What could be the issue?

[Reef Pets]

Well after spending a ton of money and practicing photography an endless amount of hours I have now figured out that I just suck at it!! But I am fine with that. I would just like to get pictures that show the true color of everything. Many times when I sell coral people are just amazed at the color when they get it. But, what I would like is for the coral to look just like the pictures....... Also, I have read every thread on here about photography along with the sticky's.
I have a Canon Rebel Xti with a Canon 100mm Macro lens and an Enduro Tripod. So, I am not lacking with the equipment.
I can take better photos than what is below but my issue is the color. As you can see the frag plug is completely white. BUT, the real color of the frag plug is bright blue, sky blue.
I dont understand why the coraline shows the correct color of purple but the frag blug shows white.

This photo was taken with an ISO of 100 on AV mode with the F stop of 14 under 400W 20K metal halide. I did not shoot it in RAW, I always shoot in the highest level.
Anyone know what the issue might be on getting the correct colors? i am not looking to be a pro, just wanting things to look the way they do when I look at them.......
Gary

 

[Saltysteele]

it's showing sky blue on my computer, reefer.

anyway you take the pic, you're still going to have to do some post shoot editing. just the way it goes. instead of working in a darkroom with chemicals and baths for film pic's, you need to work on a computer with an editing program to get the right colors. no two ways about it.

i don't doubt that it can be done without editing programs, but that kind of equipment and experience is WAY past me, and most others.

have you ever calibrated your monitor, to be sure it's showing the correct colors?

 

[gparr]

Actually, the plug has a blue tint to me, as does the coralline and the white egg crate. The white balance is off in this one. If you're going to shoot jpg images in the camera, your best bet is to learn to set a custom white balance, if you want a shot at getting true colors. I highly recommend that you shoot in RAW format to have the best opportunity to get accurate colors. Post the unaltered version of this image and I'll see what I can do. It would be great if you could go shoot a RAW image of a coral in the same lighting and make that available for download then I, or someone else, can make the adjustments and tell you what was done.
Gary

 

[Reef Pets]

Hey Gary - Thanks for the advice. I tried it in RAW also and still getting the sme color. My lights are now off in the tank, so by all means I will try at it tomorrow and load some un-cropped pictures of the same coral. i posted one below and it has not been touch, you can see that its basically the same shot.
I have tried RAW but have not taken the time to process the properly and need to learn how to.
The actual frag blug is about the same color as the zoas in your avatar but maybe a little more blue. The coral is about the correct color but as you can see it horrible quality. I am trying to work at one thing at a time and I am stuck on getting the proper color.

 

[Reef Pets]

It is showing blue? On my computer it is completely white. I will have to take the photo to my laptop to see how it looks.
I need to learn more about post editing. I just basically use the auto setting and as you can see it does not do the job.....
I plan to purchae a new monitor for my desk top sometime very soon. This sounds like a good excuse to do it!
Thanks!!

it's showing sky blue on my computer, reefer.

anyway you take the pic, you're still going to have to do some post shoot editing. just the way it goes. instead of working in a darkroom with chemicals and baths for film pic's, you need to work on a computer with an editing program to get the right colors. no two ways about it.

i don't doubt that it can be done without editing programs, but that kind of equipment and experience is WAY past me, and most others.

have you ever calibrated your monitor, to be sure it's showing the correct colors?

 

[aquaman3680]

Is this half way accurate? It's hard when you cant look at the coral-

 

[Reef Pets]

the coral is pretty close in color. But, sometimes it is and sometimes it is not. I can see that the plug color is WAY off therefore I am thinking that the entire photo has issues. I am going to post a photo of the true color of the frag plug.

 

[Reef Pets]

Here is a true color of the plug. So, this shows how off the photo actually is when it comes to true color. I can of get these results with reef pictures. the photo of the plug is untouched.

 

[cparka23]

The first pic of the plug is light blue to me. I think your monitor needs some color/contrast calibration. This typically involves the red, blue, and green striped squares that you squint at to make them appear as a solid.

When shooting in RAW, you're saving more of the image's data than when saving as a compression format as JPEG. It's more accurate to do white balance adjustments in RAW than JPEG when possible.

 

[aquaman3680]

Here ya go, this is pretty close-

If you have photoshop I can explain the steps to you.

Matt

 

[Reef Pets]

The photo of the plugs outside of the water are the true colors and they look the same in person as they do on the screen. Just to make sure I tried my sons desk top, my laptop, my desp top and my wifes lap top..

 

[aquaman3680]

Ok so after seeing them on the same screen I think this is real close.

 

[Reef Pets]

Aquaman - that is getting much closer. But, why would the under water shot be so different from out of water? I know there has to be some differences but its drastic. The photo was taken about 1 inch from the top of the water. I tried about 30 shots on different settings. I guess post editing is the only way of correction?

 

[aquaman3680]

Aquaman - that is getting much closer. But, why would the under water shot be so different from out of water? I know there has to be some differences but its drastic. The photo was taken about 1 inch from the top of the water. I tried about 30 shots on different settings. I guess post editing is the only way of correction?

Your lights are a different spectrum than your normal fluorescents or incandescent bulbs. Assuming your lights are not 6500 or 10k bulbs it makes things look bluer than they actually are. The easiest way to do this is to put something completely white in your photo and make the white white with post processing, or match up coralline colors or eggcrate colors. Overall post processing is the easiest way to make the colors look like they do in person. RAW format makes things much easier in post processing.

Matt

 

[Reef Pets]

i would have to say thats close to what it looks like. Even the plug has gotten a darker blue to it.
I have Elements 6 but I am thinking I may need to upgrade??

 

[Reef Pets]

I think I am going to have to get use to shooting in RAW and learning how to process them. I have always done it the easy way since I take photos of about 100 frags per week and have about 2 hours to do it.
This goes to show that it can be done, I have some reading to do.....

Your lights are a different spectrum than your normal fluorescents or incandescent bulbs. Assuming your lights are not 6500 or 10k bulbs it makes things look bluer than they actually are. The easiest way to do this is to put something completely white in your photo and make the white white with post processing, or match up coralline colors or eggcrate colors. Overall post processing is the easiest way to make the colors look like they do in person. RAW format makes things much easier in post processing.

Matt

 

[gparr]

Looks like Matt has you covered. On the home page of my website I have a document that gives the steps I use to process RAW photos. It includes the menu locations for Elements (should be close to your version). You shouldn't have to upgrade because you're only doing basic photo editing and any version of Elements or Photoshop will do that. The later versions just have tweaks that help Adobe keep some level of cash flow by getting people to upgrade. Shoot some RAW shots and use the steps. I can take a photo from RAW file to finished postable jpg image in about 3 min.
Gary

 

[Reef Pets]

Gary - After reading about taking photos in RAW I had to tuen my lights back on the tank and try it out, what a difference. I took the photo below in RAW and processed it. Truse me took me much longer than 3 minutes, around 10. But, with getting use to it I will get better an faster. I feel that the photo below shows the true color of the coral. RAW really brings out the details!!
Thanks guys! I am one step closer to getting better.

 

[bluegrass]

Gary that pic looks great!

Gary - After reading about taking photos in RAW I had to tuen my lights back on the tank and try it out, what a difference. I took the photo below in RAW and processed it. Truse me took me much longer than 3 minutes, around 10. But, with getting use to it I will get better an faster. I feel that the photo below shows the true color of the coral. RAW really brings out the details!!
Thanks guys! I am one step closer to getting better.

 

[gparr]

Gary, Looks like you just got over a big hill. That shot looks great!! Now it's just a matter of practicing. Assuming you used my steps, please note that they are just a starting point. As you get better, you'll likely find that your images don't require some steps and may require more adjustment in other areas. Regardless, it looks like you have a starting point from which to work. Applause to you.
Gary