Sunset portrait too red

[tollie]

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Hi,

 

I could use some advice. For a sunset portrait in the tropics... this gentleman was already very sunburned... but not to the extent it appeared out of the camera. I suspect it was also due to the sunset reds which, just a few minutes before sunset, were strong. The image below is the image out of the camera.

 

Would a diffuser help?

[marknorton]

It might, but sunscreen would be better. Doesn't he know that sunburn causes skin cancer?

 

As for the image, if you shot raw, you can adjust the colour balance in C1.

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[Jager]

Not sure why you'd want to use a diffuser. Looks to me like your camera faithfully captured a sunburned guy at sunset. (Our minds tend to filter out or otherwise rationalize much of the warm color temps that actually exist late in the evening).

 

Just bring the color temp down a bit in your image editor, if you want a cooler rendition.

[farnz]

Hi,

 

I could use some advice. For a sunset portrait in the tropics... this gentleman was already very sunburned... but not to the extent it appeared out of the camera. I suspect it was also due to the sunset reds which, just a few minutes before sunset, were strong. The image below is the image out of the camera.

 

Would a diffuser help?

Todd,

 

I pulled your picture into LR, which showed overexposure, so I pulled it back using the Recover tool and revealed more detail in the background.

 

Colour balancing was more difficult. I balanced off the gentleman's teeth and eyes - both of which you could expect to near white but the results produced a strong blue cast across the picture.

 

When I balanced off his hair I got a better result but it still looked too orange. I slightly desaturated the orange channel and it produced the result below, which to me looks better but loses the delicate warmth that you would expect from low evening sunlight. Interestingly though, the gentleman's face is still quite ruddy (sunburn?) although his skin colour just above his collar looks to be within reasonable limits.

 

You could tweak the orange saturation to balance between the sunset glow and skin colour to meet your taste.

 

Were you using a UV/IR filter and was the "image out of the camera" jpeg or DNG?

 

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[Skippy Sanchez]

it's not a diffuser you need. if you insist on shooting jpgs, shoot a frame with him holding a white piece of paper and set a white balance. that's what it's there for.

or you can set it on tungsten in this sort of light.

or you can shoot at another time of day if you don't want the "sunset" look.

or you can de-saturate the reds.

or you can shoot black and white.

 

however, i agree about shooting raw files (dng); you have a lot more control and can process in 16-bit. i'd still set a white balance, though.

[stunsworth]

...if you insist on shooting jpgs, shoot a frame with him holding a white piece of paper and set a white balance. that's what it's there for.

 

But that will remove all of the effect of the sunset light, and I'd imagine the poster would like there to be some, if not as much as here. To be honest I think the original looks fine and is how I'd expect a portrait taken at this time of day to look.

 

However as you say, RAW is the way to go.

[farnz]

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Todd,

 

Here's a compromise between the two but the skin colour of his face still looks a little red to me. (Ooh that's going to smart in the morning. )

 

Pete.

 

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[tollie]

Yes, I really appreciate the counsel.

 

I do shoot in raw but was unable to get a satisfying color rendition by desaturation... it just seemed to washed out.

 

I think the difference between what I "know" should be a good skin color for this skin tone... even allowing for a strong sunburn showed more red/orange than I cared to deliver.

 

I appreciate the thought that the color at sunset will be redder than at noon (it actually is) and that is OK...

 

I think I need to pay more attention to color balance rather than a direct desaturation.

 

(The BW version... which I did deliver turned out very well)

 

Again, my thanks...

[earleygallery]

Couldn't resist having a play with this. My PS skills are pretty basic but I just desaturated it a little and toned down the red channel. I suspect that the original shot is indeed true to life as Steve has said, same effect as using daylight film with household lighting when you will get a strong orange or green colour cast which you don't 'see'.

[tollie]

Thanks for thought James, yes I think there is a lot of perception...

 

It involved some recovery; white balance; toning down the oranges and a bit of red; some fill light and clarity decrease to help with the face.

 

Its all a balance...

 

This is the image I ultimately went with:

[AlanG]

It would be a lot easier (and better) to work from the raw file. But here is my attempt. There is only so much one can do with a small jpeg that has such saturated reds.