[crazyfly1]

Hi Folks,
Seems we have kind of a lull in images to work on so I thought I'd throw this one in. I've been thinking about it for a while anyway as this color is absolutly impossible to fix (for me anyway). I've tried every trick inthe book and I never get it quite right. Center female is my Mom.
Have fun.

[Xaran]

Adjusted various settings in Camera Raw then opened in CS3. selected colour from blouse of 4th female, added a new layer filled with this colour (pale blue). Inverted colour (now dark brown) and changed layer mode to colour reduced opacity to 0 then increased again until reasonable colour achieved.

Christine

[videosean]

The red channel is the problem.
http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/3...6082616yp9.jpg
It looks impossible at first glance. After some pondering and channel mixing adjustment layer wizardry I started to get a red channel I liked better. The channel mixer adjustment layer only affects the red channel and I also allowed some red from below the channel mixer to come through the image - mainly for the skin tones that were ruined by the channel mixer adjustment.
http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/7...6085148cl3.jpg http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/5...6085057iq5.jpg
Next a reduced opacity color-blend-mode layer filled with the opposite color of that I wanted to get rid of - just like the previous post, then a levels adjustment layer for some more color correction, then a photo filter adjustment layer for yet more color correction.
http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/1...6085234nq9.jpg
I added yet another levels adjustment layer to tweak the brightness and contrast to my liking to get the attached image.
http://www.zshare.net/download/11619642323f86c5/ - would you like a psd with that?

[Daviskw]

My try... curves and selective color... I also used a color layer ..too much contrast I'm afraid.

Butch

[LonK]

Like Butch, I primarily used curves.

[Daviskw]

Lonnie that looks very good to me....nice contrast

Butch

[LonK]

Thanks, Butch. My old PhotoImpact 8 doesn't have direct color channel access, so I make do with what I have!

[crazyfly1]

Awsome work everyone. Videosean, Wow, very helpful! Thank you for the psd. That will be a great help for me. I get to the point sometimes where I think I'm pretty good with photoshop and that the limitations are those of the program, not mine.
Your method building a new red channel is one I hadn't tried. What Iv'e tried to do is bring this to the point where it looks shot today, not in the 60's or 70's. The overstaturated Blue is a thorn in my side. This file sits in lightroom along with a dozen copies Iv'e worked on and cast aside because it never is quite right. I think sean, you came as close to the just shot look as will be possible. Again thanks and I'll set to work with your psd as my base.

[crazyfly1]

Lonk, I don't have PhotoImpact 8, but it must be a great program, or you are a wizard, if that is all curves. I took a shot at it in photoshop with curves last night before I posted and I didn't come close to that good.

[TommyO]

Wow... these all look good !
I'm not viewing on my regular machine, but I tend to like Lonnie's the best. Although not exactly the "shot today" look, it certainly has more even contrast and detail. It wouldn't take much to bring out the look you want.

Lonnie,
Since you had such success with only curves, could you enlighten us if you did anything unusual or different ?

Thanks,
Tommy

[LonK]

Originally Posted by crazyfly1

Lonk, I don't have PhotoImpact 8, but it must be a great program, or you are a wizard, if that is all curves.

Well, Wm., I find PhotoImpact 8 to be a very capable editor. Of course I've been using it for over 5 years. Nowadays one can get it for nothing or peanuts! It certainly does not have all the handy bells and whistles that Photoshop does, so I'm sure it takes me much longer to do things. Wizard? Determined perhaps, but...

I'd upgrade to Photoshop, but for two simple reasons; 1) I can't afford it with my meager disability income and 2) since I derive no income from my efforts, I'd rather spend my time actually working on images than learning a new editor.

If some kind person would like to contribute Photoshop CS3 to worthy cause, however, I'd welcome the gesture.

Originally Posted by TommyO

Since you had such success with only curves, could you enlighten us if you did anything unusual or different ?

Thanks, Tommy. I don't know that I did anything particularly different. I did end up with some rather unusual curves though. I initially went for correcting the skin tones and contrast. What didn't fall into place at that point did require some additional selective adjustments.

[philbach]

Well I did most of the color in lab for some reason. Using the Lightness channel to increase contrast and adjusting the A and B channels. I cloned the edges.

To get the right color this time of the day in partial shade I sort of imagined a family gathering I was at a long while back.

[crazyfly1]

Hi all
After examining all the fine renditions here I took another run at it myself.
What I did was get as close as I could in raw(which wasn't close at all). In photoshop I made a copy and used the overlay mode. After that I used curves and a spot on the sidewalk to balance grey. Used 4 different hue sat layers one for blue, green, skin and the sidewalk where it was blue. I got as close as I could to each color with the sliders and then masked out the overflow. I finished up with two vignettes and an unsharp mask on another layer set to darken. Finally used levels to expose for the skin and clothing and then masked it out in the trees and sky.
I've gotten closer with ya'lls help then I ever have before (been working on this on and off for 3 years) so thank you for that. I'm still not entirely happy with the color, it's the green that is killing me now. Philback your green is spot on I think but the rest of the colors, notably skin tones are washed out. Great green though!

Edit* Forgot to mention, somewhere in ther I actually went out and grabbed a handfull of lawn for referance.

[lurch]

Good job, Wm. It's hard to color correct when you can remember what each and every tone should be and want to match all of them!
<C>

[Kraellin]

nice job, wm.