How to reduced color bleed on bright colors?

hockmasm · 05-09-2010, 09:07 AM

So i took a picture of a butter cup and a pink flower that was directly in the sun.

when i got back to edit them, they looked list the colors were bleeding into each other. possibly overexposed??

any ideas why this happened on my k-x?

Did I overexpose? or are really bright colors a challenge to shoot?

mattdm · 05-09-2010, 09:12 AM

They are a challenge. It's particularly easy to "blow out" individual color channels with brightly-colored flowers.

Turn down saturation, and avoid "bright" and "vivid" modes — "natural" is best here. (If you want more punch, post-process carefully after the fact.)

Marc Sabatella · 05-09-2010, 11:21 AM

As is virtually always the case when asking for help with an image, it would be useful to actually post the image.

egordon99 · 05-10-2010, 07:38 AM

You probably overexposed. Try going out on an overcast day and you'll find the colors are MUCH more vibrant. I hate bright sunny days.

**Just1MoreDave** · 05-10-2010, 08:43 AM

It's a good idea to check the RGB histogram after a flower shot or other subjects with one strong color. (Page 28 of the K-x manual.) That shows you each channel's exposure separately. Make sure each channel is not overexposed. The camera's meter can get fooled by one bright color on an otherwise darker background. The most likely color to overexpose is red. The overall histogram doesn't show the problem as well as the RGB histogram. The K-7 and K-x have the RGB histogram, and I think all the upper-line cameras have it.

05-09-2010, 09:07 AM	#1
hockmasm Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Photos: Albums Posts: 353	How to reduced color bleed on bright colors? So i took a picture of a butter cup and a pink flower that was directly in the sun. when i got back to edit them, they looked list the colors were bleeding into each other. possibly overexposed?? any ideas why this happened on my k-x? Did I overexpose? or are really bright colors a challenge to shoot?

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05-09-2010, 09:12 AM	#2
mattdm Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Boston, MA Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,948	They are a challenge. It's particularly easy to "blow out" individual color channels with brightly-colored flowers. Turn down saturation, and avoid "bright" and "vivid" modes — "natural" is best here. (If you want more punch, post-process carefully after the fact.)

05-09-2010, 11:21 AM	#3
Marc Sabatella Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Denver, CO Photos: Gallery Posts: 10,685	As is virtually always the case when asking for help with an image, it would be useful to actually post the image.

05-10-2010, 07:38 AM	#4
egordon99 Inactive Account Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Outside of Philly Posts: 1,561	You probably overexposed. Try going out on an overcast day and you'll find the colors are MUCH more vibrant. I hate bright sunny days.

05-10-2010, 08:43 AM	#5
Just1MoreDave Site Supporter Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Aurora, CO Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 6,340	It's a good idea to check the RGB histogram after a flower shot or other subjects with one strong color. (Page 28 of the K-x manual.) That shows you each channel's exposure separately. Make sure each channel is not overexposed. The camera's meter can get fooled by one bright color on an otherwise darker background. The most likely color to overexpose is red. The overall histogram doesn't show the problem as well as the RGB histogram. The K-7 and K-x have the RGB histogram, and I think all the upper-line cameras have it.