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Curious--when do you do the color adjustment?

Started by ohfer, April 03, 2012, 11:53:37 AM

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ohfer

Finally finished my nephew's wedding pics and am now working on one of the Shepherd wedding photos. Those, btw, break my heart. The damage is so bad.  :'(

Anyway, I normally wait until I've got the visible damage fixed before I do the color adjustment and then fix any problems that become visible afterward. I find it's easier to spot the little things post-color adjustment when they're not overwhelmed by the major damage.

Are there any technical advantages to doing the color adjustment first? If so, what are they? Or is it a matter of personal preference?

Mhayes

Hi Ohfer,

It is always better to do a color correction first. There is no benefit I can see of doing at the end.  This isn't a case of personal preference, but rather what works best. By working on damage before you have color corrected means you are working with bad colors---you might have a photo that has damage, but the colors are still correct, but not likely with most of ours. The other problem is that when you start fixing damaged areas with information that is off---wrong colors---you may end up not able to correct those to match with the rest of your photo later after you have waited till the end to color correct.

I have also seen photos that appear on the forum and when a Level or Curves Adjustment is done to their work afterwards doesn't match the same as what would be if done to the original, because too many changes has happened before. One was a little girl with red hair and freckles and while the color adjustment at the end looked a lot better, it was not as good as doing it at the beginning. The one done post color did not have the richness of the red hair and in fact went more to blond.

I'm not sure I would ever be able to say: "I find it's easier to spot the little things post-color adjustment when they're not overwhelmed by the major damage." Perhaps you are not doing a correct color adjustment, because it is really the opposite case as leaving it as it is originally is more overwhelming.

I you would like to post an example of one you did the color correction after and also the original---I would be happy to see the difference.

Margie
"carpe diem"

Margie Hayes
OPR President
[email protected]

ohfer

Thanks, Margie, that makes sense and I'm glad I asked ... being self-taught does have its limitations.  ;D 

The only example I have handy is the first restore I did here. I didn't do the color correction on the affected areas until after I'd fixed the areas where the emulsion had folded over on itself:

http://www.operationphotorescue.org/forum/index.php/topic,3424.0.html

The damage and color issues on these photos are way past anything I've done before, so I do appreciate the advice and constructive criticism. I know I've got a lot to learn yet.

Mhayes

Ohfer, feel free to post any you are working on now and we will help you out. Believe it or not, color correcting is usuall pretty simple and makes a world of difference. Once in awhile you might get one that is really hard to color correct, but usually it is fast, easy, and pain free.  ;)

Margie
"carpe diem"

Margie Hayes
OPR President
[email protected]

ohfer