Heart of my Heart

[1.618]

I had some first blooms recently on Heart of my Heart. Naturally I took some pics but discovered I was unable to get a true representation of the dark red in my photos. Somehow the camera insisted on turning it into a bright red! The real color is a very dark rusty brown red and has the texture of a dark red velvet. The color is actually reminiscent of Black Dragon but the pic doesn't come across that way. Is there any way to correct this problem? Any photographers out there?

[Pachrian]

What you can do in this case really depends on your camera. If you have a point and shoot, you may have a harder time of getting accurate colors than with a DSLR. If at all possible, try to shoot fully manual ( that includes white balance ) and take you pics in the shade ( slightly overcast skies are best ) ant DON'T use flash. You may need to use a tripod because your shutter speed will get very long. Keep the ISO at acceptable levels for your camera, no need to introduce noise, right?
In the end you may need to do a little post processing in Photoshop or a similar program.
Key is manual white balance, no direct sun, no flash. Good luck! 

[Charlie]

Uli, thanks for those helpful hints. You have beautiful photos on your website and obviously are experienced.

Ever since I started taking digital photos of hibiscus, about 15 years now, capturing accurate color for the red flowers has been the most challenging. I have a good DSLR camera now but still am not satisfied with the reds half the time. I think I would have to control the lighting better to get much better results. I always shoot the flowers in the greenhouse and at the time I find them. The light changes drastically in there during the course of the day but the flowers mostly open around mid-day which is not the best for photos. On the positive side there is a special shade paint on the plastic that does cut down on the intensity some. I pick the flowers and place them on other bushes that are shaded some of the time, which also does help. Still, the reds of hibiscus remain the most difficult to capture accurately.

Nice photo anyway of Heart of My Heart, Ian.

Charlie

[Pachrian]

Haha, do you by any chance have a Nikon? They are notorious for saturating the reds. My own problems are more with capturing purple accurately. Manual settings help. Something else I should have mentioned: if you are looking to get your colors right it is essntial that your monitor is properly calibrated. Even new monitors are off. I calibrate mine every 2 weeks.

[1.618]

Many thanks for the information and advice Uli! Unfortunately I do not have a DSLR but will heed your advice and try again! By the way, how does one calibrate their monitor? 

Ian

[Pachrian]

Ian, no worries. Just control as many settings as you can. You Jace to remember that when you take pics in auto mode the camera does what it thinks is correct. If, for example, you have a fairly dark subject as you do here, the camera will automatically overexpose it, making it too light.
In order to calibrate your monitor you need to buy special soft/hardware. I mentioned it only in case you or anyone else was really serious about getting the color correct.
Anyway, your bloom is gorgeous. Must have been something else to see with your own eyes

[Charlie]

Uli, you're right. I've always used Nikons except for one Olympus and my current DSLR is a Nikon. I like it a lot but should use it on manual more to see what I can get that way.

Monitors make a huge difference, as you noted. We have both Mac and PC computers in our office and the difference is striking. The Macs are bright and vibrant while the PC seems dull and "off" in comparison. That may have more to do with the video hardware in the PC, not top of the line, but it sure is noticeable. Cindy has to optimize the website for different browsers and different systems and that is also a big challenge! Nothing perfect about digital photo viewing but it sure is fun!

Charlie