Color-blindness and photography

[Romy Ocon]

I'm acutely color-blind and can't distinguish the greens from the reds, the blues from the violets, etc. It makes color photography more complicated, but this doesn't stop me from enjoying this activity. :)

I shoot in RAW and enlist the aid of "color consultants" (my wife or 11-year old son) when setting the WB during conversion. They look at the color plates from an illustrated bird guide and ask shooting info like lighting conditions, and then they decide which WB setting looks right. Sometimes, I "protest" that the choice of WB is too warm or too cold and they review it. Once we have a unanimous WB choice, I take over the PP work. :D

Just wondering if there are color-challenged folks here too? I'm curious on how you get around this when post-processing.

Regards,

Romy

[George DeCamp]

Hey Romy!

Welcome to the color blind club! :)

Yep, same as you Reds and Greens and others as well. Actually I stay far away from tweaking colors just levels and sharpness type fixes of my RAW files.To give you some encouragement in late October 2007 I had a Highly Commended image in the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest in London. So is it a annoyance to be color blind, YES :(

...is it a show stopper...Nope! ;)

Make sure your monitor is calibrated and enjoy!

[Jim Poor]

Wow, interesting thread! I'm not color blind myself, but I played snooker with a guy who was. I had to tell him where the brown ball was because he couldn't distinguish it from red.

As for photography, could you use a gray card or other neutral source to help automate the WB? I realize that in nature photography,one can't always go out an set up the card, but there are a lot of situation in which I would think you could.

On an unrelated note, for years I sought my wife's advice in matching clothes, turns out she (yes, it is rare for women, but . . .) is partially colorblind :O

[Romy Ocon]

Hey Romy!

Welcome to the color blind club! :)

Yep, same as you Reds and Greens and others as well. Actually I stay far away from tweaking colors just levels and sharpness type fixes of my RAW files.To give you some encouragement in late October 2007 I had a Highly Commended image in the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest in London. So is it a annoyance to be color blind, YES :(

...is it a show stopper...Nope! ;)

Make sure your monitor is calibrated and enjoy!

Thanks for sharing, George.... it's encouraging to know that topnotch wildlife photography is still doable inspite of the condition. I also approach PP like you said - no adventurous color tweaking, just levels and sharpness. I'm running a hardware-calibrated LCD (I use Monaco Optix) so my "consultants" can see the colors better. :)

Romy

[Romy Ocon]

Wow, interesting thread! I'm not color blind myself, but I played snooker with a guy who was. I had to tell him where the brown ball was because he couldn't distinguish it from red.

As for photography, could you use a gray card or other neutral source to help automate the WB? I realize that in nature photography,one can't always go out an set up the card, but there are a lot of situation in which I would think you could.

On an unrelated note, for years I sought my wife's advice in matching clothes, turns out she (yes, it is rare for women, but . . .) is partially colorblind :O

Lol, Jim..... I once had a favorite pair of gray socks. It was only when these were worn out that I learned they're pink. :D

I sometimes carry with a me a white jar cap and when the situation allows it, I place the cap near the area where I just photographed a bird. I take a "calibration shot" and use this for "click WB" during RAW conversion. :)

Romy