lighting and color feedback needed

[R0b]

This isn't an award-winning compostion by any means but I need feedback on color and fill lighting. I've been experimenting with fill flash. I've also had a hell of a time calibrating my monitors. I have 4 and they all look different, colors never look right. I use Spyder Express and it seems to add a lot of yellow or red...or maybe it's me. I even bought 2 spyder colorometers.

Here is the photo:

It seems to have lost a little vibrance when I converted to sRGB. If that's the case should I add more saturation than normal if converting to sRGB?

Thanks!

[R0b]

Actually, I noticed that the contrast had decreased in my raw editor so here is is again with more contrast and, hopefully, a little more vibrant.


Also, this is a photo color balanced using a grey card in Lightroom. To me, it looks too yellow. (this is the most frustrating aspect of digital photography!)

[jetrim]

Actually it looks pretty true from here. First shot looks washed out and flat for sure, but the color/contrast/vibrance/brightness look fine.

[Anbesol]

I have a Samsung 730B at home, color calibrated, holds true to prints very well. I have a spyder calibrator as well, and its done well. What monitor are you using? Laptop moniters rarely, if ever display good color delta.

How are you using gray card? Using a gray card in the dynamic and varying lighting conditions of outdoors is pretty useless, even in almost any indoor varying ambient light. Using a gray card usually works best only in controlled studio environments. Rather I would just remain conscious of the white balance throughout the varying lighting environments. Shoot them in proper white balance from the camera and you save the hassle of adjusting in lightroom (or destroying tones if post processing with JPEG).

Pictures without skin tones are easy though, its color calibrating those impossible flesh tones that is the hassle.

[R0b]

Thanks for the feedback. I need to study up on white balance and mixed lighting. I had been using auto and, for the most part, that seems to work well.