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Maybe this is a difference in monitors, because the “purple” looks pinkish Magenta on my screen. Nothing like Windstones photos. Now I’m curious which is more accurate. Has anyone taken photos of an amethyst outside, on an overcast day?
I am using a color correct monitor here at work, and the store photos are pretty accurate to the real amethyst dragons. They match what the dragons would look like under natural sunlight. Our amethyst dragons are not the color of the one in mg’s photo, so it is just the lighting she used. On my screen, her dragon is extremely over-saturated (hot pink with a red belly, red wings, and dark purple dorsal scales). However, all screens are different, so I suspect mg’s screen shows colors very unsaturated. This would explain why on her computer our store photos look dull and her over-saturated photographs look accurate.
That makes sense Pam, because he really does not look like the one in the store photo. 😕 Even in natural light he doesn’t look the same as that one. I’m not trying to cause any problems, I’m just stating the fact that I did nothing to change his colors. When I get outdoor photos of him I’ll post them next to the indoor photo and you’ll see what I’m talking about. I use the same exact method when shooting photos of my PYOs and the people that bought them have never told me they look different. *Shrug* I suspect it’s the shade of purple that makes it look different under various lighting conditions? I don’t know.
Machineguts – Are you using an incandescent light bulb as your light source? To me, your image looks orange hued a bit, like from incandescent bulbs versus natural sunlight, compact fluorescent, etc… The store photos look closer to the ones I’ve seen in person (between what I own and what drag0nfeathers has). I also have color correction on my monitors.
I just use regular light bulbs in my lamps, but I’m sure a different style of light would work better for my indoor photos. What kind would you suggest? In the meantime I’ll just post both indoor and outdoor photos of my pieces from now on so you can see them in different light sources.
I can promise 100% I did nothing to change his colors in my photos. I would never do that nor have a need to, especially knowing well that these are production pieces that others will own as well. Concerning monitors, I know my dad’s flat screen monitor as well as my iPhone screen are color corrected and it still looks exactly the same as it does on my monitor at home. I can hold the store photo of the Amethyst Dragon on my iPhone next to the actual sculpture and they look like two completely different shades of purple. The one in person is much richer and deeper than the one in the store photo. Does anyone else here have the Amethyst Dragon? If so, does he look like the one in the store? Because I assure you mine doesn’t. Even Scott agrees and can see the difference, and he’s not even a collector. 😕
One other thing I wanted to add, this the first piece I’ve bought from Windstone that didn’t look the same as it did in the photos (and trust me that’s not a bad thing, I love this guy!), and I’ve bought a lot of Windstones using this monitor. 😆
Machineguts, from what I’ve noticed of all your photos I can remember (please, this is NOT me trying to dog you, just expressing what I see on my monitor), your indoor photos have always leaned towards the yellow and orange, even your PYOs with the “white” backgrounds. Your outdoor photo of your dragon on the Colorado Rockies looked very different than your “glamour” shots of the same dragon. I assumed it was your use of incandescent bulbs/not correcting the white balance like Sib mentioned. I’d offer some suggestions on how to get more color accurate indoor photos, but since on your monitor everything looks “right”, I’d just make everything look “wrong” on your screen. I wonder now how others see my PYOs since I’m learning monitors can vary so much. I’m using a loaner monitor that’s also a TV and I don’t know how to tell if it’s a “color correct” one.
Concerning the original discussion about how my Amethyst Male dragon does not look like the one in the store photo, myself, Scott and several of my friends that saw the piece can see a considerable difference between my dragon and the photo of the dragon in the store, and this is from looking at the store photo on different monitors, not just my own. The actual piece I received is a reddish-orange shade of purple with a generous amount of russet/copper/gold coloring on the wings, while the photo of him in the store displays a muted blueish shade of purple with hardly any warm coloring on the wings at all. Again, this is while looking at the photo on different monitors. It displays those same muted colors on each screen we’ve looked at it.
Some Windstones just seem to vary greatly between being in indoor light versus being outside in natural light. As stated earlier I’ll start posting both indoor and outdoor photos of all my Windstones and PYOs so everyone will get a good idea of how they look in different lighting. Even some of the outdoor photos of eBay pieces people have posted look different from the original auction photos, and forum members here have even posted comments about how they look different. It all comes down to the difference in lighting, just like Jennifer said earlier.
The lights I use are just plain bulbs that come in the multipack cardboard boxes. If anyone has a suggestion as to what kind of bulb would work better for me I would greatly appreciate it, as I sincerely want to improve my indoor photos of these pieces. The bottom line is that colors on monitors will always vary greatly, along with what type of lighting was used when the photo was taken. Case in point, how different the Amethyst Male looked to me in person versus the online store photo.
Totally agree all lighting makes things look different. You said that your Amethyst and PYO indoor photos are accurate to their colors, so I was confused whether you saw a warmer cast (for instance, whites being yellowed or blacks appearing red), or it was just my eyes/monitor that made your photos appear warmer in tone. No offense meant. I’ll keep my observations/questions to myself here on out on this topic =)
Carry on =P
mg: The screens you mentioned are probably not truly color correct, since those sorts of monitors cost hundreds of dollars from what I’ve seen. I’m using an old barco monitor at work (an older version of this: http://www.barco.com/en/product/2267). It must weigh at least 80lbs, if not more. The one in the link weighs about 30lbs. These have special sensors attached that can configure the monitor to show colors and lighting true-to-life. Our camera is also configured to take pictures with very accurate color. I also have a light box next to my monitor with daylight bulbs installed so I can see the pieces in “natural” light and compare them to the photos on the screen at the same time. The color of the photos once on-screen is usually spot-on.
🙂
I have yet to actually see another monitor that correctly displays any of our pictures. On my lcd home monitor, your pictures look much closer to the real thing, even a little under-saturated! My monitor is very bright and shows colors VERY muted. The store photos on my home lcd monitor are very dull. The amethyst dragons look more of a bluish purple, and the yellow and russet on the wings looks like light tan and light plum! The fact that you have compared the store photos on several monitors and found them all to be incorrect in similar ways leads me to suspect that these inaccuracies (warmer, muted colors) may just be standard to most consumer-level screens (the makers of these screens can’t afford to put a thousand dollars worth of technology into something that sells for only one or two hundred dollars!).I understand what you are saying Pam, that makes sense. When I worked at Hallmark they said our monitors were color corrected, but after seeing what type you use I’m not so sure they actually were. I think what has been throwing me with this particular piece is just how different it looks in indoor lighting, in person, versus what I’m seeing in the store photo. This is the first Windstone I’ve purchased that looks dramatically different in varied lighting, even with the light on in my curio cabinet during the day.
Concerning my indoor lighting for photographing these pieces, I’ve already asked several times for ideas on what exact type/brand of light bulb would work best, but rather than receive actual suggestions I keep being reminded of the fact that my indoor photos have a warmer cast to them, which is completely out of my control with the current bulbs I have now, even if I run an auto-levels. In that aspect it’s good that this topic came up, because I never even realized that my indoor photo lighting varies that drastically. If the objective is to help me, can someone please suggest what type/brand of light bulbs I should be using instead so that my indoor photos can be more accurate? And Lokie no offense was taken, I’ve been receptive the entire time. 😕
Amethyst, in the sunlight, shade, and inside. Mine are all version 1, first batch if that makes any difference (which it probably does, since windstone like to randomly change colors/patterns/etc sometimes). And I forgot the young oriental. Oops.
Just so you know, auto level/tone is not fail safe. Sometimes it makes colors absolutely awful. So don’t rely on it too much. Or do it yourself (as in, NOT auto, alter the levels yourself).
In reply to your lighting question. You need a diffuser or diffuser lights. You can’t just use normal light bulbs, or generally it will make every color weird. If I don’t use my diffuser and diffuser bulbs inside, my photos are absolutely awful with terrible colors.
And yes, I too see your photos that you posted of the male are all saturated yellow/orange/red. In fact, he’s not purple at all to me, he’s pink. Have you tried getting pictures of him out in sunlight?
Thank you very much Kujacker, I appreciate your feedback! Here’s what I’ve got:
This is the photo from the store:
Here is the outdoor photo I took of the Amethyst Male today, which looks a lot closer to the store photo than my first one. It is completely unedited, only cropped and resized:
Here is an updated indoor photo of him:
And here is the original photo of him I posted:
I can see a huge difference. I never knew my photos were that altered by the indoor lighting I’ve been using until I bought the Amethyst Male dragon and had this discussion about him. Thank you again for your help. :yes:
Wow what a difference!
Kujacker wrote:And yes, I too see your photos that you posted of the male are all saturated yellow/orange/red. In fact, he’s not purple at all to me, he’s pink. Have you tried getting pictures of him out in sunlight?
The part in purple was why I originally asked about the photos to begin with. I just didn’t word it quite so well.
machineguts wrote:but rather than receive actual suggestions I keep being reminded of the fact that my indoor photos have a warmer cast to them, which is completely out of my control with the current bulbs I have now, even if I run an auto-levels.
If this is in reference to my posts, you never quoted me and mentioned that you saw any yellow cast. You talked around my posts. How can I help you to fix a “problem” if you aren’t even stating directly you “see” a problem. I didn’t want to come off as arrogant trying to tell you how to take better photos if on your monitor there wasn’t an issue to be seen. Maybe my monitor tends towards warmer tones. I have no idea because you didn’t bother to directly say you noticed a warmer cast. I can go on and on about taking indoor photos with daylight bulbs, full spectrum bulbs, Ott Lite HD bulbs (my personal fav), and altering the white balance either pre or post taking a photo (some cameras have functions that let you set the white balance before or after the photo, or you can alter the white balance later in photoshop), but it wasn’t in my place to tell you how to fix something if you didn’t even see the yellow cast in the first place. I’ll just assume now you do see the yellow cast from your most current posts, and hopefully others whose advice you value and welcome more provide the answers you need.
Peace 🙂
Edited to add: Thanks, Kujacker, for the outdoor photos. It’s closer to how I pictured the Amethyst color in my head.
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