I’m not totally satisfied with this (it’s a bit tricky because your multiple light sources in the room have different characters so the shadows in your picture are a bit greener while the directly lit parts are a bit redder), but this is closer to neutral:
Show Image
(http://i.imgur.com/OyFspzW.jpg)
I like the colours in this edit a lot, though it does seem a tad washed out to me - but that's almost getting into personal preferences.
I like the colours in this edit a lot, though it does seem a tad washed out to me - but that's almost getting into personal preferences.
We can always zap some color in:
Show Image
(http://i.imgur.com/xM4j8nh.jpg)
Show Image
(http://i.imgur.com/XZ3EZoX.jpg)
vs.
Show Image
(http://i.imgur.com/OyFspzW.jpg)
As you say, it’s down to personal preference. Really the thing to do is make 10 variants, print them out reasonably large on a high quality photo printer, and stick them up on the wall for a few days.
That looks really good. Can you share the settings you used?
I’m not totally satisfied with this (it’s a bit tricky because your multiple light sources in the room have different characters so the shadows in your picture are a bit greener while the directly lit parts are a bit redder), but this is closer to neutral:
Show Image
(http://i.imgur.com/OyFspzW.jpg)
I like this edit too - very neutral.
@Beast
as far as post-processing is concerned, it really depends on what you're aiming to achieve - i.e. a certain look/tone, or trying to reflect the actual colors (wrt shooting conditions). Also keep in mind screen color temperatures are often inconsistent among different models, and would often need proper calibration for printing - or what appears white on your screen will probably not come out white on the printer. (calibration doesn't quite work out as well if its meant for publishing on the web, since almost every device has a slightly different tint to their screens.)
The pictures were all slightly underexposed imo, but its not much of a problem.
Had a go at the edits; a few tweaks here and there, and different white balance values ranging from warm, neutral to cool.
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3898/15163313760_f4e724448c_b.jpg)
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3886/15163257569_d57b019036_b.jpg)
(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2949/15346833411_bebd3d3dd4_b.jpg)
Had a go at the edits; a few tweaks here and there, and different white balance values ranging from warm, neutral to cool.
These are all still a bit off. warm = yellow-greenish, neutral = very slightly blue-greenish (but pretty good for this picture), cool = very green. I usually try to err on the red/yellow side of neutral; green casts in particular tend to be unpopular/unpleasant. White balance in the green/red dimension is generally harder to hit than the blue/yellow dimension, in my experience.
White balancing nearly gray things in mixed lighting is really hard.
Edit: here’s all three of your versions, with the top half converted to gray (in CIELAB space, so lightness is the same from top to bottom in each third):
Show Image
(http://i.imgur.com/HY6SpY8.jpg)
I think the neutral without the grey conversion probably looks the most true to color.
Had a go at the edits; a few tweaks here and there, and different white balance values ranging from warm, neutral to cool.
These are all still a bit off. warm = yellow-greenish, neutral = very slightly blue-greenish (but pretty good for this picture), cool = very green. I usually try to err on the red/yellow side of neutral; green casts in particular tend to be unpopular/unpleasant. White balance in the green/red dimension is generally harder to hit than the blue/yellow dimension, in my experience.
White balancing nearly gray things in mixed lighting is really hard.
Edit: here’s all three of your versions, with the top half converted to gray (in CIELAB space, so lightness is the same from top to bottom in each third):
Show Image
(http://i.imgur.com/HY6SpY8.jpg)
I definitely have to take a look at your links (though I highly doubt I'd understand much of it). Your results are definitely more pleasing to the eye.
I was just wondering how you arrive at the 'correct' white balance, and what is the reference point for white/black? I'm given to understand that photoshop/lightroom typically adjusts white balance according to the color profile of your computer (I may very well be wrong), which in turn is affected by how accurately your monitor is calibrated (or even uncalibrated).
Is there an objective/fool proof way of obtaining the most neutral tones? It would definitely help my processing since I'm mostly doing it by eye (on a monitor that keeps getting inconsistent calibrations on a datacolor spyder3; which despite my best efforts, shows vastly different hues on the two monitors I'm using); I'm not surprised my edits are still off - though I am a little surprised that you are able to pick it out so easily.