Colour queries

[John D]

I agree Mike. Submitting an image for colour comparison on a web site is meaningless as not all monitors are colour profiled and even if they were most would be slightly different at the very best best. So to compare and request a definitive answer on colour variation is not really a worthwhile proposition.
Like you I go on the basis if it looks OK to me, taking all factors into account, then that is it.
Flowers in particular vary in colour from place to place depending on ground substance, feeding, terrain etc etc.
There is also the variation in our eyesight. We don't necessarily see the colours as others see them. That is why we need special equipment to compare colours and comply with recognised colour standards.
Just wished it could be more simple but unfortunately it is not.
John D

[PeterD]

John it is those factors you and Mike mention that made me purchase a good quality printer tat self calibrates as it prints and it came with a monitor calibration kit (Greta Macbeth). Its when you print out an image that you really can have problems. The monitor and printer have different gamuts. What I see on the screen with this kit, very closely matches the monitor. I cannot speak for the match of the real life subject compared to the image on the monitor. White balance on the camera and any bias applied has its effect together with careless (or maybe planned) adjustments in an editor. I tend to shoot RAW only and therefore the camera processing software has little effect.
Peter

[matt_xyz]

John sums it up well. When looking at the images above we must bear in mind that we might all be seeing very different things if some of us are using uncalibrated monitors.

It's true, though, that colour casts can creep into any shot for reasons which sometimes mystify me (and have no relation to the quality of the camera body or lens). It will often depend on the lighting, subtle reflections from nearby foliage and so on. But the biggest cause in my experience is often image processing software. I find that Photoshop Elements often, but by no means always, introduces a slight yellow cast on some of my images. If I go back and process the RAW file in Canon's DPP software the image is often fine.

Being slightly colour blind myself I often struggle to spot colour casts until someone points them out to me. Even once spotted, then can sometimes be difficult to remove too.

Matt

[Meta menardi]

Interesting stuff, and lots to think of. I confess my pic was taken in very bright sunlight (so not last year!).