civilized ku # 607 ~ too hot to handle
Wednesday, August 4, 2010 at 12:48PM 
Counter debri • click to embiggen
Counter debri processing steps • click to embiggenAs is always the case, it's too hot for me too handle here in South Jersey. That said, the phrase "too hot" in entry title above refers not to the weather but the color red on the twist tie in the accompanying picture.
A few days ago, The Cinemascapist and I were conversing about the fact that he was unable to obtain, neither in RAW conversion nor in PS processing, the orange-ish red of the after-storm clouds he had pictured. The discussion centered around the fact that neither color film nor digital sensors can capture anywhere near the full color spectrum that the human eye can see.
In a best case scenario, one might be able to come close to obtaining it by judicious after-picturing processing, that is, as long as it can be displayed on your color monitor - which, itself, can not display the the full human-eye spectrum.
Now, I mention this because, on my way to South Jersey, I spent 2 days and a night in NYC which included a trip to the candy store, AKA - B&H Photo. I needed to order some printing supplies and begin looking for a new monitor since mine - a 8-9 year old Apple Cinema display - is starting to show on-screen visible signs of giving up the ghost.
Naturally, I inquired about a replacement Apple Cinema display, whereupon I was informed that I had been using a piece-of-shit display for the past 8-9 years. Damn, I wish I had known that because, all the while that I was processing and printing really nice pictures, I never knew that the Apple display was a piece of junk.
This got me to thinking - if my display was a piece of shit, what's my printer - an Epson PRO 7800? After all, it's 1 0r 1.5 generations removed from the newest, best-est, and brightest Espon 7900?
To be absolutely certain, a new Lacie 324 will undoubtedly be able to display more and better color, contrast, and tonality than my current Apple Cinema display - just as the salesman pointed out. However, even given a new Epson 7900, I would not be able to print all of the colors nor the contrast that I can see on a Lacie 324 (most likely my choice for a replacement)- just as the salesman DID NOT point out.
Thanks to my decades of experience, I was able to jam-up the salesman on a number of his points. For example, he was quick to point out that one of the "problems" with the Apple Cinema display was the fact that it is way too saturated a display for critical color work, which, as I pointed out, was why I turned on the PhotoShop desaturate-display-20% preference option. I could have done a major jam-up on the guy on many of his points, but I was in a kindly and generous mood so I let him prattle on, gearhead-style, for as long as I could stand it and then I moved on.
FYI, the 3 pictures above illustrate - from RAW conversion to first-step PS correction to final image - how the sensor in my camera and the proper WB RAW conversion of images made thereupon results in reds (and yellows) that are a bit too red and/or too yellow - depending upon, amongst other things, subject matter and light conditions.
BTW, one of the great things about making a still life picture like the one above is that I can make the picture, run to my computer, process the image, and then go back to the still life scene and check for color variances.
You should try it some time. The results might surprise you.
Reader Comments (2)
The treatment of color in your work is exceptional, so I hate to even comment on this, but the latest batch of monitors is quite a bit better than the apple displays. I just demoted my apple to the position of palette holder in favor of a new NEC. The NEC software is much more flexible, allowing you to really tune the monitor into your environment, upload printing profiles directly to the monitor for soft proofing and it has a wider gamut than the Apple. Comparing the profiles of my little epson 3880 and my apple monitor I noticed that the printer's gamut was actually bigger, which is a bit of a problem, although in practice not that important and I probably would not have noticed without the gearhead software that makes gamut plots.
I have to admit, I'm a little confused by the statement that Apple's monitors are too saturated. Don't we profile our monitors so they are displaying color (including saturation) within a ballpark tolerance to a known standard?
You should go ask Mike, over at the Online Photographer, for help. You are making prettier and prettier pictures, better be careful!