Canon R - images appearing dull after uploading to iPhoto

[megansegale]

Hello,

I recently switched from a 6D mark II camera to the mirrorless r camera. I have enjoyed using the canon r but the pictures I take appear dull and faded once I upload them to iPhoto. I never had a problem with image quality or richness of color with my old camera. I am so frustrated. I figured the r was a better camera and I am really feeling like I should go back to dslr and this point because I can't seem to figure out what I am doing wrong. All of my camera settings are fine- it's something not the editing side. Can someone help!? 

I've included an untouched photo that I took today - so bland. ew. 

[kvbarkley]

Do you have the camera set for the adobeRGB colorspace?

Raw or JPEG? Does it happen to the other?

[rs-eos]

This particular image has an incorrect white balance.  If you've captured it in RAW, you can adjust in post to set it to a correct value.  If you captured in JPEG, it will be more difficult.

Do capture in RAW going forward if you haven't already been doing that.  White balance isn't baked into RAW like it is for JPEG.  That allows you to set the white balance to any value later on.   Still, it's good to get close in camera by either using Auto White Balance (AWB), or one of the presets to match the current scene.

[Waddizzle]

This image looks overexposed.  I would use 1-pt (center) AF, One Shot AF mode, and Evaluative Metering for this type of shot.

[megansegale]

I do have the camera in adobe RGD and in raw. Its also is auto white balance, but I am not getting rich color. What am I missing?

[megansegale]

I appreciate your help. I noticed I wasn't shooing in AWB. So I have changed that now and it made a difference, however, still missing the richness of color. Can you tell me what picture setting you set your camera to? Neutral, standard, portrait... etc? and whichever one you like in particular, what are the specific settings? 

[rs-eos]

I personally use a picture style of "Faithful".

In terms of colors, I mostly use the camera presets or a specific Kelvin value.  For cases where I need the most accurate colors in the final image, I'll take a photo of a color chart.   If I end up moving to a different location, or lighting changes, I'll take anoother photo of a color chart.

All captured photos are imported into Adobe Lightroom where lens corrections are applied.  I'll then edit my favorites in either Lightroom or if warranted, Photoshop.   And, for those where I worked with a color chart, I'll create appropriate presets to apply to those images associated with the color chart image.

Regarding the lack of richness in color... it is probably due to what Waddizle mentioned earlier; overexposure.  I estimate this particular photo of yours being between 1/2 to a full stop overexposed.

[stevet1]

Megansegale,

When I was first learning, I was using AWB. I was frustrated because my photos were looking washed out or whited out.

When I switched to one of the presets, my photos became much richer in color. I found that if you want to emphasize the cooler blues and yellows, use Daylight. If you want to emphasize the warmer greens and reds, use Cloudy.

On my T8i, Daylight is 5200 K, and Cloudy is 6000K. I do a out 90% of my shooting around 5400K.

For this particular shot, I would meter off the skin tone of the little boys face, or the green grass. If the white wall gets washed out, you haven't lost much. It really doesn't add much to the picture anyway. It's the boy and his balloons that count.

Steve Thomas

[johnrmoyer]

You have a good reply here from @rs-eos . It seems to me you are doing the right thing by exposing for what is important in the scene.

I have the camera set to use the "standard" picture style, but I have also used "faithful" and I use auto white balance in the camera. I have the camera set to save both raw and JPEG and usually change the white balance in the free to download Canon DPP program. The Apple photos.app also seems to me to work well with Canon raw files. The key is that the raw file allows one to change the white balance later after the photo has been made. The in camera JPEG provides a preview.

The Canon DPP software will enable you to recover highlights and extend the dynamic range slightly.

https://cam.start.canon/en/S002/manual/html/UG-04_EditImage_0040.html#EditImage_0050_11

[kvbarkley]

You don't want AdobeRGB unless your workflow supports it, which it obviously doesn't. You want sRGB.