Topic: Barton on Sea...

[Lee Harper]

Hi everyone

I need a little help with an image that one of my students' took. The image was shot on Kodak Portra 160NC film, and scanned. The scanner isn't calibrated, so there is some color correction to be done to this image (I white balanced it in ACR, but everything else was zeroed out so nothing else has been done to the image).

My problem is that I don't have any film knowledge (I'm all digital ), so I don't really know what to do with the color. I'm assuming that the photographer chose to shoot with Kodak Portra because they like the look of that film stock, so I'm thinking that the color balance of the corrected image should reflect the characteristics of that film. There is a Kodak Portra Flickr group that I am finding quite helpful (http://www.flickr.com/groups/1253206@N20/) - but I'm still a bit stuck...

If anyone could give me a hand with this one I'd really appreciate it.

[Greg Groess]

Lee,
This is one messed up image...
Aside from the noise...

Send the student back to the scanner and tell him to get it right next time...<Kidding>

Here is my post...I'll tell more later...not to give too much away too soon...

Greg

[Lee Harper]

Send the student back to the scanner and tell him to get it right next time...

If only I could

That's a really great correction Greg - thanks so much I would love to hear your approach...

I will post my version - but I'd like to wait a little longer to see whether anyone else takes a shot at this.

Cheers,
Lee.

[Greg Groess]

we'll talk...
Let's see if the other "sharks" are still working...

Greg

[ulfstr]

Hi! Here is my version. Some chanel-blending inspired by Dan Margulis.
Thanks for all interesting inputs.

Regards Ulf

[gremurphoto]

First correction in RGB,removed some noise from sky,slight sharpen.Abit more saturation could be added to taste.GregM

[Greg Groess]

Greg,
Do the blue shadows bother you in this version??

Greg G

[sjordan93436]

Aw shucks,  here is my attempt..  Color correction in RGB, some luminostiy help, and lab color boost.

[Greg Groess]

not to be a stick in the mud....<sorry I just finished watching Big Bang Theory...>

Lee pointed out that the scan was from Portra film and he went on to give us all a big clue...the website gives us a look to shoot for.  Portra is a Kodak film that renders skin very accurately...other colors...not so much....

I suggest watching the saturation and color...this one calls for a more mutes response....

Greg

[Lee Harper]

Thanks so much to all of you who have made a correction of this image so far. It has been really helpful to me to see everyone's interpretations of the file. As Greg pointed out, it was shot on Portra - so (not being keen on film ) I wasn't sure how to handle the colors. Looking at the Portra Flickr group and talking with Greg, I don't think that the goal with this image is to make every color look natural - the question is how far to take things...

I have been merging everyone's versions together to create a 'par' correction (as suggested last week on the Advanced Color Theory Yahoo! Group), which has been an interesting exercise. I will continue to do this if anyone else adds a correction, and will post some blended corrections and my own; unfortunately I am going to be without Internet access until next Saturday so it will be a while before I can do so.

--

For those of you who are curious, the scan was in slightly worse shape initially. I set a basic white balance for the version you have been correcting. I am attaching the original scan to this post (so that you can share my horror ).

Cheers,
Lee.

[art]

A simple ROC filter at default settings, then a slight contrast increase.  I used the original picture that's just above this post.

[art]

Since I don't know what this scene actually looked like, I thought I'd adjust the yellow slider in the ROC filter to give a warmer picture.  I used the original unaltered pictured (Barton original) that was posted, then used the ROC filter and slid the yellow/blue slider to a -5.

[Greg Groess]

I'd say this one looks better art...but I'm not the final judge...Lee is...
He'll be back this week after being off the grid for a week of vacation...or so he told me...

Greg

[art]

I agree Greg, it has a warmer look.

[Lee Harper]

I'm back... Thanks to all who have participated in this exercise - it has been really interesting - and very helpful - for me to see (and compare) everyone's corrections; my student will be extremely excited to see how you have all improved her image!

One of the aspects that make this image interesting to me is that it was shot on Kodak Portra film. I initially thought that the photographer's choice of film stock ought to be respected - hence the link in my original post to the Flickr Portra group... Offline discussion with Greg has been rattling round my head for a week or so, and I'm now of the opinion that the film stock was not deliberately selected (her photography tutor gave her some free film), and therefore the image might benefit from a correction that doesn't aim too exactly at the 'Portra look'. I know that this contradicts what I've previously said about the image 

I will ask the photographer what she prefers...

In evaluating everyones' corrections I have been playing with some recent advice on the Applied Color Theory Yahoo! group - namely that a blend between multiple corrections will usually look better than any single correction; the final image that I have settled on seems to bear this out - but I think that such blends work best when multiple people have made the corrections (because we all tend to focus on different aspects of the image).

My final version (attached) is based on a average between everyones' corrections, to which I added 15% of Steve's image in Luminosity mode, 25% of Greg G's image in Hue mode; I then slightly boosted the saturation...

I will add a separate post with brief comments regarding the individual posted corrections.

Thanks so much,
Lee.