Reynolds Photo

[Alvo]

I don't think I can go any further with this one without more eyes on it. Mine are still seeing red and pink..

[Alvo]

I can see here the right arm is to light. I went back and matched colors with the left arm and it look better.

[Shadow]

Hi Alvin. The color on this one is a bit tricky. Used the Threshold layer to find the white and black points. Tried an Auto Levels and Auto Curves and came up close to where you are so I went back with the Curves layer and set the values as shown - 244/244/244 for the white point and 15/15/15 for the black point. Thinking the background is probably closer to this color. Hopefully, the color gurus will weigh in. Good luck!

[Alvo]

You are probably right. I am the first to admit I am not good with colors. I did a couple of white balances and kept coming up with blue even on the dress. I selected the dress by itself and did a white balance and got the white on the dress. Not sure what you mean by Threshold, I thought you meant blending mode but I went back and looked and there is not one. Please explain to me what Threshold you used. Thank you.

[Alvo]

Oh, I see it is an adjustment layer, working on it thanks.

[Shadow]

Hi Alvin, here's a quick video to show you how to use the Threshold layer to find your black and white points. When you have an image with a frame (that will usually be 255/255/255 when corrected), it is best to choose a white point from an area inside of the frame instead. Another thing to watch for is that the white point is not damage.

https://petapixel.com/2012/03/06/how-to-quickly-find-and-select-black-and-white-points-in-photoshop/

[Jo Ann Snover]

I'll give you my take on the color for this, bearing in mind that I'm guessing this is a very young baby whose skin is still a bit red and blotchy. If you look at the red channel, it's way, way too light. I started out using a channel mixer adjustment layer to see if that would make for an easier path to fixing this, but decided on something else. Here's a visual to explain:



The order of the layers does matter, but obviously there's no one right way to do this - just be aware that if you move things around in the layer order you may get some wonky results. The basic approach was to use a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer to drastically cut the red saturation and very slightly nudge it to yellow. Then, use a curves adjustment layer to get a gray point. The problem with trying to go for a white point is that not all images have one (and the white border doesn't count). I picked a gray point in the shadows of that bib thing and then set a white and black point by hand.

The rest of the cleanup was just rough to give an idea - that you can remove magenta, remove blue, recolor the pale blue background using a solid color adjustment layer set to Color (or Hue) blend mode (try both and see which one gives the best results).

So I think the background of that cartoon animal thing is pale blue - and you can see the bear's bib has a white part, so I think that makes sense.

Don't do anything weird to the baby's hair to darken it - when you tone down the whites, it looks right as is.

[Alvo]

Thanks, I see what you mean in the Red Channel. I have never used channels before so I will need to get in the habit of looking at them. Well, I have the background just about complete in the grey shadow recommended, I will scratch that and go with a pale blue> I know what I did wrong, I use a layer filled with 50% gray with a difference blend mode to find my grey point. I went that way to find my black point, just wasn't thinking I guess. I have my layers all screwed around now trying to use the background layer to color balance with. Will do my best to do what you recommended, Thanks.


Alvin

[Alvo]

Best as I can tell this looks more like yours. The red channel is still light but not like before so some of the red is out.

[Jo Ann Snover]

That's getting there, but still looks a bit pale but oversaturated in the reds. Look around he nostrils - the shadows are glowing :)

The hair has some darkening that doesn't look right - if you added with an adjustment layer of some type, lower the opacity a lot. You can see the baby's scalp because he has so little hair.

[Alvo]

Will do, be back later, Thanks

[Alvo]

OK, I can see his head now, pulled the reds down in the shadows a bit.

[Jo Ann Snover]

So that looks more like your first try with a very dark blue background but more saturated in the reds than "First Try". Perhaps take a break and then come back and have another look.

So far your 2nd try is the closest...

[Alvo]

OOPS, I uploaded he wrong photo, be right back

[Alvo]

Sorry, wrong photo. I noticed the guy riding the elephant was missing his head so I put that in. It is a slight difference to the hair, not as much as I thought in PS, but I took some red out of the shadows

Alvin