Plug-in question

DV
Posted By
Dave_Voelker
Jul 23, 2007
Views
400
Replies
12
Status
Closed
I’ve been having trouble getting the white balance right in my (mostly landscape) photos, and am considering getting the iCorrect OneClick plug-in. I’ve played with the demo and it seems to do a good job. But one thing’s holding me back. I’m able to do all the editing of most of my shots entirely within ACR, but using the plug-in will require loading them into full PhotoShop. I’m concerned about (1) the hassle of the extra step of having to load them into PS to adjust the color after I’ve (usually) made all other needed changes in ACR, and (2) the fact that the plug-in’s changes aren’t nondestructive like ACRÂ’s.

I’d be interested in others’ opinions of whether these are valid concerns or not, and your workflow if you do something similar.
Related Tags
plug-in question

MacBook Pro 16” Mockups 🔥

– in 4 materials (clay versions included)

– 12 scenes

– 48 MacBook Pro 16″ mockups

– 6000 x 4500 px

MD
Michael_D_Sullivan
Jul 23, 2007
You should be able to do a better job of WB correction within ACR. Use the eyedropper on something that should be neutral, or try the presets, and then fine tune with the color temperature slider and the one below it (whose name I can’t recall at the moment).
C
chrisjbirchall
Jul 23, 2007
It’s "Tint"

Dave. Carry a white or grey card around with you. place it in your first shot (for the particular lighting conditions). Then back in ACR use the eyedropper as Michael suggested.

Do just that. Make no other adjustments at this stage. Then copy the settings from that image to all the similarly shot images which will then have the correct WB.
DV
Dave_Voelker
Jul 23, 2007
Thanks, guys. Michael, I’ve tried the eyedropper method but this plug-in seems to do a better job. ACR’s WB presets often don’t look right, and I don’t trust my judgment on manual adjustments — I can fiddle with temp & tint all day and not be sure that’s the way it’s supposed to look. I need a one-click adjustment I can trust.

Chris, unfortunately I’ve got tons of shots from vacations that I can’t go back and put a neutral card into.
BD
Brett Dalton
Jul 25, 2007
the phrase "supposed to look" is really somthing that it might be worth considering. Photography will NEVER look exactly like the origional, infact the origional is the way you remember it. It’s all compromises and perception.

Adjust it using the eye dropper and then tweek it to your liking, to an extent bugger it if it looks better being a tad warmer that is "technically" correct.

…..I’d rather remember it was a warm sunny day on my holidays than the dull and crappy one it really was 😉

BRETT
DV
Dave_Voelker
Jul 26, 2007
Brett, great point. I’ve just been experimenting again with ACR’s WB eyedropper and even though it’s a challenge to find a neutral spot in some of my shots, I think I can use it to get satisfactory results. You’re right; I was aiming to capture the scene exactly as it was and couldn’t remember the exact colors. I don’t like the fact that I have such a wide latitude of plausible color temps — don’t make me choose! But I’ll just bite the bullet and pick one.

And you’re right about leaning warm, esp. in shots taken late in the day.
DM
dave_milbut
Jul 27, 2007
chris’ idea of a gray card is great! i’ve got to add one to my camera case!
DP
Daryl_Pritchard
Jul 27, 2007
Dave,

If you’re looking for a nice gray card reference that is durable and compact, you might consider the Whi-Bal (http://www.rawworkflow.com/products/whibal/index.html). I’ve yet to get into a routine habit of using mine, but there’s little doubt that taking a reference pic when shooting RAW really expedites the post-processing. What I most like about the Whi-Bal is that it is waterproof…I took mine on a dive in Honduras to see if it would help me get better color correction of u/w photos where accurately remembering the colors after the fact can be a challenge, not to mention that the colors lost with increasing depth also complicate matters. While I have yet to really edit many of the photos from that particular dive, I think it’s going to be fun to see to what extent the Whi-Bal helped. At the very least, it may steer me in the right direction for color edits. Here are a few pics I threw together showing some before/after results of white balancing in ACR, using the Whi-Bal gray card (the lighter one, the darker being for JPG use and now discarded from the current Whi-Bal version): <http://ambress.com/D200/whibal>

With the current version of the Whi-Bal reduced to a single card to which a few reference stickers are attached, I’m not sure just how water-friendly it will be, but I’m thinking I may buy the larger 3.5×6-inch studio version to supplement my original multi-card set.

Regards,

Daryl
DM
dave_milbut
Jul 28, 2007
thanks daryl, i don’t do raw (canon s2) but especially now w/cs3’s ability to use camera raw on jpg’s i think i could get some good use out of something like that. whew! 30summat bux? i was thinking of bringing a white piece of paper or something with me! 🙂

I then followed your link to amazon and noted that the digital grey kard wasn’t linked to amazon’s system (3rd party sellers only). so i wound up going with Adorama QpCard 101, 3 Cards with Black / Gray / White Colors used for the White Balance System of Digital Cameras < http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002K6F66/ref=pd_cp_p_3/10 3-2599475-4559030?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-4 1&pf_rd_r=1ECM862QD7H8C9DBAKNT&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd _p=250314001&pf_rd_i=B000HCQR8A> for 15 bux.

while still a 3rd party, they’re linked through amazon’s pmt system and i’ve gotten camera stuff for both my old oly and the newer canon from Adorama via amazon before. last time they were very fast on the shipping.

as always, thanks man. you’re one of the best on this board daryl! (and thanks again chris for the idea).
DP
Daryl_Pritchard
Jul 28, 2007
Dave,

I didn’t notice that QpCard 101 earlier today. Interesting idea where they’ve provided a paper reference card but supply it as a pack of 15 such cards to be applied to various items. I wonder if it could be laminated to make it waterproof without affecting the reflectivity and causing any errors? Yeah, that Whi-Bal is a pricey item for what it is, but still cheaper than some other white balance products such as the ExpoDisc. I wondered if the Digital Grey Kard was made of plastic or some other composition that might not be as durable or waterproof, and I only found the details in a description on e-bay where the seller says that they use PVC plastic with a pigment colorant for uniformity. If I didn’t have a Whi-Bal, I think I’d opt for the Digital Grey Kard over the QpCard 101 due to the plastic construction, but either product should work out OK if indeed they are true to their color.

Thanks for the compliment…I’m always happy to help where I can, but I envy those with more in-depth knowledge and talent in using Photoshop.

Daryl
JJ
John_Joslin
Jul 28, 2007
White balance adjustment isn’t restricted to the CS3/Camera Raw elite however. Photoshop has had this facility like forever man!
DM
dave_milbut
Jul 28, 2007
I’m always happy to help where I can, but I envy those with more in-depth knowledge and talent in using Photoshop.

ditto. i’m always learning more than i help in here. even after (a few) years! 🙂
H
hdegroot
Sep 4, 2007
I’d like to throw in a pitch for the Digital Grey Kard you mentioned which is available on Amazon, EBay, and through Hunt’s photo in the Boston area and B & H Photo in NYC.

Although we are "just" an Amazon merchant, we are a family owned and run business founded in Boston, and we we take a lot of pride in our honest, fast, and friendly service. We can sell you a gray card / white balance card that has been shown to be more accurate than the whybal card for about 1/2 the price.

BTW, a white balance card can still be useful for JPEG shooters if you use Photoshop Lightroom, which allows you to adjust color temperature almost as if you were shooting RAW. However, I’m told the changes you make cause some JPEG image degradation.

We have a few simple how-to-white do balance videos and other downloadables posted on our website. Could be useful to some.

www.digitalimageflow.com

Henry

MacBook Pro 16” Mockups 🔥

– in 4 materials (clay versions included)

– 12 scenes

– 48 MacBook Pro 16″ mockups

– 6000 x 4500 px

Related Discussion Topics

Nice and short text about related topics in discussion sections