Focal Length 55mm, Manual Exposure Mode, No flash and used CWA Metering.

I say a tough day at shooting and this image is why. I had a lot of difficulty getting this red tamed down to make it acceptable to display. I am really not exactly in love with it, but suffice it to say I did my best even in the presets and PPE. Red can be a tough nut to crack sometimes. To make matters even worse, this flower was absolutely beautiful, and I was unable to capture all that beauty.

Thanks for viewing.

TT

[mikesbike]

If you are using the normal default "Bright" category in your Custom Image settings, color saturation will be increased by default. The color palette in general may be somewhat different. So simply move your setting to the "Natural" category. In both categories, however, put an "F" by the "S" to implement Fine Sharpening.

Another factor, since you are using center-weighted metering, and the flower takes up the entire center, the reading will be essentially just off the flower itself. If there is any reflective aspects from the flower petals, the reading will see more light from that and will reduce exposure somewhat. If you were to use matrix metering, it would also detect the darker areas surrounding the flower and would tend to open up shadows somewhat, increasing exposure and thus a lighter flower exposure, if that is what you ae looking for.

[BigMackCam]

I think your photo turned out just fine, Tony

That said, I've had metering problems before with bright red flowers that fill the frame, using both centre-weighted and matrix metering. I also find that my later Pentax cameras (K-5 onwards) have a tendency towards over-saturated and magenta-tinted reds. I'm sure this is the case for the K-50 too. When I worked on producing a K10D "CCD emulation" Lightroom preset for my K-3 images, one of the things that involved was de-saturating the red channel and moving the hue towards orange.

As @mikesbike advises, the "Natural" custom image setting is a good choice for these situations. And if you have the flexibility of changing hue and saturation of red in your post-processing software, try adjusting that as I've mentioned above.

[dakight]

Red is just abut the most difficult color to deal with. Everything else can be perfectly exposed and the reds will be blown out. Rendering of the color itself can be difficult, often appearing orange or sometimes even purple. The color specific hue, saturation and luminance settings in your post-processing software can be of great help. But, having said all that, I don't see a lot wrong with your image as is.

[MarkJerling]

Hi Tony
As others have said, red can be a challenge sometimes. I did peer closely at your photo and wonder if it won't be a good idea to go back to factory settings and work from there? I see too you're shooting hand-held at 1/30 which won't help to get a nice sharp image.
If you want to, feel free to send me the RAW file and I can have a play to see if it can be improved.
KInd regards,
Mark

[Tonytee]

Hi Tony
As others have said, red can be a challenge sometimes. I did peer closely at your photo and wonder if it won't be a good idea to go back to factory settings and work from there? I see too you're shooting hand-held at 1/30 which won't help to get a nice sharp image.
If you want to, feel free to send me the RAW file and I can have a play to see if it can be improved.
KInd regards,
Mark

Hello Mark,

Thanks for the offer. How do you want me to send the image to you?

Thnx,

Tony

[MarkJerling]

Hello Mark,

Thanks for the offer. How do you want me to send the image to you?

Thnx,

Tony

Hi Tony

Use the e-mail option under contact details by going to my profile on PF and clicking on contact details.

I'll reply and you'll then have my e-mail address and you can attach the image.

Kind regards,
Mark

[Tonytee]

Hi Tony

Use the e-mail option under contact details by going to my profile on PF and clicking on contact details.

I'll reply and you'll then have my e-mail address and you can attach the image.

Kind regards,
Mark

Okay, done. You should have it by now.

thnx,

TT

[old4570]

I like that ... A very nice photo , and really good control of the lighting .

[MarkJerling]

Okay, done. You should have it by now.

thnx,

TT

Hi Tony

Did you get my (large) e-mail back?

Kind regards,
Mark

[Tonytee]

I like that ... A very nice photo , and really good control of the lighting .

Well sir, thanks a million for your encouraging comments. Typically the k-50 does a more than adequate job in controlling the reds, but this image took an inordinate amount of time and effort to get it to this point. In my past experience with Nikon, nothing could have been worse than the D70 when it came to blown reds, yellows and whites.

TT

[Tonytee]

Hi Tony

Did you get my (large) e-mail back?

Kind regards,
Mark

The only email I received from you indicated that you were really being slammed at work and it would be few days before you got to the photo.

TT

[MarkJerling]

The only email I received from you indicated that you were really being slammed at work and it would be few days before you got to the photo.

TT

Aha. I'll have to send you a link to a download folder. It's obviously too big for e-mail.

[MarkJerling]

Aha. I'll have to send you a link to a download folder. It's obviously too big for e-mail.

Done.

[Tonytee]

Okay, I should have resized the image, but didn't think it would be a problem.

TT