Veng Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 So I'm shooting with a Rebel T1i that I've stolen from my parents for a little while. I'm not happy with the color balances I've been able to achieve in post processing the jpgs using picasa. I think I need to start shooting raw and learning the processing software. I don't own photoshop, but I do have a copy of gimp and have started messing with it on my jpgs. The camera has the ability to set a custom white balance based on a photo of a white object under that lighting, but when I tried it I ended up with a very lower color temp photo, but much lower than reality. It looked like I was lighting it with a 6.5K or 10K light or something. Gimp doesn't come "out of the box" recognizing canon's raw format. So where do I go to get that plugin or whatever I need so it can recognize them. Also, where is the best place to start reading/learning/etc all this stuff. I can do a random google search which will turn up lots of guides, but I'd prefer a recommendation of a quality guide to start. Link to comment
patback Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 I have zero knowledge of photography, but have read that people will use a beige colored paper sometimes. Link to comment
Scorched Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 I made this discovery a few weeks back and posted it in my build thread. The short answer is. Manually white balance your camera and shoot in the largest jpeg possible. I always shoot RAW when I'm taking pictures of anything, except my fishtank. I did use RAW for a long time and was always unhappy with the color, even after using photoshop or lightroom to adjust the color temperature and tint. It just never looked right and I often would max out the sliders. You can read more about it and I posted some of the crazy pictures I was getting by using RAW + Jpeg at the same time. http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/296235-3-foot-office-nano-mr-aqua-12-gallon-long/?p=4147256 Link to comment
Polarcollision Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 So I'm shooting with a Rebel T1i that I've stolen from my parents for a little while. I'm not happy with the color balances I've been able to achieve in post processing the jpgs using picasa. I think I need to start shooting raw and learning the processing software. I don't own photoshop, but I do have a copy of gimp and have started messing with it on my jpgs. The camera has the ability to set a custom white balance based on a photo of a white object under that lighting, but when I tried it I ended up with a very lower color temp photo, but much lower than reality. It looked like I was lighting it with a 6.5K or 10K light or something. Gimp doesn't come "out of the box" recognizing canon's raw format. So where do I go to get that plugin or whatever I need so it can recognize them. Also, where is the best place to start reading/learning/etc all this stuff. I can do a random google search which will turn up lots of guides, but I'd prefer a recommendation of a quality guide to start. I may be new to reefing, but I know photography and Canon DSLRs backwards and forwards. :-) Your camera comes with a disk that includes Digital professional pro. Install that on your computer. It seems like something Canon would let you download off their website if you didn't have the disk, though I've not tried this. Once you have this installed, you can edit the RAW files without Photoshop or any other software. Lightroom and Photoshop present the RAW data with their own algorithms, which will never be quite as good as Canon's algorithms. Canon wont share them with Adobe, so your color in RAW with Adobe software is Adobe's best guess. Some people who never see their photos in Digital Professionl Pro and only in Adobe products will try to tell you that JPG is the way to go since the JPG permanently embeds Canon's algorithm into the JPG image and they're seeing the power of Canon color redering. You do always want to shoot in RAW, not JPG, for the most control possible in regards to color. Sometimes the custom color balance is very good, but a small tweak will make it better. If you shoot in JPG, you've likely lost data that will allow for that small color shift easily, but using RAW in DPP, you have the power/control to make that tweak. The downside is that it can be a pain in the a## on the time front when you just want a quick image and don't care too much about pro quality. (Most of my aquarium photos are just shot with the iPhone since I get lazy) Another secret is to photograph when the aquarium lights have a lot of white in their spectrum and just enough actinics to bring out the glow. I shoot under LED at 30% white and 30% blue/RB. Set the custom white balance off your white sand if it's clean of algae or other growth that would upset the color balance. You will not be able to compensate for the blue lighting of aquariums with the typical temperature and color balance sliders, it has to be done through custom white balance or with great patience through curves and levels adjustments. Open the image in Digital Photo professional to make any final tweaks to the custom white balance in the curves panel. As far as picture styles, I find that as long as landscape or portrait is not chosen you should have pretty good color balance. From there you can export the file to photoshop or gimp and make any final tweaks to the color if you feel it needs them. Creds or advice is s###: I shoot with a Canon 5D mark2 and use Digital Photo Professional and Photoshop for any minor tweaks. My photos have appeared on travel magazine covers and I've won a few landscape photography contests. http://www.flickr.com/photos/polarcollision/7012929737 http://www.flickr.com/photos/polarcollision/2867584528 http://www.flickr.com/photos/polarcollision/4728716681 http://www.flickr.com/photos/polarcollision/4881906615 http://www.flickr.com/photos/polarcollision/4747716449 http://www.flickr.com/photos/polarcollision/6593010737 Edited for clarity. 2 Link to comment
Veng Posted January 25, 2013 Author Share Posted January 25, 2013 I may be new to reefing, but I know photography and Canon DSLRs backwards and forwards. :-) Your camera comes with a disk that includes Digital professional pro. Install that on your computer. It seems like something Canon would let you download off their website if you didn't have the disk, though I've not tried this. Once you have this installed, you can edit the RAW files without Photoshop or any other software. You do want to shoot in RAW, not JPG, for best results. The secret is to photograph when the aquarium lights have a lot of white in their spectrum and just enough actinics to bring out the glow. I shoot under LED at 30% white and 30% blue/RB. Set the custom white balance off your white sand if it's clean of algae or other growth that would upset the color balance. You will not be able to compensate for the blue lighting of aquariums with the typical temperature and color balance sliders, it has to be done through custom white balance. Open the image in Digital Photo professional to make any final tweaks. As far as picture styles, I find that as long as landscape or portrait is not chosen you should have pretty good color balance. From there you can export the file to photoshop or gimp and make any final tweaks to the color if you feel it needs them. Creds or advice is s###: I shoot with a Canon 5D mark2 and use Digital Photo Professional and Photoshop for any minor tweaks. My photos have appeared on travel magazine covers and I've won a few landscape photography contests. http://www.flickr.com/photos/polarcollision/7012929737 http://www.flickr.com/photos/polarcollision/2867584528 http://www.flickr.com/photos/polarcollision/4728716681 http://www.flickr.com/photos/polarcollision/4881906615 http://www.flickr.com/photos/polarcollision/4747716449 http://www.flickr.com/photos/polarcollision/6593010737 Thanks. I'll see if I can find the disk tonight or download it from the web and start from there. Thanks again. Link to comment
--chris-- Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Creds or advice is s###: I shoot with a Canon 5D mark2 and use Digital Photo Professional and Photoshop for any minor tweaks. My photos have appeared on travel magazine covers and I've won a few landscape photography contests. http://www.flickr.com/photos/polarcollision/7012929737 http://www.flickr.com/photos/polarcollision/2867584528 http://www.flickr.com/photos/polarcollision/4728716681 http://www.flickr.com/photos/polarcollision/4881906615 http://www.flickr.com/photos/polarcollision/4747716449 http://www.flickr.com/photos/polarcollision/6593010737 Edited for clarity. wow sums up those pics. Ive been looking for the canon software you recommended above, but it appears it only comes with their DSLR's or is only available to the original purchaser correct? Link to comment
uwwmatt Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Windows actually released a codec pack that allows you to view canon raw images in the windows gallery. http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=26829 That won't help with your processing, but it really makes sorting through your images easier because the thumbnails will work. I don't know how you are sitting financially, but you can get a student copy of adobe Lightroom for $80. You can also download the demo from adobe and use the full version free for a month. Link to comment
Polarcollision Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 wow sums up those pics. Ive been looking for the canon software you recommended above, but it appears it only comes with their DSLR's or is only available to the original purchaser correct? This is the 5D MarkII download link. Should help you find the software for your camera. http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/slr_cameras/eos_5d_mark_ii#DriversAndSoftware Link to comment
--chris-- Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 im on tab right now but it looks like that will work. thanks a ton, i just got all my gear today! Link to comment
--chris-- Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 Wont work unless I have a disk that came with the canon new :/ Link to comment
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