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[OM] Re: more zuiko shots.. and more questions :)

Subject: [OM] Re: more zuiko shots.. and more questions :)
From: Moose <olymoose@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2006 02:54:19 -0700
Christos Stavrou wrote:
> .......
> version 1 here: http://www.deviantart.com/view/32429381/
> is the original non-processed scan directly coming out from a Canon FS7210
> in default settings of its own software and some kind of auto colour
> exposure... (note, no colour profile has been assigned to either uploaded
> pic).....
>
> My questions now are:
>
> a) Anyone else who has faced the problem of a dominant blue cast after
> scanning with the above scanner? (especially Fuji film)..And any personal
> advice about how to deal with it!?..
>   
I've done a lot of scanning with an FS2710 without any consistent color 
cast. However, I use VueScan and don't use Fuji film.

Color cast is not really much to do with the scanner hardware, unless it 
is faulty, and this doesn't look like that. It's more a matter of the 
scanner software and the differences in films.

I"ve found it pretty easy to adjust your shot to look quite natural in 
color - in 2-3 different ways. So it's not hard to come up with 
something that looks good. If you want accurate color, you can only do 
so with some kind of standard reference. To get accurate skin tone and 
clothing colorin a situation like this one, the only solution is to have 
the subject hold up a reference card in one shot. A gray card is enough 
to allow proper color balance correction after scanning. Something like 
a WhiBal, with grey, black and white, will allow further accuracy in 
setting white and black points in post processing. If you want it to 
come out of the scanner balanced correctly, you need software that will 
work with the reference. I've never used the software that came with the 
FS2710, so I don't know about it. In VueScan, right clicking on the grey 
card in the preview of the shot with card will set the color balance to 
manual, and you can then scan the rest taken in the same light.

Working from a gray card will still not assure accurate colors, with 
different films varying in color, but it will reduce the differences to 
being fairly subtle. The solution for that is to profile the film/light 
combo. Simply take a shot of an IT8 target in the same light. Then in 
VueScan, you can easily create an ICC profile to use in scanning the 
other shots. Of course, you aren't assured of accurate color on screen 
or in prints without color management of all parts of the process.

Film profiling can work wonders for scanning. Here are a few samples 
with and without a profile <http://galleries.moosemystic.net/VuesProf/>.

> b) the studio lights that I'm using here have obviously a yellowish
> colour... seen on right side, left lit by natural light.
> Any advice on how to avoid 
One generally avoids it by matching the colors of the various light 
sources. The simplest solution is to work entirely under the studio 
lights. Next may be to use gels over the lights to balance them to the 
natural light. Next, and used in some commercial work, is to filter the 
natural light, typically by putting large gels over the window(s).
> or counter-balance this?
> (For example, should I use a cooling filter, such as the 80A I think it's
> called.. move them further?.. start using polaroids for test?..)
>   
There is no way to correct on the camera. Adding a cooling filter for 
the background over cools the subject and visa versa.

It is also possible to correct in post processing. It's time consuming, 
so not suitable for large numbers of shots, and doesn't work well with 
some images, but it can be done where the result is worth the effort. 
I've done an example with your sample shot. I don't represent that the 
color balances are "right" in any particular sense. In fact, I'm not 
particularly pleased with the background, but it's meant as a demo of 
the possibilities for changing the relative color balances of subject 
and background. By bringing the background into a color balance closer 
to the subject and making it less bright, the subject really stands out 
as the focus of the image 
<http://www.moosemystic.net/Gallery/Others/Christos11A.htm>. One could 
also shoot a gray or IT8 card in each light and balance the two areas 
separately that way.

Moose

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