High Sierra Topix

Amused by the discussion about the cyan snow.

I''ll make some general web comments. The web is awash in posted images that are off in color. Uncalibrated digital cameras both compact and DSLR *(including RAW) tend to have only modest color accuracy because users have little interest in natural color so manufacturers have little incentiven to bother, but rather seek contrasty saturated striking color in order to impress other web viewers. Additionally even most photographers have never bothered to carefully study the color of natural elements in natural light so tend to have little developed mediocre ability to tell what is and what is not natural. And its impossible to have to "recall" hours or days later what one had actual captured so with digital cameras it all becomes "in one's mind's eye" aka "play with the Photoshop sliders". At least with some films like EPN100, Provia, Astia, or even the the old Kodachrome, color captured is reasonably accurate, thus photogs of the previous generation could learn from their own body of work. For those who wish to start understanding light and color, a good paperback on natural color and cheap at Amazon is M. Minnaert's classic "The nature of Light & Color in the open air".

For evaluating color on web posted images, a very useful tool is a "color picker" that can sample pixels of anything displayed on one's desktop including that snow. Even on serious photog boards it is occasionally laughable to come across threads where posters go on and on disputing some color when one mouse click could have instantly settled whatever issue. There are dozens of freeware aps one can download that include that functiion that can sample anything displayed on one's screen. I would highly recommend mwsnap that is mainly a small screen capture tool that keeps out of the way on one's desktop but also has a simply picker. In order to be able to reasonably evaluate what is on one's screen, calibrating one's monitor with a colorimter or spectrophotometer puck with sw is of course another necessity.

David
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Hi David

Yes, I stuck with Kodachrome well into the age of Velvia much to my detriment. I refused to accept the warm color palate. I was finally convinced to shoot Velvia when it was what the editors wanted.

Of course the films you mention would only be "accurate" with a light source close to 5500K. The scene in mention shot on any of those films would render a cyan cast due to the fact that the light source was on the cooler side of the spectrum; hence the need (personal preference) of a warming filter.

Since the eye/brain adjusts for such changes automatically we find ourselves trying to emulate that on our final image through filtration or WB. A color picker will show if, in this case the snow, is cyan. What it won't tell you is if it should be. So should snow be slightly blue in the shade? It comes down to personal preference I suppose.

I didn't know you could use a color picker in general applications, I've used it in PS so that's good info.

John

Hello John,

Actually cyan blue casts on both the relatively color neutral films I mentioned or at least on compact digital cameras I've owned have been slight even from say blue sky morning shadows. During most hours of a day in the field, light is not ideal so it is during those off periods say midday or early and late in shadows when I habitually ramble about exploring landscapes for prospective shots. Thus I've shot informational shots during such off hours for years and have thousands of such info pics. I would challenge anyone to wander about a snowy landscape in such shadows and take a careful look at the color one's eye percieves. It will indeed look rather white with just a very slight bluish cast. Although the human eye adjusts to various color temperatures, if one is purposely aware of light it is easy to notice such casts in the field. Much like sitting indoors under incandescent light. Yeah pages on a book appear white until one with purpose reflects with how yellow cast they actually are. Note I've also been an avid alpine skier for three decades and have carried small cameras throughout those years.

Exactly!

JD