Can't quite get the colours right

[Lois N]

This is a photo I took last night on my walk. I don't seem able to get the colours right. Can anyone help please? I processed it in Lightroom.

Thanks

Lois

[Mike Buckley]

You'll likely receive more effective help if you explain the colors you don't like and what you don't like about them.

[Lois N]

I can't really say which colours I don't like. I just don't think they look very natural.

[Stagecoach]

Have you tried adjusting the White Balance Lois?

I'm looking at it on a poor quality laptop, it looks natural to me with nothing obviously wrong, but I may not be seeing the same as you.

Is your monitor calibrated? I ask because you may not be seeing the same as others with calibrated monitors are.

[Mike Buckley]

All of the colors look fairly natural to me other than that the tones in the tree bark seem a bit reddish and/or overly saturated.

It might be helpful for you to post the image as it was captured by the camera before you made edits using Lightroom. Once you've done that, we can see the difference between the two images and perhaps be more helpful.

Be aware that if you're not using a calibrated monitor and if anyone trying to help isn't also using a calibrated monitor, the discussion will not only be of little help but also might make things worse. I'm using a calibrated monitor.

[Lois N]

That's a very good point Mike. Thank you. I will have to go back to my computer for the original.

[John 2]

Lois, there is a predominance of Red and the yellow is slightly over saturated. I have used Photoshop cc but I suspect Lightroom has the necessary adjustments. First pass was a rough cut using the colour balance tool. The final settings were Cyan/Red = -36, Magenta/Green = 0, Yellow/Blue = +12. I then fine tuned the saturation to Red = -88, Yellow = -38Green = 0, Cyan = -34, Blue = 0 and Magenta = 0. This produced the image below which is more neutral but whether it is what you were looking for, I don't know. Hope this helps.

[Lois N]

That's much more like it John. Thank you. I will adjust using the settings you suggested and take it from there. I have a problem working from my laptop as the picture looks different if I change my angle of view. I need to find the right angle to tilt the screen and set a mark there!

[Wavelength]

I really like the image as such; it has a painterly effect with its low sharpness; i think we should look at the monitor almost parallel to the frontal surface of our eyes to get the colors and shades right. since we look at the monitor at a small angle with the horizontal, we have to turn the monitor backwards accordingly

[Lois N]

I think you're right. I can't keep still though!

[xpatUSA]

. . . I will have to go back to my computer for the original.

If you post it again, could you save it with the image information (EXIF) left in it?

It seems like you may have "saved it for the web" which can strip out all that useful information. In addition, Adobe puts lots of extra information (XMP) which tells us a huge amount more than "I processed it in Lightroom" . . .

Not that you did anything "wrong", my point is only that the more we can find out about the image, the better we can help you.

HTH.

[Lois N]

Finally got a colour I am happy with. Comments and criticisms please - and thanks for all your help!

[Rainforest]

Looks lovely Lois, maybe a bit red on the tree? It's a beauty of a shot. The composition is super. :-)

[Stagecoach]

Finally got a colour I am happy with. Comments and criticisms please -

Out of curiosity Lois have you determined why the colours in the first image posted were so far off from what you are happy with?

Was it something in the capture process or post processing process that caused the difference from reality at the time of shooting.

[Lois N]

I don't know what I did first time, but I started again and worked more methodically. Maybe I was too tired from all the walking I did around the lake before I took the shot! I'll learn eventually I suppose!

[bnnrcn]

Your last edit looks nice Lois There is always a risk of overdoing things in PP in landscape shots as landscapes are usually full of colors. Also your mood or your concentration effects the PP work. That's why when I finish my PP I don't post the image immediatelly. I look at the image again a couple of hours later or next day to see if I'm satisfied with it and I make the final adjustments before posting if necessary.