DezFoto Posted January 24, 2016 Share #1 Posted January 24, 2016 Advertisement (gone after registration) Has anyone see a color cast like this? The sky looks close-ish to what I remember, but the lights on the right are causing a crazy green color cast I've never seen before. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/256017-color-cast-at-night/?do=findComment&comment=2975556'>More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted January 24, 2016 Posted January 24, 2016 Hi DezFoto, Take a look here Color cast at night. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Peter Kilmister Posted January 24, 2016 Share #2 Posted January 24, 2016 Sorry, we have dark skies here ... not as dark as I'd like because of light pollution from nearby urban stuff. Colour cast here is non-existent. Campaign for your local government people too shut the lights off and save energy. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pop Posted January 24, 2016 Share #3 Posted January 24, 2016 Several kinds of street lights can produce green or orange casts. You may or may not notice the cast when you're there, but the camera will capture it as it is. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrödinger's cat Posted January 24, 2016 Share #4 Posted January 24, 2016 (edited) I'm guessing you used auto white balance. You have a wide variety of light sources with several different color temperatures and light characteristics. Light sources with discontinuous spectrums are a particular problem. As you can only select one color temperature, only one of the sources will record correctly. When viewing the scene yourself, this is frequently not noticeable. I looks to me like you did about as well as possible. Liked your website Edited January 24, 2016 by Schrödinger's cat 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thighslapper Posted January 24, 2016 Share #5 Posted January 24, 2016 Mixed lighting. The camera never lies. Your eyes do ....... the brain selectively auto white balances to adjust some colours to what it expects from past experience to see. Nothing you can do about it ..... just pick the balance that gives you the best final image that pleases you ...... Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DezFoto Posted January 24, 2016 Author Share #6 Posted January 24, 2016 Cameras do lie actually, a lot. I do usually leave the camera in auto white balance unless I'm in my studio, this image is tweaked to about 3,800k in Lightroom.The only lights I've run across before this that can give a green color cast are fluorescents, but really only on film. Until recently, LA's street lights were strictly sodium, so they gave a sickly yellow light, which I would usually tweak to a warmer orange tone. I guess my question should have been, "What lights can throw that much green into a scene?". I should have gelled them BTW, there's no correcting it out without masking the area and doing some serious color correction in Photoshop, which creates a lot of noise (because the red channel is so weak in that area. *sigh* 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DezFoto Posted January 24, 2016 Author Share #7 Posted January 24, 2016 Advertisement (gone after registration) Liked your website Thank you! I liked your's as well. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Kilmister Posted January 24, 2016 Share #8 Posted January 24, 2016 Forgive my rant about urban lighting, but looking at the tops of the tall buildings in the background makes everything look insane. Further scrutiny of your pic shows the prime suspect to be the lamp in the top right hand corner. It is definitely emitting a strong green cast. Some people might suggest solutions to be a catapult or an air rifle, although in LA an assault rifle might be more appropriate. I couldn't possibly comment. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pop Posted January 24, 2016 Share #9 Posted January 24, 2016 Mercury vapor lamps also give off a greenish light. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DezFoto Posted January 24, 2016 Author Share #10 Posted January 24, 2016 Mercury vapor lamps also give off a greenish light. Hmm, perhaps that's it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DezFoto Posted January 24, 2016 Author Share #11 Posted January 24, 2016 Forgive my rant about urban lighting, but looking at the tops of the tall buildings in the background makes everything look insane. Further scrutiny of your pic shows the prime suspect to be the lamp in the top right hand corner. It is definitely emitting a strong green cast. Some people might suggest solutions to be a catapult or an air rifle, although in LA an assault rifle might be more appropriate. I couldn't possibly comment. Yeah for a city that's prone to brown-outs, there sure is a lot of lights on at night. Flying into LAX at night is a surreal experience, just a field of lights stretching off towards the horizon. The city's been on a tear lately, replacing the sodium lights with more efficient LED's but like all things American, the wealthier neighbourhoods get priority. Between the smog hanging in the air and the light pollution, stars don't make many appearances in photos. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted January 25, 2016 Share #12 Posted January 25, 2016 Cameras do lie actually, a lot. I do usually leave the camera in auto white balance unless I'm in my studio, this image is tweaked to about 3,800k in Lightroom.The only lights I've run across before this that can give a green color cast are fluorescents, but really only on film. Until recently, LA's street lights were strictly sodium, so they gave a sickly yellow light, which I would usually tweak to a warmer orange tone. I guess my question should have been, "What lights can throw that much green into a scene?". I should have gelled them BTW, there's no correcting it out without masking the area and doing some serious color correction in Photoshop, which creates a lot of noise (because the red channel is so weak in that area. *sigh* Actually - not having any preconception about what the scene should look like- I quite like the colouring in this shot. I do not see any reason to go photoshopping, it is fine as it is. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Livingston Posted January 26, 2016 Share #13 Posted January 26, 2016 (edited) Actually - not having any preconception about what the scene should look like- I quite like the colouring in this shot. I do not see any reason to go photoshopping, it is fine as it is. I agree. I like the overall look of this too... in fact I REALLY like the look of it. I would leave it exactly as it is. Printed well, large, with a wide white passe-partout, it would be very striking image. The only bit of Photoshop I would perhaps do would be to remove the horizontal wire across the middle. The colour cast isn't an issue, it's such a dramatic, clean, green! (what is the white line in the sky above the tree on the left - it doesn't look like a vapour trail..?) Edited January 26, 2016 by Bill Livingston 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DandA Posted January 26, 2016 Share #14 Posted January 26, 2016 My experience with digital and all sorts of lighting indicates a strong possibility of the green lights and their color cast being sodium vapor lights as someone previously suggested. Not all of these are of the same spectrum and resulting color can vary. I too with regards to this inage like the green cast. Dave (D&A) 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff S Posted January 26, 2016 Share #15 Posted January 26, 2016 My guess is mercury vapor lighting (light at top right in pic), common for outdoor sports arenas, industrial areas, etc, despite the fact that it is apparently being phased out, if not already banned. More here.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury-vapor_lamp https://books.google.com/books?id=WIBhCQAAQBAJ&pg=PT89&lpg=PT89&dq=mercury+vapor+light+color+cast&source=bl&ots=ICka6TTCwM&sig=EZ0pMNNOQadDuInFqCBhDeB12sY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjzg-vircbKAhVBVh4KHSE5DjcQ6AEILTAC#v=onepage&q=mercury%20vapor%20light%20color%20cast&f=false Jeff 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DezFoto Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share #16 Posted January 26, 2016 Actually - not having any preconception about what the scene should look like- I quite like the colouring in this shot. I do not see any reason to go photoshopping, it is fine as it is. I appreciate that comment Jaapv, thank you. I agree. I like the overall look of this too... in fact I REALLY like the look of it. I would leave it exactly as it is. Printed well, large, with a wide white passe-partout, it would be very striking image. The only bit of Photoshop I would perhaps do would be to remove the horizontal wire across the middle. The colour cast isn't an issue, it's such a dramatic, clean, green! (what is the white line in the sky above the tree on the left - it doesn't look like a vapour trail..?) Thanks Bill, that's very kind of you. All I've done to this image is a quick white balance and contrast curve. The initial raw file was much more flat, but of course when you increase the contrast and deepen the shadows, the green becomes very present. I probably wouldn't remove the power line going across the road, I don't find it very distracting, but I probably will remove the bright white wire on the upper right. The line on the left is a helicopter (which I'll also remove). It's nearly impossible to take a photo at night in LA without either a helicopter of jetliner leaving a trail through your image. So obnoxious. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Livingston Posted January 26, 2016 Share #17 Posted January 26, 2016 Looking at it again, I think you are right, the power cable isn't as distracting as I first thought... and it gives another horizontal to balance all the strong verticals while supporting the horizontal of the buildings in the mid ground. Love to see the version with the helicopter and bright wire removed... would you mind posting it when done? thanks 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsmphoto Posted January 26, 2016 Share #18 Posted January 26, 2016 (edited) FWIW, The orange cast in the far distance (city) and on the loading dock at left is Sodium vapor, the foreground, Mercury vapor. Looks like HID a bit in the middle ground. I think what makes this picture work as well as it does, is in fact the different colored lighting, which end up defining separate areas, adding to a sense of depth and distance. Really, not a bad balance between the two major color sources. Love the balance of the green trees on right and the sodium lit loading dock on left. Wouldn't work as well without those two elements. Richard Edited January 26, 2016 by rsmphoto 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DezFoto Posted January 28, 2016 Author Share #19 Posted January 28, 2016 Looking at it again, I think you are right, the power cable isn't as distracting as I first thought... and it gives another horizontal to balance all the strong verticals while supporting the horizontal of the buildings in the mid ground. Love to see the version with the helicopter and bright wire removed... would you mind posting it when done? thanks It's been put on the back burner for the moment, prepping a shoot right now, but when I get a chance I'll do my edits and post my results. Thanks everyone, for the positive and constructive feedback! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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