Help with flower photos please

[masted]

Hi,
Just tried taking some photos of red flowers, they came out violet. I'd heard about bluebells coming out pink but it seems I have the reverse problem.
Just using a compact, can't shoot in RAW so I don't suppose Photoshop will help. Rest of photo is OK, it's just the flower itself that is the wrong colour.
I'll try altering the white balance next time and look through my books for other ideas, but if anyone can point me in the right direction I'd appreciate it. Maybe I need a filter (uv?).
thanks,
Dave

[Bub-les]

Welcome to WAB enjoy your time here.
I'm no expert just a learner and I think your problem may well be related to the WB settings. Have you used any of the preset scene settings to take the photo?
It would probably be helpful if you could indicate what camera you are using.
Barbara

[Matt Hunt]

Hi

If the rest of the colour is OK, I am not sure that white balance is the issue. Could you post the picture for us to look at please?

Also, what camera are you using?

Thanks

Matt

[JennyS]

Hi masted,
Are you using auto or manual settings on your camera?
I'm very not-technical when it comes to cameras, but I take a lot of flower photographs.
With my camera (Fuji) on 'auto' all the colour has a bluish cast, enough to mess up reds etc, so I keep it set on 'manual' all the time for truer flower colours.

[Geoff F]

Some colours are very difficult to reproduce correctly, Irises are another very difficult challenge. There are a few must do's if you want any chance of success.

Firstly, avoid direct sunshine; choose a lightly overcast day or use some light shading material.

Secondly,set a Custom White Balance; look up the exact instructions in your manual. Yes, it is a bit of a chore but it doesn't take too long once you get the knack and you will be amazed at the difference. If you don't have a proper Grey Card a sheet of very slightly off white paper usually works.

Use spot or partial metering; you must meter the correct spot. That should get you reasonably close to the original flower. If you want perfect natural colours it's down to some ardous tweaking and experimenting with good software. You may get away with just adjusting individual colour channels using Levels or Curves. Alternatively, and possibly easier, try Colour Balance.

I find that using the Selective Colour control and playing around with the Neutrals can be effective. But remember, it is all too easy to overdo colour correction and then you just end up 'chasing your own tail'.

It isn't so bad as it sounds and you will quickly learn a lot about colour balancing. Finally, if you are going to all this trouble, you might as well use a tripod to ensure that you get a good sharp photo to start with.

[masted]

Thanks all, advice much appreciated.
Camera - Lumix FZ-5, I didn't post photos because a) I wouldn't have a clue how to and b) without the original, how would you know what colour the flower should have been?
I tried altering the white balance. I've had it set on "auto" since I got the camera and never found the need to alter it before, so it was a leap into the unknown. Cloudy gave better results, flash better still and improved even more when I found a control that altered the red / blue balance (+1 red). Then I finally remembered where I'd put the instruction book for safe keeping, so I can have a look at these "custom settings", thanks for that tip.
As I expected, correcting the colour of the flower in this way has affected the background. It's quite a bit warmer now but not offensive, and at least I've got the main subject just about right. So all in all, I'm pretty pleased.
I'm still going to explore filters as I think there is some other factor at work, maybe ultraviolet. I didn't want to splash out on a filter and find it did me no good, but it occurred to me I have one on an old 35mm outfit. Different thread but I could probably tape it onto the Lumix next time I'm out and see if it makes any difference?
Cheers, Dave

[Geoff F]

UV filters don't really help much with digital. They do protect the lens from damage and may slightly help to prevent over blue tones in landscape/seascape.

I only briefly mentioned Custom WB but all you do is to take a photograph of a slightly off white card then select that as the Custom WB setting. This should be somewhere in the camera menu settings. Then set the camera WB to Custom. The thing to be careful about is that if the light changes or you change the shooting angle significantly you will have to do a new Custom WB. This is where it becomes a bit of a chore, but it is the only way to get true colours. You will see wedding and portrait experts doing it all the time.

One way of changing incorrect flower colours without altering the background is to do a colour selection of the flower area so alterations only affect the selected area. The exact method depends on your software. Can be a bit tricky to get a natural effect but it is worth a go.