Author Topic: Advice or recommendations on using color checker  (Read 10666 times)

CS

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Re: Advice or recommendations on using color checker
« Reply #15 on: May 23, 2019, 23:44:45 »
For architectural Interiors, you are highly likely to have to deal with multiple different lighting sources within the scene itself and the use of a Dual Lighting Sources Camera profile can help considerably.

I seldom photograph the ColorChecker itself during an actual shoot (Product shots containing important fabric-colours would be an exception) but I always process my RAWs starting with my most appropriate pre-made Camera Profile.
(I never shoot JPGs.)

Then I adjust all the ACR Sliders manually, and use Adjustment Brushes liberally, to pull the rendering that i want from the RAW.

Mostly  I am not trying, (or needing!) to match the original scene but am much more likely to want to create a series of images which portray the scene as I wish the Viewer to see it — while the series also needs to work when viewed together in a printed spread.

It doesn't matter how much you use ColorChecker, you are unlikely to be able to reproduce the Spot Color inks used in product-packaging, or the colours of certain acryllic artist's paints,  in Press CMYK output or inkjet prints so "Pleasing Colour" is the best you can hope for in those cases.

This Lion was shot at sunrise (so the overall colour temperature of the scene was Blue) but a beam from the rising sun (bright Orange!) spot-lit his face. 
My ColorChecker-created dual "Daylight+Tungsten" camera Profile handled the situation easily while none of the canned camera profiles could.


Well, your lion shot tells me that perhaps I don't like profiles because I don't know enough about making proper use of them.
Carl

Ann

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Re: Advice or recommendations on using color checker
« Reply #16 on: May 24, 2019, 01:22:11 »
Carl:

Perhaps a useful first step would be to test the various Profiles which are included in ACR (and in Lr too).

You are only shown the versions which apply to the camera which shot the image.
The ones called "Camera Portrait/Neutral/Standard/Vivid" etc. are profiles which emulate the camera-manufacturers in-camera Picture Controls.

The ones called "Adobe Portrait/Neutral/Standard/Vivid" etc. are profiles which were designed from scratch by Adobe's engineers and which you may like better than the "Camera . . ." series.
 
"Adobe Color" is a profile which often works well to produce natural-looking colours from images shot under different conditions. First select a Profile (try different ones!) and then adjust the WB sliders manually from the "As Shot" position. (I avoid Auto or any of the other named WB spaces.)

Personally, I have found it worthwhile to create my own Camera Profiles for specific lighting sources and the ColorChecker Passport software from xRite (which is designed to be used in conjunction with the free DNG Converter) lets one create Dual-source profiles. These can be extremely useful when you have to deal with mixed lighting.

You just shoot the CC Passport device under every possible different light source and the software then leads you through creating the profiles and places them automatically in the right directory on your HD so that they can then be loaded and used directly from the Camera Profile drop-down menu in ACR or Lr.




CS

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Re: Advice or recommendations on using color checker
« Reply #17 on: May 24, 2019, 06:00:09 »
Carl:

Perhaps a useful first step would be to test the various Profiles which are included in ACR (and in Lr too).

You are only shown the versions which apply to the camera which shot the image.
The ones called "Camera Portrait/Neutral/Standard/Vivid" etc. are profiles which emulate the camera-manufacturers in-camera Picture Controls.

The ones called "Adobe Portrait/Neutral/Standard/Vivid" etc. are profiles which were designed from scratch by Adobe's engineers and which you may like better than the "Camera . . ." series.
 
"Adobe Color" is a profile which often works well to produce natural-looking colours from images shot under different conditions. First select a Profile (try different ones!) and then adjust the WB sliders manually from the "As Shot" position. (I avoid Auto or any of the other named WB spaces.)

Personally, I have found it worthwhile to create my own Camera Profiles for specific lighting sources and the ColorChecker Passport software from xRite (which is designed to be used in conjunction with the free DNG Converter) lets one create Dual-source profiles. These can be extremely useful when you have to deal with mixed lighting.

You just shoot the CC Passport device under every possible different light source and the software then leads you through creating the profiles and places them automatically in the right directory on your HD so that they can then be loaded and used directly from the Camera Profile drop-down menu in ACR or Lr.

Thank you, Ann. I have clicked on some profiles, but, I clearly needed more than that. Your info looks like a good start to set me in the right direction.  :)
Carl

PeterN

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Re: Advice or recommendations on using color checker
« Reply #18 on: July 29, 2019, 11:18:14 »
Although the topic has been discussed a while ago, I thought to share my thoughts on this, in particular because what I learned during a colour management workshop contradicts with the conclusion that you cannot work around different lighting circumstances with a colour checker (my apologies if I misinterpreted the remark made). It is the colour checker's very intention is to get consistent colors across various light circumstances.

Perception of color is very subjective.  What you see may differ from what someone else sees.  It depends on the context, what our brains expect to see and illumination.  Although the human visual system is able to adjust to changes in illumination and preserve the appearance of a color, it can also be easily 'tricked" seeing a totally different color than the true color.
 
The "only" thing we can do in photography is to capture  “true colours” and create consistency among our devices (camera, display, printer, projector) by calibrating the equipment and by aligning the settings of each device. The purpose of the color checker is to compare the colors captured in a specific lighting setting and compare those colors with the true colors as defined by the manufacturer of the color checker. So ideally, you make one photo of every scene with the color checker and create a profile for that situation. Obviously this is not very practical, especially since there are other factors that determines how other people will experience your photo (their set-up, their lighting context, their expectations). So pre-creating camera color profiles like Ann does, is a more practical solution.

This is how it works with x-rite and Lightroom:
1. download and install color checker passport software, including plug-in for Lightroom.
2. Make references photo with color checker. E.g. for each camera: Shoot color checker in various circumstances: sunny day, cloudy day, rainy day, inside light room, inside artificial light, flash light. Or whatever circumstance that is relevant for you.
3. Export these reference photo(s) with preset for color checker (under file menu).
4. A DNG profile is generated and visible in the basic menu of development module.
Note: You can find profiles in user>library>application support>adobe>cameraRaw>cameraprofiles

Having said so, at the end of the day what is relevant is what you want to communicate with the photo or what emotion you like to trigger. To what extent "true colour" matters for achieving that, is up to you.  You can create your own profiles, buy profiles, or get profiles for free. I like Ann's suggestion to start with using Adobe's profiles and then create your own.

PS 1: According to the teacher of the workshop, some checkers are more accurate than others. We did not have time to dive into what true color is and which device is better than another. I got the impression that he liked x-rite's color checker though.

PS 2: I do hope I correctly reflected what was said during the workshop. If not, experts at this forum will hopefully jump in.
Peter

Ann

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Re: Advice or recommendations on using color checker
« Reply #19 on: July 29, 2019, 16:39:29 »
The patches in an xRite's ColorChecker are each made from individual grains of pigment (not from a mixture of inks) so their colours remain consistent and that is the reason that the device is quite expensive. (That is also the reason why you should never stick your fingers into the patches!)

The x-Rite software is easy to use (as Peter has outlined so clearly) and the resulting Camera Profiles can be installed into Lightroom, ACR and several other Converters as well and, from my experience, seem to be very accurate.

I have never used a Checker from any of the other manufacturers so I have no knowledge concerning them.