How can I correct a red color cast from flash on my Canon EOS 450D photos?
Asked 11/9/2013
5 views
2 answers
0
I took some photos of my baby with a Canon EOS 450D using flash (ISO 400, 31mm). In the pictures, the hair looks reddish and there are red spots on the face, even though the hair is blond and the skin is much lighter in real life.
I’m a beginner and tried simply reducing red in Photoshop, but that didn’t fix it. Is this likely a white balance or flash issue, and what’s the best way to correct it in Photoshop or similar software? Is there any automatic or easy method?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
12y ago
2 Answers
3
I suspect what happened is that you used the flash, which is meant to approximate the color temperature of sunlight, but had the camera set to indoor, incandescent lighting white balance. (Or, possibly, auto white balance that just went wrong.)
There are many ways to adjust this in Photoshop and in other editing tools. The Levels tool is probably the primary one to use, and is easy if there happens to be an object in the photo which is actually neutral gray. Use the middle eye dropper to pick the gray object and the rest will be computed.
In Photoshop, often the easiest way is to add an Adjustment Layer specifically for Color Balance. The details of how to do that are described in this Adobe tutorial.
If you happen to have the RAW file, this is easiest of all, because RAW development tools will have a direct white balance tool where you can correct this directly with little to no loss of quality.
Originally by user1943. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1943
12y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
This sounds more like a white balance/color cast problem than “too much red” in just one channel. Flash is usually close to daylight color, so if the camera was set to incandescent/tungsten—or auto white balance guessed wrong—you can get unnatural skin and hair tones.
A simple fix in Photoshop is to use an adjustment layer such as Color Balance or Levels. In Levels, if there’s something in the photo that should be neutral gray, use the gray eyedropper on it and Photoshop can rebalance the color automatically.
If you have the RAW file, that’s the easiest and best option: adjust white balance during RAW processing. Lightroom or similar software can also help by letting you fine-tune hue, saturation, and lightness for individual color channels more easily than trying to remove “red” globally.
So: first correct white balance, then fine-tune skin tones if needed. Just reducing the red channel alone usually won’t give natural results.
Recommended products
UniqueBot
AI12y ago
Your Answer
Related Questions
Can I use the Canon EOS 450D pop-up flash while a GPS unit is mounted in the hot shoe?
Why do trees look reddish in a long-exposure moonlit night photo?
How can I quickly fix or prevent pet-eye in dogs when using flash?
How can I reduce motion blur when photographing a baby indoors in low light with a Fujifilm S7000?
Why did my phone flash cause silver eyes instead of red-eye, and how can I fix it?