Improvement? Contrast/Color question.

[srrf]

Hi Everyone,

 

I shot another wedding as a second shooter last weekend. It was a great

experience. I've learned to take my time, position myself better, and use

available light a bit more carefully. I'm a lot happier with these photos than

with my last ones. Only regret is that I wasn't given the opportunity to pose

the couple or their wedding party. Cest La'Vie (or however it's spelled!).

 

Something that I noticed was that my pictures were incredibly vibrant in

lightroom, and then on the Flickr website, they look very dull. I viewed the

images on the same monitor (both in lightroom & flickr), so it's not my

screen. Any ideas? Thoughts? I'm learning photoshop, so suggesting that I do

something there might be a bit scary (unless you're willing to guide me through

it).

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/srrf/sets/72157602920501390/

 

 

Thanks so much for your constructive criticism.

 

You all ROCK!

 

Shelli

[markus maurer]

Hi Shelli,

did you convert your photos to sRGB color space in Photoshop (Menu --> edit --> convert to profile --> sRGB) before saving & publishing on flickr? That should be the last step before you save the file as JPG.

[faraz_nyc]

Hi,

 

Here is whats happening - when you are opening files in Lightroom you also have some sort of Preset turned on that automatically "fixes" photos as they are opening. If you don't export the images with the Preset then it goes back to the way you shot them - without any corrections. If you open LR and go to Edit - Preferences and click on Presets I am sure one of are checked. So LR shows the images with the Preset on even when you haven't done anything.

 

I had a similar situation and learned that LR has some preset turned on as default.

[sam_ellis]

To add to Faraz's response, make sure you export your images after you edit them. Lightroom doesn't make any changes to your original file until you export them as a new file. I made the mistake of uploading the unedited files once and couldn't figure out why they looked so off.

 

I rate each one I like with a star, edit them, then export them to a new folder.

 

Sam

[karina_a]

Hi Shelli,

 

There are some lovely shots there, and you've done a great job. I would cull a few (only a very small amount that are out of focus, underexposed, or repeats of a better shot) to make your work stand out even more. When you have learned some more in Photoshop & Lightroom, you should be able to save some of the ones that are slightly underexposed. I know the feeling with learning this software - it's a steep learning curve I am also going through at the moment. Anyway - you got some great shots.

 

On the subject of your photos looking different on the website to how they look out of Lightroom - I could be wrong (just a newbie), but at some recent workshops I have been doing with a very respected photographer and photoshop guru (he's not from any particular software company though, so his advice was independent), he stressed the point that microsoft programs are not colour managed, and therefore you will see things as they will print in Adobe programs (or on a Mac), but not in Microsoft programs (eg: he insists therefore, that most things on the web are not true colour). I have had this experience personally, when I edited things in Lightroom, and then opened them in MS picture viewer, they looked TOTALLY different, however when I re-opened them in Photoshop, they looked how I wanted them to, and they printed as they looked in PS, not Windows. There will be far more experienced photographers and computer gurus here than me who will be able to give you more information, however, I have experienced this directly, and trust the lecturer who told me what was happening.

 

I don't know if there is anything that can be done to improve how things show up on the web (apart from buying a Mac, but then that doesn't help how your clients see your work if they don't have one). Perhaps someone else on here knows? I would love to know how to address it myself. Hopefully one day Microsoft will realise the importance of needing to be colour managed. I wonder how other photographers deal with this issue when putting work up on the web? Or if this is not their experience? Hopefully it won't be too late for someone to read this and give other feedback. Meanwhile, try opening your shots in Photoshop (or some other non-microsoft program, that is hopefully colour managed) and see if they look how you expect them to. If they do - there's your problem, and it will only be a problem in terms of how they appear on the web to clients, not in terms of how they will print. Do some print tests and see if you find it to be the case. Make sure you calibrate your monitor first, and set your colour space for the lab you are using - if you are using a proper lab [as opposed to a minilab], check what their printing specifications are in terms of which colour space they work in (sRGB or Adobe RGB), as well as what to set the dpi at (you set all of these in Lightroom when you export the photos - it bounces up a dialogue box asking you for the specs when you press 'export', so make sure you are exporting at the correct specs for your lab).

 

Best wishes, and well done on some great shots.

Karina