Colour Cast - Updated Info

Southdowns

Southdowns

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Mark
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Hi.

I've got a HiTech Pro 10 stop filter, which has a blue cast. I've seen plenty of examples where the cast has been removed in PP very easily, but I'm struggling with it. I think, but am not sure, that the problem is most pronounced when there is a lot of green in the shot.

Here are three test shots (not looking for crit on the shots themselves or even the appropriateness of a 10 stopper; these were just practice shots), one without the filter and pretty accurate colours, one as shot with the filter, and one with the colour corrected as best I can in LR4 using the temperature and tint sliders. Can anyone point me to what I'm doing wrong? Or, is it going to be impossible to get back to accurate colours? Would setting up a custom white balance, either in camera or in LR, using a white or grey card shot through the filter help?

Auto WB correction in LR, i.e. by clicking on a white part of the shot with the dropper tool, results in a very washed out image with a red tinge!

If anyone feels like having a play, the raw file is available here.

#1 No Filter


20120808-163921.jpg by MarkBerry1963, on Flickr

#2 Filter; No Correction


20120808-164513-2.jpg by MarkBerry1963, on Flickr

#3 Filter; Failed Correction


20120808-164513.jpg by MarkBerry1963, on Flickr
 
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I used to LR4.1 for this:

set the white balance to +12429 colour temp and tint at +114 towards the pink side,

then added a blue cast to the shadows to compensate for that red colour cast and it seems to neutralise it,

split toning hue = 206 and saturation =38 on shadows,

I also decreased blacks and increased contrast as well as clarity.

Hope you like it:

10_stopper_BTedit.jpg
 
Fantastic, thanks Ben!
 
You might be better off setting a custom WB at the taking stage, it'll save you a lot of hassle later.
 
Open levels click the grey point icon then click on something grey in the image done.
 
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swanseamale47 said:
You might be better off setting a custom WB at the taking stage, it'll save you a lot of hassle later.
Click to expand...

Cheers, I'll give that a go.

rjbell said:
Open levels click the grey point icon then click on something grey in the image done.
Click to expand...

No, thanks for posting, but as I said in the original post, that leaves it with a red cast, and anyway I'm not using PS, I'm using Lightroom.
 
Southdowns said:
Cheers, I'll give that a go.



No, thanks for posting, but as I said in the original post, that leaves it with a red cast, and anyway I'm not using PS, I'm using Lightroom.
Click to expand...
If you still have a re cast you haven't found a neutral grey. Keep clicking in the area until you find something your happy with. I'm sorry does Lightroom not have levels?

Update: I've just tried using my usual method i explained and i can not find WB either how strange.
 
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Hi Robert, yes I have a neutral grey to click on, but it's still not producing the desired results. I'm guessing it's because instead of just adding a colour cast to the image, the filter is actually blocking some frequencies, so they're just not there to be recovered.

LR4 does have levels, it's just not something you "open". Splitting hairs I know, but the point is that maybe it gives different results?
 
This is what I get by using the white on the building as the white point (giving a colour temp of 10750 and tint +104) and upping the contrast to +33 (in LR4).

What red cast are you getting? Where are you taking your white point from?

20120808-164513-800.jpg
 
PS. the secret to setting a white point is not selecting something that is white, but a shade of grey....
 
Hows this?

2 curves adjustments. 1st one i just iused the 3 eye droppers and on the 2nd curves adjusment i just selected the blue channel and pulled it in a bit.



Edit - just noticed you posted the raw file as i did this with the jpeg, would be even better done with the raw
 
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I thought I'd update this. I couldn't get decent results with the filter, so got in touch with Formatt. They very kindly sent me a replacement, which has an "IR" suffix to the model number, and the difference is stunning!

Here are two shots, one without the filter, the other with (used to remove people from the shot). Only very very minor adjustment was needed to correct the colours.

The lesson is, make sure you have the IR version of the filter for accurate results. Now I do, I couldn't be more delighted with it :)

Without:


20121227-140847.jpg by MarkBerry1963, on Flickr

With:


20121227-141651-Edit.jpg by MarkBerry1963, on Flickr
 
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