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I Can't Do Color
For some reason I end up shooting B&W or converting a lot of my color photos into B&W. I just don't think I have an eye for color. I'm one of those guys wearing a green shirt thinking it's brown. I also have a hard time color correcting in Photoshop. Does anybody else have trouble with color or prefers B&W? Nov 27 05 02:12 pm Link Color balance can be a bitch! There are a few color shots on your page and the colors in those seem fine...warm toned but naturally so. One little suggestion would be to drop the saturation down just a bit and then adjust color. The more saturated the image is the more critical the color balance. Also, consider using the "selective color") tool in PS for more control. Go to; image>adjustments>selective color and then work with the hues in the various channels. Nov 27 05 02:27 pm Link If a person is colorblind, I can only imagine the difficulties that might pose. I took a look at your portfolio, and you do have some color images in it. I didn't see anything wrong with them, but I suppose it would feel awkward judging and editing color photos if you aren't sure about the accuracy of your results. I suppose if you needed to shoot a lot of color, you could have someone assist you with that particular aspect of the images. A stylist could help make sure the colors look right at the time of the shoot, and you could also let someone else do your final image editing and printing. take care, Glen Nov 27 05 02:30 pm Link Thanks for the tips. I can often times get colors to come out correctly, but it still doesn't mean the colors add anything to those pictures. I've seen other photographers do great things with colors. They know how to use them effectively. It's still something I have to learn and am struggling with. Nov 27 05 02:57 pm Link I have a photoshop book (Professional Photoshop 5, there are newer editions) by Dan Margulis, who makes the claim that he can, and has, taught color blind people to color correct images. As long an there is a neutral black, white, or gray in the image then you can color balance "by the numbers" as described in his books. Shoot a frame with a gray or white card and use that as a reference (as long as the lighting is not changed.) Easier said than done, but worth looking into. Henry Nov 27 05 02:59 pm Link I actually like B&W alot, and sepia (and other duotones.) I think textures are more noticable in b&w or limited color. ***Edit*** BTW, if you do convert color to b&w, use the "gradient map" or "channel mixer" rather than just a straight "gray scale" conversion. These other methods give you a lot more control and options. Henry Nov 27 05 03:01 pm Link I like all of your shots both color and b/w... quick side question .. have u bumped up the contrast in photoshop for these shots or were they shot this way? Nov 27 05 03:04 pm Link Henry Tjernlund wrote: there has also been another thread on conversion color/b&w... this is one that i posted on, there maybe others: https://modelmayhem.com/posts.php?thread_id=18495 Nov 27 05 03:07 pm Link Vihao wrote: 1. Have your eyes checked Nov 27 05 03:08 pm Link Images By Ijumo wrote: I agree. They are very nice. Nov 27 05 03:09 pm Link I tend to do color balancing by finding a what should be a monotone element (e.g. background, clothes, etc.) in my photographs and then making it so in curves. I see most colors fine most of the time I think. But sometimes green/brown and blue/purple can be troublesome and it usually depends on the lighting situation. I just can't seem to make colors work. At least not to my liking. Nov 27 05 03:10 pm Link you can always buy that piece of hardware that sticks to your monitor and adjusts color for you.  Nov 27 05 03:12 pm Link Images By Ijumo wrote: Thanks. I bumped up the saturation in those pictures. I find the Nikon D70 is a little understated in terms of saturation and contrast in a lot of what I shoot. I do use the default settings though. Nov 27 05 03:13 pm Link Images By Ijumo wrote: Just looked at your pics. You and the original poster disgust me. It is illegal to take b&w pictures that good. Im turning you guys in. :-) Nov 27 05 03:13 pm Link Henry Tjernlund wrote: LOL.. thanks Henry... I usually shoot all color and then create duo tones later in Photoshop... though after seeing the OP's portfolio.. Im going to start nudging my saturation up a notch before conversion. Nov 27 05 04:11 pm Link I cant realy take colour pictures as well as black and white, and colour balance depends on which eye I use, one is realy cold and one warm, but I hope the two give me a balanced view. Most of my professional work has been doing white background colour shots for Dorling Kindersley, in the days when I used fuji 100D pushed a quater to warm it up. But I think its easier to tyr to make somthing warm or cold rather than neutral, so I do that. Nov 27 05 04:19 pm Link I far and away prefer B&W, both to shoot and to view. Good B&W is far more difficult to do well, as color gets attention for the colors, not necessarily for the quality of the image. Except for one color shoot (Provia 400) recently I've decided to continue with B&W (Ilford Delta 3200) until I'm happy with that medium before I consider going back to color. (Disclaimer: Almost all of my images sales have been of color. Only a couple of art books specified B&W images.) -Don Nov 27 05 04:54 pm Link A friend of mine is a colorblind online editor, and he does color correction for shows on HBO, ESPN, Discovery, etc. Dan Margulis knows his shit. It's not easy, but if you can get through Professional Photoshop: The Classic Guide to Color Correction, you'll be all up ons. But a lot of it is not just color correction. It's picking the right colors to begin with. That's tough...  Nov 27 05 07:02 pm Link Brian Diaz wrote: And that's a big part of what I mean when I say I don't have an eye for color. Nov 27 05 07:33 pm Link Nov 27 05 08:12 pm Link im surprized this hasnt been mentioned already... my advise for choosing colors to shoot would be to use a color wheel like this http://www.cyber-prof.com/mdia1194/imag … rwheel.gif opposites on the color wheel are complimentary colors and will always work. artists have been using this method for many many years. once you get a good grasp of how primary colors work together you can experiment with non traditional color combinations that appeal to you. good luck. Nate Nov 27 05 08:13 pm Link Vihao wrote: Shooting B&W is an artistic choice just like color. If that's your preference go with it. Personally unless it is a request, I believe you should only shoot color when the color will add to the photo, if not it usually looks better in b&w. Nov 27 05 08:19 pm Link Just shoot a gray card first and use custom white balance Nov 27 05 08:33 pm Link I found a phrase one time that pretty much summed it up (as least for me) in describing the differences between black and white, and color. A photo instructor in the USAF told me one time... 'Black and White Suggests... Color States'. He also told me the reason why the base commander would ONLY accept black and white proof sheets of all accidents, suicides, homosides and plane crashes that we (I was an USAF Alert Photographer) had to photograph. He submitted 4x6 color prints to the commander one morning of a 3 car accident in which 2 people died, and those prints were promptly thrown back in his face, with the commander saying: WTF Sargeant... how the hell do you expect me to look at these bloody ass photos over my coffee and crumcake?' (blood shows up only as a black liquid, simular to motor oil, in black and white accident photos) Nov 27 05 09:02 pm Link Select Models wrote: I once read this somewhere: Nov 27 05 10:00 pm Link Vihao wrote: You'll find lots of sayings like that. They are poetic, but IMHO, they dont really mean anything. You can find such sayings that contradict each other. You will have one reason for photographing something. Someone else looking at the image will likely have a completely different reason for liking the image, or not. Nov 27 05 11:57 pm Link Craig Thomson wrote: Vihao wrote: *hardly optional* Nov 28 05 02:34 am Link You may be blue green color blind. 1/3 of all men are blue green color blind and I think 1/5 of all women are. Don't know why. this doesn't mean you can't see the color at all nessicarally, you just may not see it as well as others. I have a friend that is VERY blue green color blind, and boy does he suck at ut2k4 and battlefield 2. Nov 28 05 07:47 am Link |
