Vivid colours through the viewfinder washed out on the image

[sacha]

just what the title says, I was out doors taking some pics of some lovely vivid green mossy rocks and some autumn leaves. The colours in real life where so vivid and clear but when I put them into lightroom to view them... the colour just wasn't there it was like there was too much white, I would appreciate any help

Sacha

p.s using a nikon D40 with no filters and 18-55 lens

[PhilW]

We need more info to help.

Can we see an example? Were you shooting raw or jpg? If jpg what were the in camera settings?

[benji]

Is your shot over-exposed?
Did you try and add saturation in post-processing?
If you shoot RAW, try and adjust the white balance more to your liking maybe.
As said above, without seeing the shot or having more details on your workflow/in-camera settings, it's difficult to help.
Benji

[Rhys]

Is your shot over-exposed?

I thought that as well.
Can this be an Adobe-RGB versus an S-RGB thing?

[TimF]

Lightroom's native colour space is actually Pro Photo RGB, which has a wider gamut than even Adobe RGB (it can be changed in Preferences).

Without more information my best guess would be that the OP needs to do some adjustment of Levels, contrast or whatever to get the pictures looking how they wish. A raw file is like an unbaked cake.

[benji]

Lightroom's native colour space is actually Pro Photo RGB, which has a wider gamut than even Adobe RGB (it can be changed in Preferences).

Without more information my best guess would be that the OP needs to do some adjustment of Levels, contrast or whatever to get the pictures looking how they wish. A raw file is like an unbaked cake.

That's why tweaking your RAW file is always a good way of enhancing your image (just make sure you don't overcook it).

Benji





(I know...!!!)

[DaveG40]

Silly question, but hey it is me, what white balance setting did you have ?.

[Monobod]

What ISO setting? You may have simply overexposed it.

[sacha]

ISO 200

[sacha]

Here is an example of that washed out (white haze)look I'm getting

http://sacha83.deviantart.com/art/Fo...road-103406432

would a UV or polarising filter help?

Sacha

[sacha]

by the way the details are as follows

Model: NIKON D40
Shutter Speed: 1/160 second
F Number: F/5.6
Focal Length: 55 mm
ISO Speed: 200

[Benchista]

Here is an example of that washed out (white haze)look I'm getting

http://sacha83.deviantart.com/art/Fo...road-103406432

would a UV or polarising filter help?

Sacha

No - if anything, a UV filter would make it worse. A decent lenshood would help, though.

Looks like you've got some veiling flare, which a lenshood adapted for the focal length in use would cure - although you might be better off with a French flag (a shading device on an arm that will prevent the sun from causing flare). Also, the contrast range of that shot is such that you're always going to have either/or burned out highlights (such as the bracken) and blocked-up shadows. Only way round that is with HDR or a similar process, as an ND grad won't work with a subject like that.

[sacha]

Thankyou so much that really helped

Sacha

[Monobod]

Have you checked the histogram? A slight adjustment in levels using the mid slider might improve things.

[benji]

Sacha,

Nick/Benchista is right.
Next time, to achieve the result you are after, expose for the hightlight areas of your image, and let the shadows go black (no other way round).
At least you'll retain saturation in the highlights, which is what you said you were trying to achieve.

(basically, your in-camera lightmetre has compensated for the shadow areas present in your image. Do a spot metering on the highlights only next time, it should help. In-camera contrast set to a minimum should also help in such midday-light conditions)

Benji

[sacha]

Great advice, I'll head on down there today and try that out!

Thanks!