Dealing with Red: Wondering how others here deal with over-saturation of red tones. What can I do with this - processing-wise, to deal with the over saturation? The photo seems a...

T2i_Lorne Loc: Surrey BC Canada

Wondering how others here deal with over-saturation of red tones. What can I do with this - processing-wise, to deal with the over saturation?

The photo seems a little over-exposed, but beyond that, how can I capture the red without it burning the eyes? Does that make sense? Is there a preferred camera method for reds?

Canon T21 - Shutter 1/250 - F 5.6 - ISO 100 - 55mm - AV

St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

The White Balance looks close, but try this -
In Digital Photo Professional (it came with your camera)
Click on the photo then
Click on the RGB tab
From here you can select Red and 'play with it' a bit

Nikonian72 Loc: Chico CA

Did you capture this image im raw as well as JPG? I suspect the reds in a raw image would look much more natural. A JPG is someone else's interpretation of the actual raw image captured by your camera.

CajonPhotog Loc: Shreveport, LA

Not sure if this is what you were wanting. I did find that the picture has a red color cast. If you want the work flow for that let me know and I will post it. After adjusting the color cast I desaturated the red some, replaced some of the color in his hair by using the paint brush in color mode, then used another workflow to pump the color back up without blowing everything out again. Great capture, by the way.

edit

ole sarg Loc: south florida

red like green is very difficult to capture. I generally bracket when shooting those colors. theses colors both absorb and reflect light depending on the various angles the light is hitting the object.

bobmcculloch Loc: NYC, NY

St3v3M wrote:

The White Balance looks close, but try this -
In Digital Photo Professional (it came with your camera)
Click on the photo then
Click on the RGB tab
From here you can select Red and 'play with it' a bit

That would be my advice, every test I've read says that Canons have a slight , non-objectionable , red bias, never bothers me. Bob.

Out of the Fog Loc: Eastern Edge of North America

Reds are always hard to get right. Sometimes you have to try different approaches to obtain a satisfactory result. The red highlights, I assume are illuminated by direct sunlight and the shadow detail by reflected light from the surroundings. Right off the bat you will have white balance issues. Sometimes a fill flash can also be used, instead of lighting shadow areas, to tone down highlights. The red jacket may actually be underexposed in relation to the rest of the image.
Reds cause issues, hope we can resolve this one.

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

T2i_Lorne wrote:

Wondering how others here deal with over-saturation of red tones. What can I do with this - processing-wise, to deal with the over saturation?

The photo seems a little over-exposed, but beyond that, how can I capture the red without it burning the eyes? Does that make sense? Is there a preferred camera method for reds?

Canon T21 - Shutter 1/250 - F 5.6 - ISO 100 - 55mm - AV

To me it appears to be mostly the light at that time of day. As we all know in morning or evening the sun, because of the atmosphere, takes on a redish tone and of course that shows up, as it did in your photo.

Yes, as was done above, desaturate the red a bit and you should be fine
as illustrated by the submitted, corrected shot.

RMM Loc: Suburban New York

In Photoshop, you can apply a Hue/Saturation correction and, as suggested, select the reds and adjust them independently. Other software, such as Elements, probably can do this, too, though the process may be a little different.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

I'm assuming you shot in jpg mode so try changing your picture style in the camera. It's easy to do. Just hit the Q button and move the picture style on the LCD. Try the different setting and maybe even try a custom picture style.

wilsondl2 Loc: Lincoln, Nebraska

Nikonian72 wrote:

Did you capture this image im raw as well as JPG? I suspect the reds in a raw image would look much more natural. A JPG is someone else's interpretation of the actual raw image captured by your camera.

If you do not like PP on many cameras you can tweek the colors. I can with both my Nikon D80 & D90. I would check this out in your instruction manual. - Dave

GW Loc: Idaho

I don't know about the red issue but I have the very same model Canon she's holding, great litle camera.

T2i_Lorne Loc: Surrey BC Canada

CajonPhotog wrote:

Not sure if this is what you were wanting. I did find that the picture has a red color cast. If you want the work flow for that let me know and I will post it. After adjusting the color cast I desaturated the red some, replaced some of the color in his hair by using the paint brush in color mode, then used another workflow to pump the color back up without blowing everything out again. Great capture, by the way.

Quite a difference! Your corrections make the photo look much richer - especially the background tones.

I will try this one again :-)

T2i_Lorne Loc: Surrey BC Canada

RMM wrote:

In Photoshop, you can apply a Hue/Saturation correction and, as suggested, select the reds and adjust them independently. Other software, such as Elements, probably can do this, too, though the process may be a little different.

I use PS - CS5 and did do some correction on the reds, but not enough apparently. As mentioned, I will try and re-process this one again.

T2i_Lorne Loc: Surrey BC Canada

jimmya wrote:

To me it appears to be mostly the light at that time of day. As we all know in morning or evening the sun, because of the atmosphere, takes on a redish tone and of course that shows up, as it did in your photo...

Yes, late afternoon under a harsh light. Because of the scene I did a quick point and shoot to capture it before the opportunity was lost.