The Sparse Top End!

[HansE]

Not a lot of people up here.

#1 And that is why you use helicopters to find your cows.


#2


#3


#4


#5


#6 I managed a few pictures of Boab trees. Not quite as spectecular as Madagascar but interesting all the same.

[Ozzie_Traveller]

G'day Hans

They all bring back memories of various places across the Top End
ps- I hope that once you get back home you can fix up some of the colors

Phil

[David_MC]

Beautiful area. Colors are a bit washed out though.

[HansE]

I was there and have no problem with the colours. You will have to be specific. Deep shade and bright sun are a bit of an ask in a camera and our eyes adjust to what we look at. But I may have the wrong premise?

[wigz]

Spectacular scenery Hans.

I think the perception of the colours is probably due to the time of day as morning and evening will give more saturation and enhance the red colours in the rocks.

#2 in particular and #4 appear to have a bit of a blue cast to me, probably due to mixed sun and shade, although you were there and know how it looked. I would try a quick adjustment using Auto Levels in Photoshop and see what you think.

[HansE]

The exif and JPG proofs may be of interest. The cliff is in deep shade and is effectively a close up taken at 500mm.

8757 taken at fl167 with a completely different result but still at f11 aperture

No, 2 is 8755

Love to see peoples thoughts.

[Ozzie_Traveller]

G'day Hans

Like others, I am also bothered a bit by the colours
Q-- may I post 2x images from the same region as comparisons?? -- I do not want to take discussion away from your post

Phil

[HansE]

Not a problem at all I welcome discussion and interaction

[HansE]

Carefully redone using lab mode

[HansE]

Another look at the other telephoto with some detail of PP This showing raw conversion only sharpened after that if I remember correctly.

[Ozzie_Traveller]

G'day Hans

image-1 ... my equivalent of your couple of pics, probably the same set of palms ... note colour of shadows + highlights etc



image-2 ... one of many WA gorges, note shadow colours again. This image is definitely sooc as is



each above is a direct upload, so exif data should come thru as well (ie- these are JPG sooc shots)
Hope this helps some way to getting your colours to what appears okay
Phil

[HansE]

I don't know which is worse. Yours is too green mine is too blue. I can understand why my full shade would tend to blue but not why your partial shade should go green?

[Ozzie_Traveller]

G'day Hans

Maybe we need a 3rd screen here to better judge our colours ...... coz all I have is my laptop and my colours look okay to me, but yours are (sorry to say) overcooked cyan on my screen
Maybe Isac or someone with a calibrated monitor and they can offer some better / more info for us

Insofar as mine goes, as I shoot JPG all the time, it means that I use the JPG presets ... in your Canon they will come up by several canon names, possibly 'Landscape' ... in Panny terms it is Vivid, and I just happen to like those effects

Hope this helps
Phil

[Isac]

I've decided a while back to stop editing others images but now and then I think it might be OK to offer a little help. If it's of any use, the images with the colour cast #2 and #4 could do with an AUTO curves adjustment. Start by adding a CURVES adjustment layer. On the Properties of the Curves Adjustment, hold ALT and click on the AUTO button. On the Auto Color Correction Options, select Find Dark & Light Colors and Snap Neutral Midtones. Leave the Clips at 0.10. Check Save as defaults and click OK. For this type of cast, it should be corrected. Next time just add the Curves layer and click AUTO. It's a good starting point and you can always adjust the RGB effect or each of the colours individually.

Another method I use regularly is to duplicate the layer and then Filter > Blur > Average. Change the mode to Color and set Opacity to 50%. You can change the opacity as required.

[Ozzie_Traveller]

G'day Hans

Just seen Isac's notes while I was playing with your pic
Here's my qwikkie ... the rocks look about right, the yellows are coming thru nicely, tho the greens / blues are still a bit 'out'

R ... +55 units
G ... 0
B ... -44
Cont ... +10%
Sat ... +10 %

Phil

[HansE]

It was 4 in the afternoon I'm afraid it didn't look like this. The best one so far is the one I did in lab colour mode.

[wigz]

I have a calibrated monitor and I agree that the version Hans processed in lab mode is probably the best representation - without ever having been to the area. There may still be a slight tinge of blue but it looks pretty good.

Ozzie_Traveller - Your last photo has attractive colours but does not look realistic to me. It looks more like a "close to sunrise/sunset" image. In the two images you posted of the same area the colours look good and are probably a little boosted by the camera. The sky has gone cyan in the first though.

Default processing in-camera or by Photoshop (using Adobe Colour) enhances colour somewhat because that is what most of us prefer, and choosing "Landscape" for the processing option boosts saturation and contrast.

Hans, I suspect your full-sun photos are using failrly realistic colours and a fairly bright exposure hence the comment about them being a little washed out. I tend to under-expose slightly which improves colour saturation, then lift shadows a little in post, if necessary. It comes down to whether you prefer realistic or more saturated colour.

For the colour cast, as Isac suggested, using auto levels in Photoshop can remove most of it, and further fine tuning can be done with colour balance adjustment.

[HansE]

Thanks Alan and am in agreement with your observation. The fact that I havn't worn sun glasses for as long as I remember might mean I see things a bit brighter
Also that I am now on my monitor instead of outside on a laptop is a big difference.

[Isac]

I agree with all that Alan except I NEVER use Levels EVER. It's always Curves,much better results.