Male Yellow Warbler - Memories of Spring

[Stephen Stephen]

I created this image last spring. It's been so coll here lately that I decided to re-visit some of last years images.


Canon EOS 40D, Sigma 50-500mm at 500mm, 1/250 seconds, F 7.1, ISO 400, with fill flash. Some branches near the head cloned out. Cropped to about 40% of full frame.

I like the head turn. I would have preferred a better perch but this is where he landed. The BG now seems to have some noise but it was fine before I saved for the web. Perhaps ait could also do with a touch of selective sharpening on the head.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

YOur image seems to have held up wel for such big crop. Not knowing the exact colors, I feel it looks a bit too yellow, but am happy to be corrected. Love this bird with the brown streaks on the belly and black on the wings. Nice pose and a slightly more away turned head would have worked better for me. Not keen on the branch behind it but that's what was there so really not an issue. Thanks for sharing. :)

[Kim Rollins]

Hi Stephen,
I certainly concur with Ákos in regards to the color cast. When the image is entered into software where one can see the Color Histogram I read that histogram to read that there is yellow color cast in both the shadows and highlights of the image. Of course once the cast and its location is determined it is up to the photographer to decide if the color cast is desirable or not and what technique (of many) is to be use to correct if correction is decided upon.

That said and with an image such as this (and as if it were mine) I would be more inclined to want to correct yellow cast in the shadows then the bird because I think the bird as well as some of the back ground has lots of highlights that should have some yellow cast. Histogram reads yellow color cast to the shadows and it looks like they may not belong so work on the shadow cast in Adjustment Layer Color Balance> check shadows and work it. Histogram reads yellow color cast to the Highlights but some may be desirable so work on the highlights separately in another layer.

[Stephen Stephen]

Thank you Akos and Kim, I must admit that my Photoshop capabilities are extremely limited so I hope that this re-work is more in the direction that you were trying to steer me.

[Kim Rollins]

Thank you Akos and Kim, I must admit that my Photoshop capabilities are extremely limited so I hope that this re-work is more in the direction that you were trying to steer me.

Yes you have gone in the right direction with the removal of the Y cast in the darks. Good job.

Should you go further? That is up to you as it was you who saw the bird, the scene, etc. Unfortunately our cameras do not capture what we see. They can not as the technology does not exist. Our eyes do instant Photoshop if you will and so if we wish to have an image of something close to what we see at the time of imaging then manipulation of what the camera has captured becomes necessary. Unfortunately a not so perfect thing enters the equation with that being our memory.

I was not there, I did not see the bird or the scene so I have no memory of it. I just have a guess and that is all. Guessing I think maybe some of the yellow cast left in the highlights may be corrected. I know without guessing some of it belongs, or at least with a name like Yellow Warbler I certainly assume so. :D

That said and only for your consideration here is a rework of you image with both ends of the spectrum corrected for some yellow cast. I may be way off here :( and this is only for your consideration. (I do realize working on this small file I accented some noise. I did not try to deal with that)

[Kim Rollins]

Color casts can be a bit tricky as we may think we see a certain color cast and it is really not the color we suspect. In the light side of an image an absence or lacking of one color may look like a cast of the opposite color. I can prove that by changing color modes in PS and we even have to consider this all light color vs dark colors when reading the Color Histogram. Reading that histogram takes practice but also some understanding of it and colors too. Once we discover that we have a color cast in the darks or lights then we as the photographers have to decide, "Is that color cast desirable or is it not desirable?

and "If the color cast is not desirable what technique shall we use to correct it?"
The technique that should be use is image dependent. One technique will work very well on one and one the next it may not be the best technique to use. There are many techniques for use and ... experiment, experiment, experiment.

I have a little tutorial up in a gallery I made for someone. I have not revisited it for some time, it is on reading Color Casts with the use of reading the Color Histogram. That reading must be learned from practice and this all work better on one image then others but if learned it is a powerful and helpful tool. The tutorial is a bit rough being in a pBase gallery (needs remodeled), I used and image with a definite color cast for example too, but you are welcome to take a look if you wish and have the interest

http://www.pbase.com/kwr_01/tutorial__color_cast