Foxy little girl.

[paulnj]

I took many images today of fox kits in a very badly lit area. The lighting was so dark I needed 1/60th F5.6 ISO 400 on nearly all. I had no choice but to hand hold because I couldn't leave my vehicle or they would get too stressed and hide.

OK, here is a mediocre shot I took today(these were shot for my job) at level 5 JPEG.Believe me when I tell you that this file is very sharp at full res.
My question is this.....

Is it too saturated and does the color temp(color cast) look OK? I ran it through a PROVIA action to add pop to the colors.

[Knight]

Ok ill talk but dont hold it against me lol . I has a green color cast to it But you should be able to fix that

[Ronnoco]

For some reason, the green is too saturated and the fox looks too pale.

Ronnoco

[paulnj]

You are both right Hmm , I will drop that provia look then!

[paulnj]

Here it is as shot and I hate it. Like I said though, lighting was evil. I have alot of evenly lit images. Flash was killing the eyes and scaring them anyway, so I hardly used the flash. I will go back soon and maybe set up a blind 20 feet from the den ;)

[paulnj]

How about this file(full frame)..... I swear I am color blind!!!!

[Knight]

Better but you must have some Irish in you lol

[paulnj]

Actually, the 1D has a green cast which always gives me trouble.

[Loupey]

Paul, the original file is a challenging one to process. I agree that the original post appears overly saturated.

The original file of the original post appears to have too much magenta in the highlights. Correcting for this will bring out more saturation in the green leaves as well. Changing the dynamic range between the highlights and shadows and adjusting the curves also will help bring out a little more pop.

I can show you my rendition if you would like.

[paulnj]

Well you lost me with dynamic range ;)

I don't care if anyone edits my images, just try to explain the steps you took to get to the end result.

[Bevb]

Well i am going to leave all the technical stuff to you guys, but i have to say i love the full frame image! its terrific.

[mjs1973]

Love the shots Paul, especially the last one. I took a quick stab at your photo, but I'm no digital imaging specialist and everything looks dark on this monitor (I'm at work).

Here is what I did. I added a color balance adjustment layer and whent +8 / -11/ +9.
Then I reselected the image layer, and created a hue & saturation layer. I took the saturation of the Yellow to +7 and the Green to -100.

IMHO it looks a little more "correct" but then again, I hate the way things look on this monitor. I can't seem to get the image to attach... damn Mac

[Loupey]

I have no idea what Michael did - I've never worked in layers like that and I just bought CS2 a few weeks ago. But here's my feeble attempt:

adjust the Shadow/Highlights to 45/35 respectfully
adjust the Color Balance for highlights to -10, +8, +10 (cyan, green blue)
adjust the Color Balance for shadows to +15, +5, -5 (red, green, yellow)
adjust the Color Balance for midtones to +15 (blue)
adjust the Curves to an "S" pattern for more contrast
adjust the Levels to 10, 1.00, 235 for more contrast

I'm sure that this is not the most efficient way to accomplish it. But there's the result - I'm not sure that it's any better than your original post. Like you said, the lighting was difficult.

[Knight]

Well Cing we have permission from you Paulnj , heres a little PS . Its not the best but its a start

[JSPhoto]

Actually, the 1D has a green cast which always gives me trouble.

Paul,
Check to make sure your camera is in AWB. Also check what the setting is when it's in Manual WB, thats the only way you should get the green cast. Daylight should be 5700 (or 5900, I forget!) , you need to go down a bit, maybe 4800 and see what you get. If your close then adjust in increments of 100. If your too blue go back towards 5700 until you get it the way you want it to look.

JS

[dmm96452]

Hope you don't mind another edit. I just did a Hue/Saturation adjustment (Hue -10/Saturation - 37) and used the Burn tool where the ground started to blow out.

[c.j.]

Well you lost me with dynamic range ;)

I don't care if anyone edits my images, just try to explain the steps you took to get to the end result.

Here's another attempt…

under Image-Adjustments is a tab called Variations. I utilized that to correct color cast a little. I also went to the hue/saturation menu and changed the hue slightly. I changed the levels, bumping the mid slider up a little, (dynamic range). I also utilized shadow/highlight tab under Image menu. After each one of these steps, I usually go back under the Edit tab and fade whatever I had done to an optimal level. I used the burn tool for the over light areas. I 'sponge' saturated the kit in selective areas with different sized brushes.I know I probably did a little more, but, it is pretty much automatic for me. I'll note the full procedure on the next one and pay more attention to exactly how I do it.

Don't forget that one of the major strengths of PS is the ability to isolate and select specific areas, tonal ranges, etc. Bezier curves are a bit awkward to learn, but the reward is worth the effort

Changing the curves, as another suggested, is a way to manipulate color, but, I didn't need to do that with this photo

[paulnj]

I can't seem to get the image to attach... damn Mac

Email it to paulnjmich (at) rcn(dot) com ;)

[paulnj]

I hate auto WB in shaded mixed lighting. The images are ALWAYS BLUE GREEN. I use CWB at 5500K or cloudy and adjust the raw slightly usually. The original unedited version is infact a 5500K jpeg . The original 1D has always had a green cast to most files and color corrections are hard for me. I have been running CS2 since it came out BTW.

Thanks everyone. CJ emailed me his version yesterday with how he did it.. I applied those same adjustments to the full frame small image and here it is. I had to resize my jpeg quickly, so it's nothing like the 800 wide I edited or the full sized file that'll make me $$$. I will try a few other suggestions as I get my images truely edited for delivery next week. I have been out since 5am today(got home at 6:15pm) scouting birds and my head is pounding from allergies and a migraine. Damb birding is tough ;)

I have over 80 keepers of these foxes that blow this one away too ;)

[JSPhoto]

I never had that AWB problem with my old 1D, that tells me yours may need adjusted, or, possibly a hard rest will do the trick, not sure. You can call Canon and ask them, and if needed they will explain the "hard reset".

I keep forgetting to say thiat is one Foxy lady! Even cuter than my lil ole Rot!

JS

[mjs1973]

Email it to paulnjmich (at) rcn(dot) com ;)

Hey Paul,

I just redid you image following the instructions that I posted and I think it looks like crap now. Glad I wasn't able to post it originally. It looks like you have some much better suggestions that mine already.

[paulnj]

I think this thread is great, because we are learning how others work an image! I for one would rather take them than edit them ;)

[mjs1973]

I think this thread is great, because we are learning how others work an image! I for one would rather take them than edit them ;)

I'm right there with ya Paul. I spend a lot of time in front of the computer, and would much rather be outside with my camera. Save those edits for a rainy day.

[barb_48]

I don't really care that the fox is a bit green, I just love baby animals! Great shot!
Going to take a walk and see what I can find in our bush.

[Lava Lamp]

What kind of job is it that you get to work with foxes? I thought only strip-club bouncers did that?