Changing a shade of green

hark

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Yesterday while at a park, I took a number of photos that contain a variety of shades of green. Unfortunately many of the shades are hideous and I'm having trouble adjusting them. I believe the problem may be due to the CP filter I'm using. I tend to watch the blues more than the greens which may be the reason why the greens are so ugly. I'm using a B+W 67mm Circular Polarizer MRC Filter which I believe is this one.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000BZL83/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Here is one example. This is a SOOC jpeg that is only resized with no additional post processing done although I have tried edting the NEF version of it. I've tried changing the color temperature, tint, and even adjusted the luminance, saturation, and hue sliders for greens while in Camera RAW.

028 resize.jpg


And here is a dropbox link for the NEF of this same photo. https://www.dropbox.com/s/exfpmynjabscndi/028.NEF?dl=0

I'm looking for pointers on how to change the greens to less putrid shades because they are literally butt-ugly. :beguiled: Any help will be GREATLY appreciated because this is affecting a number of images. Thanks! ;)
 
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Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
Yesterday while at a park, I took a number of photos that contain a variety of shades of green. Unfortunately many of the shades are hideous and I'm having trouble adjusting them. I believe the problem may be due to the CP filter I'm using. I tend to watch the blues more than the greens which may be the reason why the greens are so ugly. I'm using a B+W 67mm Circular Polarizer MRC Filter which I believe is this one.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/9776-REG/B_W_66_044842.html

Here is one example. This is a SOOC jpeg that is only resized with no additional post processing done although I have tried edting the NEF version of it. I've tried changing the color temperature, tint, and even adjusted the luminance, saturation, and hue sliders for greens while in Camera RAW.

And here is a dropbox link for the NEF of this same photo. https://www.dropbox.com/s/exfpmynjabscndi/028.NEF?dl=0

I'm looking for pointers on how to change the greens to less putrid shades because they are literally butt-ugly. :beguiled: Any help will be GREATLY appreciated because this is affecting a number of images. Thanks! ;)
Is this better? It's a real quick and dirty adjustment...

What I Did:

Opened a Levels Adjustment layer in PS.
On the "RGB" drop-down menu I clicked on "Green" to select the Green channel.
From there I adjusted the Mid-Tones slider.
I also adjusted the Mid-Tones slider for the "Blue" channel.
The Levels Adjustment layer automatically applies a White layer mask so I used the Pen tool and a big, black brush to mask out everything below the greenery at the top. Total time required: About one minute.
.....
028.jpg


.....
Option 2:

Open a Hue Saturation Adjustment layer.
Adjust the Hue slider to +30.
Use that same big, black brush via the Pen tool on the White adjustment layer to paint over everything below the green forest-y stuff at the top (this pic actually shows a +35 adjustment on the Hue/Saturation layer, but I think a +30 adjustment looks better. You'll just have to experiment).
....
028-2.jpg
 
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hark

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Is this better?

I opened a Levels Adjustment layer in PS.
On the "RGB" dropdown menu I clicked on "Green"
From there I adjusted the Mid-Tones slider.
I also adjusted the Mid-Tones slider for the "Blue" channel.
The Levels Adjustment layer automatically applies a White layer mask so I used the Pen tool and a big, black brush to mask out everything below the greenery at the top.
.....
View attachment 224718

It's better than what I came up with yesterday which is this after cropping:

028 low res.jpg


What did you do to get to that shade? Everything I was coming up with had a green tint to it, but when I moved the tint slider towards the magenta side, then the greens started to take on a pinkish cast.
 

hark

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Oops...sorry, now I see your directions on what you did, Fish. :eek: I need to look into those channel sliders. Thanks!
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
Oops...sorry, now I see your directions on what you did, Fish. :eek: I need to look into those channel sliders. Thanks!
No problem. Post again if you run into problems or have questions. I'm stuck here processing anyway... :D

And if it's not too late I just found using +30 on the Hue slider AND -25 on the Saturation slider looks REALLY good. At least here on my monitor! :D
 
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Blacktop

Senior Member
In LR. Pulled highlights all the way down. bumped exposure a half a stop, upped the shadow slider a touch.

Played with the green channel some, but the yellow and orange channel had more effect on the trees then the green channel.

Then I just added some sharpening in PS unsharp mask and that was it . I don't know if this is what you wanted, but it's always nice to play with someone else's RAW file.:)

Oh yea, almost forgot. I also added some contrast.

028-Edit.jpg
 
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hark

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In LR. Pulled highlights all the way down. bumped exposure a half a stop, upped the shadow slider a touch.

Played with the green channel some, but the yellow and orange channel had more effect on the trees then the green channel.

Then I just added some sharpening in PS unsharp mask and that was it . I don't know if this is what you wanted, but it's always nice to play with someone else's RAW file.:)

View attachment 224723

Thanks, Pete. I like this one better than mine, too. ;) I've watched videos of editing with channels but it isn't something I've ever tried (and not much with masks like Fish mentioned either). I need to jump in because not using them is only limiting my abilities.
 

Blacktop

Senior Member
Thanks, Pete. I like this one better than mine, too. ;) I've watched videos of editing with channels but it isn't something I've ever tried (and not much with masks like Fish mentioned either). I need to jump in because not using them is only limiting my abilities.

In LR it's easy. Here is a screen shot of what I did with the colors .
 

hark

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I will look through my camera bags to see if I have any other 67mm circular polarizer. The one I'm using might be from back in the late 1990's although I'm not sure. [MENTION=13090]Horoscope Fish[/MENTION] if I get a Hoya CP filter, is there anything you can suggest for under $100? I like using my hood so I want to stick with 67mm.
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
I will look through my camera bags to see if I have any other 67mm circular polarizer. The one I'm using might be from back in the late 1990's although I'm not sure. [MENTION=13090]Horoscope Fish[/MENTION] if I get a Hoya CP filter, is there anything you can suggest for under $100? I like using my hood so I want to stick with 67mm.
Absolutely. This is my CPL of choice: Hoya HD CPL (67mm).
 

hark

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cwgrizz

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@hark, Just a quick question. You said you like to use your hood with the CPL. How do you adjust it? You probably have much smaller fingers than I do. Ha!
 

hark

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@hark, Just a quick question. You said you like to use your hood with the CPL. How do you adjust it? You probably have much smaller fingers than I do. Ha!

There is no quick adjustment. I remove the hood, aim the camera in the direction I am shooting, adjust the filter while looking through the lens, put the hood back on, and I'm ready to shoot--usually done while hand holding the camera. And yes, I really do it this way.

If I didn't use a hood, then I could easily remedy the color issue I'm experiencing by simply using a step up ring and a different CP filter that I already own in a larger size. ;)
 
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