washed out photos always having to colour correct

Hello Tim,

Calibration of a monitor it is not as simple to run your Spider.
To have a consistent calibration the monitor have to be in a place where it is not going to be moved and afected by changes of natural or artificial light.
For that reason top of the range monitors have guards all arround the screen.
Laptops are not the best to use for PP because the angle of the monitor varies and this affect contrast and saturation.
Is for this reason that I suggested to have a monitor to plug on the laptop.

James is correct in his thread, the best results are when the original is excellent, however IMO there is nothing wrong with PP and some manipulation to get a special effect.
Photography is an art where the photographer try to capture and image and transmit an emotion or mood trough his/her work.
Post processing is nothing new, some old the great photograpers were virtuosos with their camera but also master in the dark room.
Just to mention some: Ansel Adams, Rosenfield, Karsh, Nich Brant and many more.
Do not limit your work just for not using PP, after all the camere will never be able to capture what your eyes can see and that limitiation of the equipment becomes a manipulation of the reality.

well on the 3rd of Jan my new computer will be picked up from Dave.....as I had a brown out or a lightning strike which pretty much wiped out my 2 grand computer that was only just 3 years old :BigCry:

I have a 22" Asus monitor for my big computer and I don't recall having as many PP problems so perhaps you guys are totally right and it is the laptop.

of course my monitor still needs calibrating as well I have looked at spyder before but at the time was too expensive but perhaps I just need to bit the bullet.

as for minimal PP I agree and I would love too which is why I have also bought more books regarding my speed light so I can learn how to use them properly. my problem is I learn much better on the job with someone showing me rather than reading about it..that's just the way I find easiest to learn.

I did find a course for the speed light to partake in however it clashes with badminton so could not enroll.

any photographers out there that know how to use a Nikon SB800 that would like to show me the basics one weekend :p I'll buy you a coffee :D

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Originally Posted by TimNZ

Hi Chucaro, does this recommendation stand if the laptop monitor is calibrated? I have a Spider 3 calibrating watsit, and the calibration makes quite a difference. With the monitor uncalibrated my photos look washed out, with poor contrast, but they are much better with the calibration on. However I find my photos look even better on my Plasma TV....

Sorry to hijack your thread DB :angel:

Cheers,

Tim

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The best laptop panels do not have the full gamut - good ones get to 75% of the colour range displayed. My external monitor has 110%. If you can, get an IPS panel. These will generally be better than any regular TN panels.

Any of these will do: Shop By Design

As you can see the smaller ones are not much more than the cheepies (should you be in the market for a new monitor...).

The other important thing to do is manage the external light. I only edit images in a nearly dark room, else I get the exact results you have seen.

Cheers, Steve

I didn't read all the responses but have you always been shooting in RAW or is that a recent change? Could it just be the change away from Jpeg files?

And I process on a laptop...I'm calibrated and my prints turn out as per my monitor :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Land Rover Widow

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And I process on a laptop...I'm calibrated and my prints turn out as per my monitor :)

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So.... pictures of You, um, look like..You ? :p

What you've done is to calibrate the entire chain, the ultimate way to go.

Getting some prints done at a 'quality' lab/shop and then comparing them to what you see on-screen is indeed the only way.

Its what we did, even tweaking pics between editions.

James in Retirement

Quote:

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Originally Posted by superquag

So.... pictures of You, um, look like..You ? :p

What you've done is to calibrate the entire chain, the ultimate way to go.

Getting some prints done at a 'quality' lab/shop and then comparing them to what you see on-screen is indeed the only way.

Its what we did, even tweaking pics between editions.

James in Retirement

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prints as in, printed photos from the lab, match my monitor/laptop. Not on my home printer :) Colours match.

Which colour space are you using? If it is Adobe then the pictures will appear slightly washed out as the colour gamut is to large for the screen display generally (especially n a laptop). That said you want to be using Adobe but for web display save as sRGB.

no always shot in Raw

and Derek I think its set to RGB not sRGB

Stu Simmonds at Quality Camera in WA used to do Spyder calibrators at a pretty good price and his delivery is pretty good. I have one of his Spyders here somewhere.