Getting rid of a color cast

[scott_murphy_photography]

<p>This image was originally underexposed by about a stop or so. I fixed the tones pretty much using PS curves but I still have this nagging salmon-colored patches on her shoulder, lower back and back of her leg. Any of you PS guru's out there know how I can fix this? I tried working with the shadow/highlight tool and did not have any really success</p>

<p> </p><div></div>

[brian_m2]

<p>AAAGGH! NSFW! NSFW! :)</p>

[Matt Laur]

<p>At least from where I'm sitting, that cast doesn't look too distracting. But you could use a fuzzy-masked layer to slightly cool and/or desaturate those spots, and just ever-so-slightly bring it in to play by adjusting opacity. You run the real risk of those altered areas seeming at odds with the rest of her skin tones, though.</p>

[patricklavoie]

<p>by augmenting the the middle tone contrast you already get rid or close too get rid of this salmon tone..</p>

<p>see my example</p>

<p>*and maybe next time use less *recovery* (or similar highlight protection) when you developed your shot.. it is normal to have those kind of ligh at those spot ; )</p>

<p> </p><div></div>

[steve_wagner1]

<p>Shadow highlight doesn't address color casts. It's a tonal tool. You ask about color cast in your title. There are many ways<br /> <br /> 1. Adjust one color in the curves<br /> 2. Adjust one color in the levels<br /> 3. Pick a new white or gray point in levels<br /> 4. Use auto levels or auto color and fade as needed<br /> 5. Use the channel mixer<br />6. Add or subtract colors from the neutrals in selective color<br /> <br /> and others, but those are a good starting point</p>

[tom_mann1]

<p>This is a very interesting retouching situation. </p>

<p>The OP asked about correcting color in the indicated areas. Patrick, a very experienced PS pro, responded by using a shadow/highlights adjustment which, as Brett correctly pointed out, doesn't address color casts. However it's visually clear that Patrick's version is better than the original and the highlights are now much less of a problem.</p>

<p>It's instructive to look at the difference between Patrick's "after" version and the original. That difference image is attached immediately below. A totally black difference image would mean that no changes were made. Darker regions in the difference image are areas with smaller differences. </p>

<p>It's clear that Pat's adjustments made relatively small changes in the areas in question and in much of the subject (...these areas are not very bright in the difference image), but noticeably brightened up the background, thereby allowing the (circled) highlights to appear much more appropriate in the context of the scene. It's a beach, so I have absolutely no problem with the background being made a bit brighter than the originally posted version.</p>

<p>In my next two posts, I show an alternate approach (Color Mechanic) which only targets the highlights, and I present that tweaked version, as well as the difference between that (Color Mechanic) version and the original. It's clear that while this alternative approach does precisely what the OP requested, it is not the best choice for this image. </p>

<p>Cheers,</p>

<p>Tom M</p><div></div>

[tom_mann1]

<p>Original image tweaked using Color Mechanic to selectively target only the circled areas and change their HSL values to match the nearby skin.</p><div></div>

[tom_mann1]

<p>Difference between version tweaked using Color Mechanic and the original. This confirms that for all intents and purposes, only the circled (and similar) areas were changed. In spite of this, and the success of matching these areas with the nearby skin, the overall effect is not as good as Patrick's approach.</p>

<p>Cheers,</p>

<p>Tom M</p>

<p>Note: the highlighted edges and speckle patterns in the difference images are mostly a result of jpeg compression, slight differences in degree of sharpness when reposting an image, etc.</p><div></div>

[patricklavoie]

<p>Tom, i didtn use shadow / highlight.. Brett refer to the OP asking or saying he use such a tool to get a better image ; )</p>

<p>What whe have here is not really a color cast, it is more a missing highlight that have grab a density out of i dont know, like when you use a recovery tool in Lr.. and this density added look like salmon due to the proximity of the surrounding color skin.</p>

<p>By adding a mid tone contrast to the entire shot (cmd+alt+3 on a mac) you select some of those highlight in the red channel (skin color) and having that you can use a layer adjustment curve to brighten / contrast those particular part of this image and making them brighter and still keeping the color but less in your face.. touching also the pale background, and making it even more beach looking.</p>

<p>mid tone contrast enhancement + local contrast enhancement are 2 things i do almost all the time during my retouching, the first one close to the beginning, the latest as my last stage.</p>

[patricklavoie]

<p>Tom, i didtn use shadow / highlight.. Brett refer to the OP asking or saying he use such a tool to get a better image ; )</p>

<p>What whe have here is not really a color cast, it is more a missing highlight that have grab a density out of i dont know, like when you use a recovery tool in Lr.. and this density added look like salmon due to the proximity of the surrounding color skin.</p>

<p>By adding a mid tone contrast to the entire shot (cmd+alt+3 on a mac) you select some of those highlight in the red channel (skin color) and having that you can use a layer adjustment curve to brighten / contrast those particular part of this image and making them brighter and still keeping the color but less in your face.. touching also the pale background, and making it even more beach looking.</p>

<p>mid tone contrast enhancement + local contrast enhancement are 2 things i do almost all the time during my retouching, the first one close to the beginning, the latest as my last stage.</p>

[tom_mann1]

<p>Hi Patrick - Sorry I misunderstood which tool you were referring to. When you used the phrase "middle tone contrast", I assumed it was a slight difference between French and English and you were talking about the "midtone contrast" adjustment in the advanced panel of the shadows/hilights tool (see attached screen shot). </p>

<p>Cheers,</p>

<p>Tom M</p>

<p>PS - Very nice fix, BTW.</p><div></div>

[StuartMoxham]

<p>I just just the replace color in photoshop.</p><div></div>