Easy Neutral Colors

[Way]

Don't know it this is a repost but this is a great way to remove color casts:
http://www.markushartel.com/tutorials/photoshop/easy-neutral-colors.html

 

[robert blu]

it really works ! thanks for the link, I learned something !
rob

 

[dmr]

A long time ago somebody here suggested something like this to me, not sure if it was this exact page, when I was trying out that Walgreens/Agfa 400 in available light and got some real ugly color casts and weak blues in otherwise good shots.

It involved averaging the scene to get the color bias, assuming the average will be neutral grey, and compensating for it.

The results were even more ugly than the original!

I'm sure it will work for some scenes, but I had poor luck with it.

 

[rich815]

The results were even more ugly than the original!

No kidding! As in that tutorial's example. Ugh.

Sometimes technology and what's possible to achieve in the digital darkroom sort of loses sight of the fact that "perfect" does not always equate to better.

Reminds of when people in some forums take an otherwise very striking & beautiful image and point out that when you look at the image's histogram in PS you can see that there's clipping and therefore something is "wrong"....

Nonetheless though I can see that tool or method above can very well show you how much cast you might have and then you can add back or not if it makes sense....

 

[Way]

I'm sure it doesn't work for all situations but it's nice to have another tool in the toolkit. I had taken some Fuji 160s outdoor shots and forgot to take off a yellow filter. This method did a great job removing the color cast. Of course there is the matter of artistic preference.

 

[dmr]

No kidding! As in that tutorial's example. Ugh.

I'm attaching the image in question. Feel free to try it if you want. I remember trying a technique that involved an averaging and an adjustment layer and it resulted in very bizarre blues. I didn't proceed any further.

Let's see if this image works here ...

 

[PhotoMat]

I'm attaching the image in question. Feel free to try it if you want. I remember trying a technique that involved an averaging and an adjustment layer and it resulted in very bizarre blues. I didn't proceed any further.

I played with the image briefly using this technique on your image. The first image shows the result using this method. It gets you in the ballpark. The second image takes things a step further by then adjusting the color balance. A little bit closer -- the blacks are more neutral, but the colors are still a bit whacked. Maybe with a bit more time and effort once could get a more properly balanced image.

 

[dmr]

I played with the image briefly using this technique on your image. The first image shows the result using this method. It gets you in the ballpark. The second image takes things a step further by then adjusting the color balance. A little bit closer -- the blacks are more neutral, but the colors are still a bit whacked. Maybe with a bit more time and effort once could get a more properly balanced image.

The first image is exactly what I got, bizarre blue on the back of the benches and in the sky.

The second has a very not-in-the-scene-at-all blue cast to the sky. This was twilight, overcast sky, following a rain shower. The sky was a very yucky, neutral grey at the time.

 

[Way]

The first image is exactly what I got, bizarre blue on the back of the benches and in the sky.

The second has a very not-in-the-scene-at-all blue cast to the sky. This was twilight, overcast sky, following a rain shower. The sky was a very yucky, neutral grey at the time.

So what did you do to fix it? I'd say PhotoMat did a pretty good job considering the shape the original was in.

 

[dmr]

So what did you do to fix it?

I didn't! It's a lost cause! One for the ashcan.

I very quickly gave up trying to use that film for that kind of shooting.

The Fuji 400 and 800 gives quite decent results under the same light, however.

 

[Bryce]

In fairness to the article, it does begin by saying the color cast should be small and that the method is quick. Not perfect!
It obviously couldn't work well for an image that is largely blue sky or green forest. So maybe you could come closer to success by selecting an area of the image that seems to contain a mix of colors that average close to gray?
I'll be very impressed if someone can make dmr's example pleasant to look at. Sorry, but it is just too far gone for much hope.

 

[robert blu]

I usually shoot provia, which gives in the shadows a a blueish cast. I like it as charachter of the film. Anyway I tried on one image the suggested procedure and got the following images. of course it should be tried on various images, ligths, etc
robert
PS the big difference is in the colour of the road.

 

[dmr]

I'll be very impressed if someone can make dmr's example pleasant to look at.

I forget who did this one, but when I first posted it, somebody here got about as close as you can to salvaging it:

(Sorry, I forget who did this one.)

Still uber-gritty and has some of the blue that was not there. (Hmmmm ... as I look at this one now, it almost looks like a cross-processed slide film.)

However, I think the absolute best one is:

It's still not what I wanted, nor what I saw when I took it.