Posted by Barbara Graham on November 5, 2010 at 12:08 PM
Several people have mentioned a magenta cast to my images, and I'm trying to figure that out. I have always had my WB setting on my camera on AWB, so just now I changed it to sunlight instead of AWB and took this image. Nothing at all has been done to it. This is just as it came out of my camera. Could any of you tell me what you see here as far as white balance being correct or incorrect? I continue to greatly appreciate your input. Thank you so much.
Posted by Gary Minish on November 5, 2010 at 12:48 PM
This particular photo looks very natural to me, on an un-calibrated Dell monitor. I certainly don't see any sign of a color cast, magenta or otherwise. A lot of times the perception can be the difference between your computer monitor and the viewers. If a large number of viewers comment about a color cast on your photos there is a very good chance that it is either your monitor or your camera. Auto White balance functions vary on different cameras and are not 100% reliable on any camera because of the variety of light sources you can encounter. The best rule is to try the different options (including manual white balance) for any given shot, at least for a while. Eventually you'll learn to recognize what setting works best (with your specific camera) for any type of lighting condition. Keep in mind that your computer monitor is a big factor also. If your monitor is not fairly accurate you could be adding a color cast to an otherwise good photo during your processing. If your monitor is weak in the magenta range of color, you could end up adjusting the image color to look good on your monitor and thus exagerate the magenta in your image, which others with calibrated monitors would see. Based on this photo, though, I'm guessing that your AWB may not be doing too well with direct, bright sunlight (which is why they include a "sunlight" option). Good luck, and remember that trial and error is dirt cheap with digital photography
Posted by Mia McPherson on November 5, 2010 at 3:34 PM
Barbabra,
On your recent Little Blue Heron post after the comments about the magenta color cast you mentioned that you had done "auto levels, contrast, color correction". Auto levels can change the colors in an image, the program decides what it thinks it should look like and quite often it is wrong. I do not use auto levels often because of that. "Color correction" could also be causing color casts. I always use Auto WB, then change it in ACR if I need to do so.
I do use a calibrated monitor and would recommend that you get a calibration unit so that you see colors more accurately.
To me the gator image looks slightly cool (blue) for being taken in bright light. The image is also a touch dark, that could have been changed in the field by using a different EV compensation adjustment
Posted by Buck Ward on November 5, 2010 at 3:49 PM
Hi Barbara
You picture looks pretty good to me. I'm viewing ot on an uncalibrated Dell monitor.
If I recall, you don't have the option of shooting in RAW, so you can't reset the white balance in post processing. Try this: Shoot the same picture will all your different white balance settings. And try doing this with the same scene in both sunny and overcast conditions. This should illustrate to you the differences among the various white balance settings.
If another person points out a color cast that you do not see, then it may very well be a difference between his monitor and yours. If lots of people see a color cast and you don't see it, that's an indication that your monitor needs to be color calibrated.
Posted by John Tobias on November 5, 2010 at 4:25 PM
Barbara, I like this one of the gator better than your previous ones. I do not see the magenta cast in this image.
Barbara! You and your 'gators. Don't see a color cast in this one. Thanks for asking all your questions; I'm learning a lot, too.
Posted by John Mumaw on November 6, 2010 at 7:34 PM
AWB works well most of the time, but it can get fooled.
The AutoColor feature in PS often works well in eliminating color casts.
Another method to eliminate color casts is to use the grey eyedropper in either the Curves or Levels dialog and clicking it on a grey or neutral object. The back of the 'gator would be an excellent example in this particular image
Discussion
6 repliesOn your recent Little Blue Heron post after the comments about the magenta color cast you mentioned that you had done "auto levels, contrast, color correction". Auto levels can change the colors in an image, the program decides what it thinks it should look like and quite often it is wrong. I do not use auto levels often because of that. "Color correction" could also be causing color casts. I always use Auto WB, then change it in ACR if I need to do so.
I do use a calibrated monitor and would recommend that you get a calibration unit so that you see colors more accurately.
To me the gator image looks slightly cool (blue) for being taken in bright light. The image is also a touch dark, that could have been changed in the field by using a different EV compensation adjustment
You picture looks pretty good to me. I'm viewing ot on an uncalibrated Dell monitor.
If I recall, you don't have the option of shooting in RAW, so you can't reset the white balance in post processing. Try this: Shoot the same picture will all your different white balance settings. And try doing this with the same scene in both sunny and overcast conditions. This should illustrate to you the differences among the various white balance settings.
If another person points out a color cast that you do not see, then it may very well be a difference between his monitor and yours. If lots of people see a color cast and you don't see it, that's an indication that your monitor needs to be color calibrated.
The AutoColor feature in PS often works well in eliminating color casts.
Another method to eliminate color casts is to use the grey eyedropper in either the Curves or Levels dialog and clicking it on a grey or neutral object. The back of the 'gator would be an excellent example in this particular image