Red cast in many of my pics
Hello
I currently use a trial version of C1 and think about moving from LR
I'm happy with many of the features but I notice that many of my pics have a red cast. I use a Canon R5 and select linear profile in C1.
My screen is calibrated and I don't have this in LR.
I exported the same pic from both LR and C1 with linear profile and no adjustments and the difference is huge.
Any idea what this could be?
-
Can you show us screenshots?
Ian
0 -
Thank you for your swift reply
Here are screenshots from LR anc C1 and the generated jpegs
0 -
Why are you using the Linear Response option? What does it look like if you use Film Standard?
Ian
0 -
Because I expose to the right. If I work this way I have to use the linear response otherwise the picture is overexposed.
0 -
OK - though what if you expose to the right only as far as it will go without clipping on the film standard option? In my experience, if an image is overexposed (in other words if at least one channel is completely blown out) then it is still overexposed when you use Linear Response. (Because if the sensor is overloaded in some parts of the image, it is overloaded whatever you do.) Sure, the image as a whole looks darker, but over exposed highlights are still overexposed. So for example, here are two different base characteristic curves used for this image of an ostrich at the zoo. The first uses Film Standard, and the second uses Linear Response. I have turned on the highlight warning, so it shows red where it is blown out.
The second one looks darker, but the highlight warning shows that parts of the darker version are nevertheless over-exposed. If I had been exposing to the right properly, I would have needed a lower exposure setting. (Difficult very contrasty lighting in direct sunlight, so I was willing to sacrifice a bit of blown out highlights as a compromise.)
So I suppose my question is whether you are exposing too far to the right. I have found that with some cameras I get good results with Linear Response when I feel the need to use it, but with some others, if the image is not correctly exposed in the first place, Linear Response makes it look terrible.
Just a few thoughts. I don't use ETTR routinely, so you probably have more expertise at it than I do, but I do know that one of the pitfalls of it is that you can go too far to the right.
Ian
0 -
You’ve answered your own question. Don’t expose to the right. Modern cameras don’t require that. Try the ProStandard profile.
0 -
Come on I don't want to talk about this it's vain .
I know a lot of professional photographers who expose to the right AND use C1.
How do you explain that the problem does not occur in LR?0 -
Hi
Thank you for your reply.
The app used to view the jpegs is Faststone Image Viewer, it's reliable. But the problem is not in the jpegs but before. As you can see in both C1 and LR screenshots the problem is before jpegs generation.And yes both jpegs are generated in sRGB.
0 -
Sorry if my question wasn't clear.
Yes it's exactly that : when the raw file is loaded in c1 it has that red cast that I don't have in LR.
The jpegs generated with same white balance and no other adjustments show the same issue0 -
Two things:
- Give the Portrait curve a try.
- Stop using expose-to-the-right.
Nikon is notorious for pushing the reds. I saw this even when I used Adobe software. You can search google and find lots of articles confirming this. You can use the white and highlights adjustments in the HDR tool to pull in those over exposed areas. It works very well.
Yes, lots of photographers DID expose to the right. Most have stopped. Today's cameras have so much dynamic range that it isn't necessary. TRY shooting at proper exposure and see what you get.
You are using a Nikon Z8. I use a Nikon Z9. Our cameras are very modern. I always properly expose. I've been shooting portraits for a couple of decades. I stopped "exposing to the right" when I got a Nikon D850. There simply is no justification for it now.
The people at Capture One will tell you the same thing. A number of their staff are current and former photographers who speak from experience with modern cameras and C1. They test all of the cameras they support by capturing thousands of images to analyze them.
0 -
Hello
Thank you for your message.
I'm not a Nikon user I use a Canon R5 as stated in my 1st post.0 -
Imho the question is not about exposition to the right or not. It's about why do I have this red in some of my pics in C1 and not in LR?
0 -
Give the Portrait curve a try. It is intended to produce pleasing skin tones.
0 -
I know that that is the question you have asked. Nevertheless, it might help us to help you solve the problem if you would try a shot or two that does NOT expose to the right, and that does NOT use the Linear Response option.
Ian
0 -
Walter Rowe - I think the Portrait option in the ICC Profile is a separate thing from the Linear Response option for the Curve. You could have the Portrait profile combined with the Linear Response curve, or with the Film Standard curve.
And I am not sure whether Canon users get a Portrait option in the ICC Profile or not. (We Nikon users do, at least for some camera models.)
Ian
0 -
@ian many people get it wrong with ETTR. Exposition to the right does not mean over exposing but optimizing and using the full capacity of your sensor.
I work mostly in studio with flash lights and use a light meter. I expose 1,3 stops over what the light meter gives. My pictures are not blown away at all.
I had a try with older pictures from the past when I did not use ETTR and the result is the same.
My pics have a red cast mostly in skin tones.
I gradually managed to solve it but it takes a lot of time. As I don't have the issue in LR I'm still wondering if I will make the move.0 -
I also expose to the right for everything and use the Linear Response Curve most of the time as the base starting point, with one exception: when shooting people. I've found that pushing ETTR as far as the sensor allows introduces issues with skin tones in RAW processing applications. This is what I believe you're seeing in your image processed in Capture One.
What I suspect you're noticing is the "characteristics" of the particular application. Every single application that processes RAW files does so differently. The application creators have their own biases regarding what an image should look like, and that bias is coded into their application. A RAW image will never look the same across different applications. These differences are especially noticeable when using the Linear Response Curve in Capture One.
If you're going to use ETTR for images that contain people and process RAW files in Capture One, I suggest using the recommended camera curve and ICC profile, and not over-exposing by more than a stop. Then start your processing by bringing down the exposure slider to return the image to a "normal" exposure as it looks to your eye.
If, like me, you use ETTR for most of your shots, I recommend purchasing a license for an absolutely fantastic application called RawDigger. RawDigger does only one thing: it tells you exactly when you begin to clip your camera sensor. I find it indispensable for studio work. I'm not sure why, but no RAW processing application developer uses anything like it in their applications.
For what it's worth, here are the before and after images of a camera chart shot ETTR that I use to help me get a good starting contrast on a RAW image once I've enabled Capture One's Linear Response Curve. My retoucher likes my whites to hit 245 and the blacks to hit 37 before I deliver a 16-bit AdobeRGB TIFF file to him.
0 -
Hi Robert
Thank you very much for sharing your experience.
Strange that you don't use the full ETTR technique when shooting people.
The photographer who introduced me to ETTR is a professional portrait and fashion photographer. She shoots everything in ETTR and uses C1. Her work is amazing.
Another photographer who I had a workshop with also uses ETTR and C1 and is specialized in portrait too.
They all recommended me C1 for its colour management and unfortunately I'm not satisfied with the results. I somehow manage to get correct results but it's time consuming compared to LR.
My trial period has expired and I subscribed to one month to continue evaluating the tool but I'm not sure if I will migrate a the end.
0 -
Try shooting portraits without ETTR. ETTR is outdated.
0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
19 comments