I started this job where I take photos of clothes for a brand’s website, e-commerce stuff, white background.
I am having a really difficult time matching the colors of the clothes to the colors of real life.what I do is shoot raw, white balance mood is flash.and in Photoshop I play with color balance, saturation… until I get the color I want.it can take me about an hour to reach the right color for each piece and it can be really exhaustingbut I am pretty sure there is an easier way, or some tips to make it easier for me.
I edit on my MacBook Pro 2017 13-inch retina display, color LCD.
I don’t use a gray card because I shoot raw so I believe I won’t need it (correct me if I am wrong).
I try to pick a gray spot in the photo to adjust the white balance but it’s not enough.
for lighting, I use two strobe lights from both sides, pointing down to the object.
I don’t use a gray card because I shoot raw so I believe I won’t need it (correct me if I am wrong).
You need a Color target.
If you really want accuracy you also need to calibrate your display, and have the target in each shot.
But if your lights are consistent, you only need to really make a target for the specific lens/camera/lights you are using. Note the WB from that target, and always set it to the same
And you can simply apply it, and it will be pretty good as long as you don’t really mess with the colors.
I don’t use a gray card because I shoot raw so I believe I won’t need it (correct me if I am wrong)
YOU’RE WRONG! Ok you shoot RAW… how will you know what is neutral? THAT’S WHAT THE GRAY CARD IS FOR! You shoot a gray card in one of your shots under the same lighting as everything else, then IN RAW you set the white balance on the gray card. If the “gray spot” you choose in the photo is a hint yellow then your photo will be a hint blue, if it’s a hint green your photo will be a hint purple. You use a gray card cause you know it’s gray. You also can use the gray card to help set your exposure.
When processing you can also try to set RAW to Natural/Faithful as opposed to standard or vivid which will try to keep the processor from over saturating colors.
Use a color checker and get physical swatches of the product.
Use the grey card. Lightroom knows what color that grey card exactly is. So when you point it out to Lightroom it will set the white balance to be exact color that grey card should be therefore setting the rest of the colors to the exact colors according to the grey card. You can set the correct colors in 2 seconds instead of adjusting for hours
Color is complicated
A color target
I always shoot with a color correcting card (more accurate than just a gray card) and calibrated monitor. Doing it by eye is never going to give you the same results.
You don’t need a gray card if you don’t care about color accuracy. And you don’t need to care about color accuracy… unless you’re doing something like product photography.
Then you really need a gray card and a calibrated display.
Buy an Xrite or Calibrite color checker. Go create a profile for your lens and lighting setup. Boom. You have scientifically correct colours now.
yes, I like the Xrite Color Passport. No reason not to always have in your bag. I also like some of the additional features like incremental warming and cooling patches when neutral isn’t what you are going for.
A grey card is a great place to start my friend
Shoot tethered on capture one / lightroom ( I prefer capture one).
Use a colorchecker or grey card to have a good start and pick white balance.
Start shooting and if you see some colours that aren’t right (usually greens, pinks, reds), shoot the outfit and adjust one of the pictures immediately after using the color wheel (I use the advanced wheel on Capture One) and apply to the rest of the images of that outfit.
Shoot next outfit.