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Shooting blue glass


JamesFarabaugh

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<p>This morning I was trying to shoot cobalt blue glass (<a href="http://retroartglass.com/store/item/37y4l/Glass_Archives/Georgian_glass_cobalt_blue_goblet_set_of_6_by_Viking.html">like this</a>) lit by sunlight, but I can't seem to capture the vibrant peacock-esque hue that I love. Shooting in Av, I played around with EC, white balance/color temp and ISO, but I just can't find the sweet spot. The color in the photos is either too dull or gets magenta highlights. I want to capture the color exactly as my eye sees it. Can anyone give me some pointers, or some values to start with that will get me close? Much appreciated.</p><div>00ZYuW-412635684.jpg.ee1dd346068632e93c8d5038102da14b.jpg</div>
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<p>Well, trouble is your screen may not be able to reproduce that color "as your eyes see it".</p>

<p>But for starts it's not quite clear in your post what camera you are using and what settings you are shooting with. You might have used an auto color balance setting and picture mode which do not help reproducing difficult colors.</p>

<p>I would suggest a few things:<br>

- first, shoot in RAW<br>

- use a gray card and control white balance<br>

- choose a more appropriate "picture style" (I guessed you use a Canon)<br>

- increase exposure to make the color brighter and make it stand out (although you said you tried that)<br>

- use controlled lighting - a flash or a studio setup.<br>

- color calibrate your monitor.</p>

<p>To reproduce a color faithfully is quite difficult in practice, takes a lot of effort and a few bits of equipment, and may not always even be possible. Overall this kind of shots work better when there is something else in the picture that the eye can use to balance the colors with.</p>

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<p>Good advice from Daniel and Derek. I'll add that it might benefit you to include something else in the frame, a known color so that you (and we) the viewers are able to see it in context. I've got several photographs of really old cobalt bottles and none of the photos manage to represent the color quite as well as my eyes do.<br /><br />The attached photo was taken under diffuse sky light (the sun wasn't yet below the horizon but I was in the shadow of a large mountain). I used a Canon 20D with a 50mm f/1.4 lens and my settings were: Aperture Priority, 1/100 second at f/1.4, ISO 100.<br /><br />Derek makes a good point. Your temptation might be to increase saturation in order to make the blue color more vibrant. However, you may be near the clipping point for the blue channel (over-exposing <em>just</em> the blue channel) so you might experiment with de-saturating. I suspect you may discover desaturating actually makes the blue much richer.</p><div>00ZZ3K-412775584.JPG.bdfbc7955f51af1edc55171faa80fd88.JPG</div>
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<p>Thanks for the responses, and sorry for the delayed reply. I appreciate your inputs!</p>

<p>Unfortunately I do not have a calibrated monitor yet, but I kind of ruled that out because both the camera preview screen and the monitor I'm using look similarly "off". I realize that doesn't mean much, but the similarity between the two displays tells me, most likely, that the monitors aren't that far off.</p>

<p>I'm using a 60D w/ 18-135 f/3.5-5.6 IS "kit" lens in Av. The first shot was f/5.6, 1/320s, ISO 400, EC = -1 2/3, AWB, Metering mode = pattern. The second was f/5.6, 1/125s, ISO 400, EC = 0, Metering mode = pattern, Color temp = ? (I forgot to note it). Of course I took a whole bunch of shots at other various settings - none of which are any closer to true representation.</p>

<p>Jeff and Tim, your contributions are MUCH more representative of the hue I'm after than what I was able to achieve!</p>

<p>Footnote: The sample shots I shared were not edited/processed at all other than resizing. I was hoping to get closer to accurate without PP.</p>

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<p>Did you shoot Raw? You didn't indicate that. The exposure info isn't important. The image looks well exposed considering there's not much of a reference to the surroundings to know how bright the blue glass should be.</p>

<p>So what happens when you edit the image as I did above in Photoshop? If you're not seeing a similar correction it's probably due to your display not being calibrated.</p>

<p>BTW I applied the Hue/Sat edits only on the Blue Channel selected in that tool's dialog box menu.</p>

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<p>No to RAW. I didn't know it would make a difference to the unprocessed image. I also didn't know that ISO value would change the saturation/color rendition. I thought it just allowed for faster shutter at the expense of some noise.</p>

<p>I don't have Photo Shop, so I applied those changes in GIMP. Here's what I got. Looks nearly identical to your image - which is a good thing!</p>

<p>To do a shot with some reference material in the frame do you recommend any specific objects or colors?</p><div>00ZZJM-413101584.JPG.761b56b4c449eda02bf18a1744691b69.JPG</div>

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<p>I forgot to mention that the example I posted was edited in Canon Digital Photo Professional (DPP), not PS.<br /><br /></p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>I also didn't know that ISO value would change the saturation/color rendition.</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>The difference between ISO 100 and ISO 400 will be minimal but there will be <em>some</em> loss. It becomes much more apparent in the 800-3200 range.</p>

<p>I think your edit looks great, much improved.<br /><br /> </p>

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