generally not a "capture" issue - it's just a display issue.

Unfortunately though, setting the points and the response curve isn't always intuitive and straight-forward; it depends on the scene and the mood of the shot to name just a couple of factors;

- With a well-let scene - in consistent light - then once you get the black and white clipping points set correctly then pretty much everything falls into place fairly easily

- The OPs photo was an example of how complicated it can be though; large parts of the shot are in normal light (so the clipping point needs to be raised up to anchor the midtones correctly) (minimise saturation washout), but at the same time fill light wasn't available so there is a lot of unflattering light around the face that will be forced to black if the ideal clipping point for the clothing is used. And to make matters worse, the foliage in the background is also in shadow, which generally means you need about another 3 stops to dig it out (which ain't gunna happen with a high black clipping point.

A "trick" I use with images like this is to start by pushing the exposure as far as I can (to the point of clipping, but minimising that clipping in important areas by using highlight recovery) (which is a fine balancing act because highlight recovery often gives a flat/"dead" look to skin). From there I'll use the fill light slider, and then try to balance the brightness & black clipping point sliders to bring out the best of the image.

Sometimes tools like the GND tool can be used to over-compensate in one area so if gets dragged down to normal levels by a countering global effect tool.

Generally though, if one finds oneself needing to do a lot of this kind of stuff to save an image, it's a sign that things probably weren't captured as well as they could have been in the first place. Generally for those kinds of shots I try not to have backgrounds in deep shadow, then I'll hit the subject with typically a 1:1 ratio key light, and sometimes a little extra fill light if some areas are looking too contrasty.

eg



PS: Clipped blacks may or may not be an issue; normally you'll want some -- just generally not too many completely clipped areas with a portrait. You need some to stop the image looking flat though. A quick and dirty trick I often use is to push the highlights about a stop, and then drag the mid-tones down until the contrast and saturation of the skin is looking good. Black points can be VERY sensitive though - I remember doing a 22 x 33" canvas - putting it in a shop for sale - taking a "last look" at it - being unsatisfied with the shadows - taking it back - reprinting it - and putting the better version back up for sale. Shadow level adjustment made between "not right" to "right" - exactly ONE.

[Polar01]

Been having some problems when I print some images as the image has gone a little flat, did not thing about resetting the black point usually on a rag stock where the image is soft not having a lot of contrast like one with early morning light, mist and shooting across and open area.
Thanks for reminding me to watch the black point.

Cheers:

Allan

[Manfred M]

Resetting the black point is one of the first things that I do when I bring in an image for PP work. I generally set it so I just start to see a touch of loss of shadow detail. I will also adjust the white point and unless the shot has specular highlights or has blown highlights, I will bring it back slightly to ensure that I have no highlight clipping. I do this before I play with the vibrance and clarity sliders.

I would say getting the black point right is probably the thing I pay the most attention to because getting it "right" affects the "pop" in an image more than most other settings.