Wedding Togs - brides with fake tan / sunbed etc

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gpc1

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Greg
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Not sure if this is the right forum as its editing but also looking for tips from other wedding photographers fof future ref

Shot a wedding Saturday and the bride had a fake tan or had sunbeds but was rather 'bronze' which doesnt translate well to the images. The groom was also very fair skinned.

Is there a trick / method of dealing with this in PP. I shoot RAW and the WB gets me part way there but its still not great as its global and impacts the rest of the image.

I knew it would be an issue as soon as i walked in and tried to shoot in various lighting scenarios (the kithen was lit with tungsten like lights, but had bifold doors letting in daylight so it was a real mixture) couple that with cloud / sun changing every 5 mins made it quite a challenge. As an example i have an image of here with her 5 year old bridesmaid. The skin tones on the child are spot on and quite lovely however the bride in comparison is orange / bronze.

Other that going into photoshop and making a selection round the bride and editing it as a selection (which is going to take a loooong time!) im not sure whats best.

Cheers all,
 
I'm guessing if she's paid out to make herself look orange (essex tanned) for the wedding then she's expect to see herself that colour on the photos?
 
:agree:

Hopefully in a few years she'll look back at her wedding photos and cringe
 
Byker28i said:
I'm guessing if she's paid out to make herself look orange (essex tanned) for the wedding then she's expect to see herself that colour on the photos?
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lol

fair enough but brides do not realise that it does not translate to the image. It may look good in the real world (opnions may differ ;) ) but int he image its way OTT.
 
Its an area to tread carefully in ! any changing of appearance because you feel it is necessary down to your own taste in the photo rather than the reality of the shot can cause friction. Its always worth remembering a common mistake beginners make is to remove blemishes marks etc only to find out later on its a birth mark or a beauty spot etc and the bride is not happy. As long as the image is true replication of the scene and the white balance matches then i would leave it, alternatively provide a few alternate black and white images of the same shots so they have the choice.
 
If you're editing in Lightroom then you can adjust the orange saturation. That's the easiest way to treat it. Although it obviously affects everything else in the image that is orange.
 
I use VSCO presets, and they have an 'orange skin' fix preset - very useful, as generally you don't notice how 'orange' a bride can look until she's standing next to her pale (in comparison) groom. I guess this does the same as orange de-saturation mentioned above.
 
Matholwch said:
I use VSCO presets, and they have an 'orange skin' fix preset - very useful, as generally you don't notice how 'orange' a bride can look until she's standing next to her pale (in comparison) groom. I guess this does the same as orange de-saturation mentioned above.
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ahh, i think my 'tool box' that came with some film emulations LR presets has an orange skin fix....will have to have a look.

I will google a search tonight as well...see what i come up with and if i find anything ueful i will post it....

thanks
 
If you're planning a retouch of them all, it can be done in LR with a brush, quicker than PS, I reckon you could do an image in seconds.
 
Phil V said:
If you're planning a retouch of them all, it can be done in LR with a brush, quicker than PS, I reckon you could do an image in seconds.
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It's a good point... It's a little less precise regarding colours as you can only use a broad 'saturation' adjust I believe but it will probs work ok for this job. Worth a try anyway as like you said it's very quick to do
 
ajax_andy said:
It's a good point... It's a little less precise regarding colours as you can only use a broad 'saturation' adjust I believe but it will probs work ok for this job. Worth a try anyway as like you said it's very quick to do
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No, you can adjust the colour very precisely, along with most of the other available global tools. It's not a precise brush, but if I'm making subtle changes, I find that a bonus
 
I'm not at my PC now, but I believe so.
 
But can you not just make colour channel adjustments and mask out the rest of the image?
 
Durbs said:
But can you not just make colour channel adjustments and mask out the rest of the image?
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yes, if i want to take each one into photoshop, which is fine but will slow my wotkflow considerably as my photoshop speed / skill is not as fast as my LR skill.

oh well...looks like its going to be a long edit job....

Why oh why do they do it.
 
ajax_andy said:
Open in PS, create a Hue/saturation layer, reduce the reds in them image, invert the layer (image, adjustments, invert) so the layer mask goes black, select a white brush and paint the changes to the bride. This stops the global change issue as it will only now affect the umpaluma
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this is the way forward i reckon...Cheers Andy, simple and concise and will hopefully tone it down a bit.
 
Bhoy_Whunder said:
IMO if she dressed up like the tango man for her wedding then she should look like the tango man in her wedding photos.
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This.

I got the colours to look natural across the entire wedding. Flowers, clothes, grass, etc. If the bride is out of kilter because she chose to have a cheap tan job just before the day then that is the colour she is.

Have you been asked to alter the images by the bride, groom or whoever you are contracted by ? or are you doing this based on your own belief of how she should look ?

If no one mentioned a "problem" on the day (i.e. she wasn't distraught with the results of the spray job) then I'd be leaving them all well alone and just delivering the images with accurate colours.
 
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meonshore said:
This.

I got the colours to look natural across the entire wedding. Flowers, clothes, grass, etc. If the bride is out of kilter because she chose to have a cheap tan job just before the day then that is the colour she is.

Have you been asked to alter the images by the bride, groom or whoever you are contracted by ? or are you doing this based on your own belief of how she should look ?

If no one mentioned a "problem" on the day (i.e. she wasn't distraught with the results of the spray job) then I'd be leaving them all well alone and just delivering the images with accurate colours.
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Im not altering them, more 'balancing them' Im just looking to tone it down a tad. Tan job + make Up + plus warm lighting does not look great in the images. In real life the eye 'compensates' so it doesnt look as bad. But on camera its tad OTT. So whilst those who say 'if she wanted to look like tango man then so be it' may well be right, i just want to reduce it a little.

I will try andys method, if that doesnt work then she gets them as is!!
 
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