[jpzk]

Hi folks,

Just turned out that I had my children visiting this past weekend and of course I took lots of pics of them.

Problem:

Many photos show a reddish cast on the faces ... some have faded highlights too (I should say that the cheekbones are way "highlighted", or "washed out"), such as on the cheekbones, sometimes a combination of the two.

I've searched the forum for some answers but everyone seems to have "their way" to fix skin tones and I am, as usual, getting lost.

Question: where can I find a way to fix that, either via Photoshp (CS4) or some freeware which would do the job easier.

Thanks for any advice.

JP

[Adam]

Selective color (reds > increase yellow) and shadow/highlight (increase midtone contrast) typically gets the job for me. Have you tried these tools?

[jpzk]

Selective color (reds > increase yellow) and shadow/highlight (increase midtone contrast) typically gets the job for me. Have you tried these tools?

Thanks Adam,

I did try the Selective color (reds) and increased the yellow as you mentioned ... that helped quite a bit for the skin tone.
Now, the shadow/highlights did not do much at all to the "blemishes" at the noses and cheekbones. I am trying to find a way to decrease those blemishes.

JP

[Marc Sabatella]

Could you post a sample image? Hard to say without seeing that if you are talking about subtle shifts or something as simple but major as having the wrong WB set and/or being overexposed.

[enoeske]

wrong WB and overexposed.

^
| Its this

[jpzk]

Could you post a sample image? Hard to say without seeing that if you are talking about subtle shifts or something as simple but major as having the wrong WB set and/or being overexposed.

Hi Marc,
Yes, I will post a couple of pics here. Your reply ought to be right on the spot: probable/most likely a mixture of WB and exposure/flash use.
I'll be back with some samples tomorrow.
Thanks.

JP

[jpzk]

^
| Its this

How do you know already?

[kxr4trids]

Sunlight. Blown blue channel. Fix it with clone/healing brush, or compositing from the raw.

[jpzk]

Sunlight. Blown blue channel. Fix it with clone/healing brush, or compositing from the raw.

Yes, I could start with the RAW file ... I'll have to make sure that I have a copy of the RAW file first.
OK, I'll give that a go too.
Thanks!
JP

[jpzk]

So here are two pics which I find totally and absurdly goofed!
Actually, they are the two worse ones of a bunch of 20.

The first one, on the left, shows a BIG difference in skin tone between my daughter (very red cast) and my grandson (very baby-pale skin); just to make things more difficult, I had to deal with that and of course, being very new at any portraiture (read: candid shots) ... I am having a tough time.

The second one is obviously overexposed, the WB is way off and the skin tone(s) are awful.

I am not asking to fix them, rather to tell me HOW to make them at least a bit more showable; of course, it would be nice to know what I did wrong. I won't be offended with any critique ... well, that's why I posted them here.

Thanks in advance.

JP

[George Lama]

The skin tone variation between family members is a tough one to deal with. You will have to work each face individually to make them more even. You can lighten up your daughter's face and do some selective white balancing. Select her face and use her teeth as a white balancing point - see what happens.

Second photo: White balancing isn't way off - it being overexposed certainly makes it look washed out and "blah" - if it wasn't so blown out, you could easily fix it by adjusting white balance. I see clouds in the sky - did the sun came out on you mid shoot? If so, you didn't alter your settings (I assume you were not on Auto-mode). Can't really tell without EXIF info. As you said, it's just blown out and there isn't much you can do to fix that except possibly making it black and white and adjusting your colors to bring up/reduce light and shadows.

[Marc Sabatella]

So here are two pics which I find totally and absurdly goofed!

I don't see that all. A little overexposed, but nothing remotely "absurd".

The first one, on the left, shows a BIG difference in skin tone between my daughter (very red cast) and my grandson (very baby-pale skin)

Well, they are being illuminated by two different light sources - one is in shade, the other direct sun. So it's to be expected that they show different color casts. But the paleness of the baby's skin is not a color issue - it's simply overexposed a bit (more so in the second than the first). The actual WB reads as pretty much perfect - taking an eye dropper to the white portions of the clothing in sunlight, they come out almost perfectly neutral. And indeed, to my eyes, the skin tones in both sun and shade look natural. Have you calibrated your monitor recently with a good hardware calibration device?

Anyhow, only thing I'd see to do with either of these is reduce the exposure. if you feel like playing with the color a little, go ahead, but you'll be imparting a color cast, not removing one, because these are quite neutral already. Don't even think about messing with color if your monitor is not calibrated!

[jpzk]

The skin tone variation between family members is a tough one to deal with. You will have to work each face individually to make them more even. You can lighten up your daughter's face and do some selective white balancing. Select her face and use her teeth as a white balancing point - see what happens.
Thanks Geaorge, I will do just that: work on each face individually. As for the WB balance point, good idea and I will also try that.
Second photo: White balancing isn't way off - it being overexposed certainly makes it look washed out and "blah" - if it wasn't so blown out, you could easily fix it by adjusting white balance. I see clouds in the sky - did the sun came out on you mid shoot? If so, you didn't alter your settings (I assume you were not on Auto-mode). Can't really tell without EXIF info. As you said, it's just blown out and there isn't much you can do to fix that except possibly making it black and white and adjusting your colors to bring up/reduce light and shadows.

Indeed, no much which can be done with an overexposed/blown out color pic. Your suggestion with trying a B&W version makes sense, at least to "save the day" on this one.

Suggestions appreciated!

JP

[jpzk]

I don't see that all. A little overexposed, but nothing remotely "absurd".



Well, they are being illuminated by two different light sources - one is in shade, the other direct sun. So it's to be expected that they show different color casts. But the paleness of the baby's skin is not a color issue - it's simply overexposed a bit (more so in the second than the first). The actual WB reads as pretty much perfect - taking an eye dropper to the white portions of the clothing in sunlight, they come out almost perfectly neutral. And indeed, to my eyes, the skin tones in both sun and shade look natural. Have you calibrated your monitor recently with a good hardware calibration device?

Anyhow, only thing I'd see to do with either of these is reduce the exposure. if you feel like playing with the color a little, go ahead, but you'll be imparting a color cast, not removing one, because these are quite neutral already. Don't even think about messing with color if your monitor is not calibrated!

Thanks a bunch, Marc!
Shame on me ... I have NEVER, ever thought about that: calibrating my monitors. Weird thing is that I come across lots of advertising on that very subject but never really paid attention to it.
Maybe it's time I check this out seriously, because when I bring my "keepers" to my photo printer guru, he always has to make some adjustments, especially for portrait shots; I mean: he has to adjust them 100% of the time.

I have visited this site:
Datacolor - Global Leader in Color Management Solutions
and it seems to be a choice for many. I wonder if I would just need the "Express" version, or the "Pro" version? I wouldn't mind going for the Pro version if that is going to make a difference in the way I "see" my photos, and the resulting printing jobs.

Now, for reducing the exposure a bit, I would guess that the darker/more reddish hue of my daughter's skin would then become even more so? Just wondering.

Much appreciated reply!

JP

[Marc Sabatella]

The differences tend to be in high end features, not basic calibration. I use the Spyder2Express and it works fine for me.