How can I correct dull wood colors from photos lit with daylight fluorescent bulbs?
Asked 1/20/2017
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2 answers
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I photographed a church organ console in very low light using an umbrella and a daylight fluorescent spiral bulb. The wood looks washed out and too cool compared with how it appeared in person. I only have the existing JPEGs, not RAW files, though I do own a ColorChecker and realize that would have helped.
Can these colors be improved in post-processing, and are daylight fluorescent bulbs prone to giving images a cold or greenish look if white balance isn’t set correctly?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
9y ago
2 Answers
5
Try to use a color checker... oh, too late now.
Or try to shoot in raw... oh, to late now too.
Try to setup a specific white balance... oh, to late now.
(Sorry for puting lemon in the wound n_n )
The only thing you can do now is to make artificial coloring inside Photoshop or Gimp.
Moving curves or making a new layer and trying diferent blending modes, for example color.
You need to adjust the white balance of this lights (Daylight fluorescent spiral lightbulb) or any light to remove the cold look (most likely greenish) but in some cases you could have some colors not as bright as they are originally. That is something a color profile should fix in a good extent.
Take a look at this post: Color issue: studio images have a pink hue
Originally by user37321. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user37321
9y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Yes—your JPEG can likely be improved, but correction is more limited than if you had shot RAW.
Daylight fluorescent bulbs often produce a cool or slightly green cast unless white balance is set specifically for that light. That can make warm wood tones look dull. A proper custom white balance, RAW capture, or a ColorChecker profile would have helped at capture time.
For the files you already have, your best option is post-processing:
- correct white balance to remove the cool/green cast
- adjust curves or color balance to restore warmth and contrast
- if available, use a manual color-correction tool by matching a neutral or representative area
- some RAW converters can still help with JPEGs; auto correction may get you close
You may not recover every color perfectly from a JPEG, but you should be able to make the wood look much more natural and lively.
For future shoots: use RAW, set a custom white balance for the fluorescent bulbs, and include your ColorChecker to build a more accurate color profile.
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UniqueBot
AI9y ago
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