how to fix really bright colours need help please

[melmo78]

i took some shots of tulips recently and all the colours are really bright so that you cant see the details in the flowers, i think there could be some really nice shots if the colour can be fixed.

so im hoping that some one can point me in the right direction to be able to do this-I know nothing about PS(i have lightroom 3 and CS2) at all so really simple instructions would be great thanks

please tell me that something can be done to fix them i will be shattered if they cant be saved

thanks
this is what they look like

[ricktas]

try desaturating them a bit.

[gw.toad]

Did you shoot in raw

[fillum]

Melmo, it looks like the red channel is blown (overexposed) here. If you shot in jpeg format there is probably not a lot you can do to recover it unfortunately, especially if you have lost detail. But try Rick's suggestion of desaturating, particularly the red channel. It's a common problem, have a look at this thread.



Cheers.

[melmo78]

i shot in jpeg
I have desaturated the reds only and this is what i have now i cant tell if its ok as i have been looking at it for way to long now.
if someone would like to have a good at fixing it that would be great then i can see what it should look like

thanks

[fillum]

Right idea Melmo, but you probably went further than you needed to. It looks like there is some detail in the petals here so you should be able to get a reasonable result. I had a very quick play and came up with this...


tulips-EDIT2.jpg


1. Open Levels window, select Green channel from drop down list, then move the right and centre sliders to the left a bit till the leaves look reasonable.

2. Open the Hue/Saturation window, select the Red channel from the drop down list. Use the Saturation and Lightness sliders to get a result you like. It's basically trial-and-error but you probably won't need to go too far with either slider - I think the above was about -5 on saturation and +5 on lightness. If the red is not quite the right colour as you remember it (eg should be more crimson), give the hue slider a slight nudge.

3. I finished by giving the image a decent sharpening

You should be able to get better results by working on the original sized image.


Hope this helps...


Cheers.

[fillum]

Above steps were in PS Elements, which should be pretty much the same in CS2. I missed in your original post that you also have LR. In LR you would use the Saturation and Luminance sliders. But there are also more colour choices in LR - for example to fix red problems (in general) you might also want to try the Orange sliders as well to see what the effects are.


Cheers.

[mudman]

PSed.jpghere is my effort.
adjust red channel in curves
increase contrast
dodge shadows
adjust shadows and highlights,
all done in CS5

[dieselpower]

This is one of those things where everyone will do it differently and have their own preferred way, and there'll be dozens of ways to achieve a similar result. The below is my (current) method to fix reds.

I find that to desaturate in lightroom to an appropriate level can often leave things looking a bit grey. To get a good result I'd look to drop the luminance level on the red channel, and drop the saturation on the red channel slightly - doing it this way generally results in a more pleasing look (for my preference, anyway) than just using saturation and you normally find that you don't have to do much desaturation. Both easy enough to do in Lightroom - however given that you shot in JPEG you might find you have a little less room to move than if you'd used RAW.

[melmo78]

thanks heaps for the steps to fix will have a play with them later tonight

Im going to tulip time in bowral on the weekend,is there anything that i can do(other than shoot in RAW) to stop this from happening again?

[camerasnoop]

Levels Adjustment Layer, and then select the middle slider handle on just the red channel. Slide it right and voila.

hgxrkkyd.jpg

[ricktas]

I would just like to post here and say THANKS. This is what AP is about, members helping and guiding each other, and the replies here show exactly why it is a pleasure to own and run AP. THANK YOU!

[ricstew]

Melmo.....It depends on what camera you are driving.....on mine I can set the histogram to show darks, lights or red green yellow........so I am assuming you would use that. Probably adjust your iso/aperture/shutter speed till the red histogram is nicely humped in the middle.....I haven't ever done it so I am making an assumption.......can anyone confirm it? Maybe have a practice before the weekend?
cheers
Jan

[WhoDo]

I'd like to add my thanks, too. I'd been looking for a way to tone down some shots I'd taken in full sun and the suggestions here translated well considering I'm using GIMP. Have I succeeded?


geranium_6616 by Double Take Photographics, on Flickr

[Floribunda]

I found this helpful too. Thanks all.

[blissful]

I must add my thanks to everyone also, particularly Mel who started the topic.

I can now revisit some of my floral photos with renewed confidence.

[junqbox]

Hi, I actually preferred your first 'corrected' version, than the ones that followed.
Keep up the good work.