Two doors, one store

[sjordan93436]

This image has several light sources.  The asphalt changes color.  It is a near evening sky.  Three faces.  Bright colors. 

Background.  This taken at a small town on Lake Garda.  The door on the right is the entrance.  The one on the left the exit.  It sells food, wine, trinkets, and clothes.  A road runs down across it.

The original.  My correction was RGB with multiple neutrals, followed by lab color boost.

[ggroess]

Steve,
I have a suggestion for you...

Go look at the mask for the Artichoke field I posted in the other thread.  The L channel mask with the parabola shape can help you mellow out the bright blue edges.  Play with it a bit and see if you can tone them down...otherwise it is looking pretty nice...The Parabola mask keeps the shadows and highlights protected from the saturation boost while allowing the color to run free in the mid-tones.

Greg

[mikemeister_admin]

I took a little blue,in RGB,from the pants and skin of the figure on the right.I like image one ,it looks like a frame from a film just before Robert DeNiro arrives on a Vespa.GregM

[sjordan93436]

The reds were partially tamed with the blend if.  The photo for me is an exercise more than a large keeper.  I thought the multiple light sources had some challenges.

Greg G, do you think we should do a thread on out of gamut problems, colorspaces, and / or work flow? The other post was getting OT, but interesting.

[leeharper_admin]

Like Greg M, I actually like the original shot; but this is a really interesting image to me because of some of the things that I have been reading over the last few days.

I have been thinking about how colorful dark objects should be, and came across something called the Purkinje effect. The Purkinje effect describes how our perception of color changes as lighting levels grow dimmer. Not only do objects appear less saturated, but hues shift as well.

The following two articles are both really interesting:

• The Purkinje effect:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purkinje_effect

Techniques and Strategies to Imitate the Moon: http://www.cast-lighting.com/search/1/display-document/71

I think that Lab is a good choice for cutting the color cast, but I think that this image is too dark to warrant much of a saturation boost (just my opinion). And, having read the two articles mentioned above, I think that the cast should be diminished, but not entirely removed. Again, as Greg M says, it looks quite cinematic...

Very thought provoking Steve - thank you...
Lee.

[leeharper_admin]

I think my original correction was a mistake.  The first two were color correction without the lightening.  "fixing" the dark areas was not a good choice.  It also had limited color boosting potential.

Interesting posts, Lee.

[ggroess]

Steve,
This is a great example of compromise...
No matter what Flavor you choose; you are the only one who will know what the right version is.

My Goals for this were to keep the buildings and sky as "real" as possible.  To allow the mixed lighting to exist and tone down the florescent a bit.  If you walk into this scene you might notice the colors of light competing but in general you will compensate for the local colors as you see them.  But if you look to the sky the unlit parts of the buildings you will expect them to be more muted and closer to neutral.

I'm not sure my version completes this task but I think you need to consider those effects as you work forward. 
Original is on the Left...

Greg

[ggroess]

Steve,
I'm going to modify my position even more on this one...
I really am struck by how well the original stands up...
I'm actually questioning if you should even try to add more color to the middle tones for this particular image. 

What was your original goal and why do you think the image needs those changes? might be a better discussion.

Greg

[leeharper_admin]

Ok, so here's the thing... I've been following this thread with interest for a couple of days, and have enjoyed seeing everyones corrections. I kept meaning to try the image myself - so whilst my dinner is cooking I thought that I'd have a quick swing at it. The trouble is I'm logged into my Mac, so I corrected in Photoshop rather than CurveMeister (sorry everyone ::)); also - stupidly - I created my curves using an adjustment layer, rather than directly, so I couldn't save the curves I'd written (else I would have saved them, and uploaded them); next best thing is that I've uploaded screenshots of my curves, to give you an idea of what I've done (note that my curve orientation is opposite to what Greg uses).

The 'butterfly split' comparison image shows the cast reduction that my Lab curves have brought about. Again, because I was in Photoshop I couldn't use any hue clocks (though I did create a few sample points), so I expect that some slight casts may remain (also, the light's not great in my kitchen...)

Overall, I quite like my version - though there are some areas that I think are now undersaturated, so I wouldn't consider my version finished my any means.

I hope that this thread doesn't wind up just yet - this is an interesting conversation we're having...

All the best,
Lee.

[leeharper_admin]

Greg G- my original vision?  I thought it was an interesting story.  (btw- it was my only photo in that area.)  I would like to have the darkish buildings with some remnant color.  It is shot in twilight (almost 9 pm) and I like that. 

One more try.  I did some more neutralizing and added a color boost with a "r" mask.  I notice that the rightmost shopper has bluer pants in this version.  Good?  Bad?  Dunno.

I watched the red shirt woman in the center.  It did not take much for the shirt to "blow out."  I know what blow out looks like, but why? 

I wonder why things blow out.  You see it all the time.  color boosting or enhancement until something blows or becomes too unnatural.  The postcard effect.  I do that by eye.  But here I tried to figure out BTN. 

The "S" of hsb was not too high.  The a and b were not extreme.  I naively thought I could use a saturation mask.  Nope. 

I assume that blowing out means a crushing of details so that an object is bright and featureless.

Thanks, Lee.