Fixing warm sunlight

[ndwgolf]

The first image was shot with the sun on the models back then 2 minutes later I got Fon to face the sun and I used the flash to give her a rim light. The first image in my eyes represents the true skin color of Fon.


The second image (my favourite of the two) shows a very warm skin tone coming from the early morning sunrise. Should it stay warm or does the skin tone need to be more natural....... and if fixed how??

 

[Sangoma]

The lighting on the face in the second shot is nice and looks natural, and easy on the eyes.

I find the lighting on the face in the first shot to be almost the opposite.

 

[Barney]

Its a strange one, and one of those lighting situations which boils down to personal preference, I remember back when we were advised to use a gold reflector to bounce the sunlight back to the models face, that may be fine for the pale skinned European models but for South Asian models the skin tone is already warm and adding more warmth is not necessarily a good thing.
As you have identified the flash from your light creates a more realistic looking skin tone, if you prefer that look I would suggest making a mask layer comprising of Fons whole body or any area where there is exposed skin and in the white balance area lower the colour temperature a bit, alternative you could use the dropper and select a skin area and lower that, although the downside is you may lose some of that lovely light on the railings.

Two nice shots, but I agree with you, second is too warm for Fons skin and getting towards Trump/pumpkin like.

 

[Wellsyboy]

It's subjective - which do YOU prefer and what are you trying to achieve - the second shot is lovely - personally I prefer tht one. I find the Infinity Skin and Unify plug-ins for photoshop excellent for adjusting skin tones.

 

[juggler]

They're both lovely. But since you ask.. the skin in the first looks a little cool to me. It may be 'true' - but at sunset we don't expect 'true' colours, we expect them to be warm. A 1/2 CTS or CTO gel on the flash would have worked nicely.

On the second Fon is in golden sun - so should look golden. If it's too much for you then you could tweak the white balance a little. The only oddity really is that the background is in shade so looks much cooler.

If you want that to look warmer too then you'd need to put a cooler light on Fon (e.g. CTB) and then set the WB to warm everything up, both foreground & background. Obviously that's all doable in post if you prefer that approach and are shooting raw.

The rim light is nice - but rim lights always look more natural if on the same side as the key (the sun in this case).

 

[cargo]

Lovely shots. Great replies I would not have noticed many if any of points mentioned.
This forum really does have some great folk amonst it's members.

Gaz

 

[woof woof]

Both lovely pictures but if I'd noticed at the time in that second shot I'd have asked her to turn slightly to her right or moved to my right to avoid the denim fringes looking like they're coming out of her bottom. Sorry to point this out if no one else has noticed but you know how people get stuck on things and can't unsee them.

No offence Neil, these are lovely shots and I really like them and I'm happy with the colours in both. If choosing I'd pick No.1. They don't look razor sharp on my screen but that might be just my screen... I do like the softer look I'm seeing though. Well done.

 

[swanseamale47]

Personally I find the second shot too warm, the black of the blouse is going orange. Easiest quick fix is probably select the orange then reduce the saturation a bit.
It's persosonal taste though.

 

[Earley Man]

The first image was shot with the sun on the models back then 2 minutes later I got Fon to face the sun and I used the flash to give her a rim light. The first image in my eyes represents the true skin color of Fon.
View attachment 475634

The second image (my favourite of the two) shows a very warm skin tone coming from the early morning sunrise. Should it stay warm or does the skin tone need to be more natural....... and if fixed how??

View attachment 475635

I do very little portrait photography nowadays, although I did quite a lot of it in the 1980's, both for my own interest and as a paying hobby.

We all see photographs in a different way, which to me is one of the most interesting things about photography. This is just my thoughts about the two images.

I much prefer the second image for the following reasons. In the first image the pose looks a little awkward, the highlights on Fon's cheeks and forehead are too bright, the sun takes attention from her face and the background is 'mushy'.

In the second image Fon stands out from the background, her body has a 'S' shape which is nearly always attractive to the eye, her face has, as you say, a much better skin tone and the highlights on her cheeks are not over exposed.

If I was proficient in apps like Photoshop, which I cetainly am not, I would remove the lower horizontal rail and associated vertical ones, then get it printed large and display it.

Another thought, if there are enough megapixels, a tight crop, removing the bright object on her top, would give you a cracking head and shoulders portrait.

 

[sk66]

Unless something is color critical (e.g. repro work) then there is no such thing as "correct color" (but there is "bad" color... e.g. green skin tones). The second image was taken during "golden hour," but there is nothing in the image to really indicate that to the viewer... the warm cast is neither right, nor wrong. And unless I was comparing the picture to the individual in person, I wouldn't know how accurate the skin tones are.

I would selectively color correct the image as the yellowing of the teeth, eyes, and catchlights is a bit much IMO. IMO, the best way to go about that is with a levels, exposure, or curves adjustment layer in PS (I generally prefer levels, but they all do basically the same things).

There are three droppers for setting the white balance (white point/black point/mid(gamma)); usually there is something in an image that should match one of those. Black and white are easiest to determine... i.e. catchlights should usually be white (not in this case), and deep shadows should normally be black. In this case the collar in deepest shadow by her neck, and/or the white logo on the front. You can set both, but white is usually the more relevant one because our brains automatically correct for that in real life. Once done you can mask/blend the layer to create the final look.

 

[ndwgolf]

There are three droppers for setting the white balance (white point/black point/mid(gamma)); usually there is something in an image that should match one of those. Black and white are easiest to determine... i.e. catchlights should usually be white (not in this case), and deep shadows should normally be black. In this case the collar in deepest shadow by her neck, and/or the white logo on the front. You can set both, but white is usually the more relevant one because our brains automatically correct for that in real life. Once done you can mask/blend the layer to create the final look.

That got it Steven...........thanks a lot mate

 

[ndwgolf]

And if all else fails B&W will work