Color Correction Using Spyder Checkr Photo

[@philanderearglephotography1912]

Dang! Sal, you're reading minds now! I've been looking for a good video showing the proper way to use a color checker. Spot on. You Da Man!

[@SalCincotta1]

awesome my man!! get at it!!

[@bilfoto]

I absolutely agree that it is very important to have accurate colors in a photo. As a wedding and portrait photographer, I also use a color checker and it is truly my most important and favorite piece of equipment. I use X-rite Color checker passport 2.

[@SalCincotta1]

Absolutely!

[@carlmcneill1139]

This is the best video I've watched so far on using a color checker. I haven't watched them all but you did a great job going into detail on how to use it. The key is consistency across all of your pictures.

[@jshetley2]

This has been SO helpful. I never understood how I was supposed to use the color part of that card or how to create and use the LR profile. Thanks so much for sharing this and making it easy to understand. Can’t wait to start using it!

[@lifedispencervlogs]

Holy shit. I have STRUGGLED with my color correction pre and post ALL THE TIME! Thought maybe i was just dumb and never really for the photography world. By 1/2 of watching this video i saved it and by 3/4 I subscribed! THANK YOU isnt even enough!

[@SalCincotta1]

ty so much!!! this is why we created the channel. happy to help and welcome to the channel.

[@Keith80027]

I can see the changes on her skin and my monitor is color corrected too. Thanks for letting me know the difference in the new color card as I have the older one.

[@jessicagreene8236]

I see it! Looks amazing. I’m sold on getting the Spyder Checkr!

[@SalCincotta1]

Once you see it. You can’t ignore it!!!

[@TimKellysMasterPhotoTechniques]

Spot on. Nice clean production, Sal, enjoyed it. I never shoot without a checker!

[@thomastuorto9929]

Watched this on a for photography calibrated monitor. I can see all the slight shifts in color & saturation you mention. Even thow I don't do the wedding/model thing, I appreciate learning from you mentioning the lighting being different from the back of the church to up by the alter. Good deal.

[@laurak.4918]

Thanks so much for this video, Sal!! You make it easy to understand the basics of how to EFFECTIVELY use the color checker tool. I used to have one and used it a lot at weddings, but I could still never get the colors right afterwards in post. Now I realize why. I was not using the images with it in them in the way you explain in the video. I will be picking up a new color checker (never replaced the old one after losing it at a wedding years ago) now that I finally understand how to effectively use it. Thank you again for explaining and showing us how to use it effectively!!!!! 🙏

[@SalCincotta1]

YOU GOT IT!! Excited for you.

[@jhenry248]

I was just looking into getting a color checker but needed some basic understanding on how to apply it to my photo sessions. You answered all of my questions , thank you.

[@SalCincotta1]

You are so welcome! and its on sale right now... SO GET IT!! :)

[@jhenry248]

@@SalCincotta1 way ahead of you, ordered through your link for B&H. Thank you.

[@onlysublime]

I can't wait to see your spyder video. Because from my experience, I used to use the calibration every time. I would calibrate and then I would edit the images to look the way I want them to look. But then when people viewed my images on their phone or computer (or heck, when I'm looking on my own computer), it looked so wrong. So when I calibrate, I generate an ICS profile. I have to make sure this ICS profile is loaded so my image looks the way I edited. But of course, no one else has this ICS profile so the edited image looks wrong everywhere. Since I had to load this ICS profile all the time (Datacolor said it was a Windows 10 issue; I'm on Windows 11 now so I don't know if the situation was fixed) and since no one else has calibrated displays, I ended up not calibrating at all. If you don't calibrate, then you and everyone is on the standard Windows ICS profile. So when I edit, even though no one is truly calibrated, we all see the image fairly similarly. I don't know if I was doing something wrong but after talking to Datacolor, it seemed like there was nothing I could do.

[@stephensarinana-lampson9305]

Awesome tutorial Sal! Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@SalCincotta1]

ty sir!!

[@lensman5762]

I used to calibrate my Benq monitor at least once a month, using an X-rite calibration device and even build my own printer profiles. I am not so fussy about that now, beause I no longer produce prints for sale. If you are a professional and are or want to deal with product/fashion/editorial photography, then a calibrated/colour corrected workflow is desirable if not essential, but if you are like me now, and only a hobbyist, then your milage will vary.

[@jameldecasseres8638]

Sal you are the man!! Life is good 👍🏾! Thank you for sharing this!!

[@SalCincotta1]

Always!

[@JeffHamonPhotography]

Hey Sal! Great vid! Key phrase that resonated with me: Rabbit Hole. 1:50. "FLIPPING NIGHTMARE" 😄Indeed. It's why I gave up self-printing and worry about clients and potential clients asking why things looked different on their monitor, phone, tablet........ So yeah 20:50 before/after of the jacket made me giggle. But I'm with ya! Flippin' nightmare! Ensō snake! 1- One thing you did not mention, unless I missed it somewhere, --- you didn't mention WHICH WHITE BALANCE you shot the images with. I think that's an important topic/point. Shooting AWB or picking a preset or Kelvin setting vs going "not gonna worry about it, shoot it and post adjust later." 2- Question: the (OUTSTANDING - bridal white in a marble/stone natural light Italian castle walkway? BOOM!) shot of the bride in the "tunnel" - at the 12:00 mark you're applying your Sync'd settings but it looked to me like the before/after WB didn't change from 4050/+22. I saw the exposure points jump but not colour. Did you capture and shoot in an adjusted WB in the field for that shot? 3- And speaking of colour balance - LOVE the shirt combo for your background, good Sir! Checked shirt; man after my own heart. Cheers - thanks again for the continued reminders about "do it right; save time." Time is all we have.

[@SalCincotta1]

lol... glad you love the shirt!! :) gotta have some style you know... :) as for shooting WB... most of the time im in auto WB and then my mind set is fix it in post... the only time i flip to kelvin is when im in studio OR when in a church with jacked up lighting OR when using gels... other than that the camera does a pretty good job of getting close. so its possible that the reason there wasnt much movement on the WB... is the camera was close at time of capture.

[@IrisNelson]

Very helpful - thank you for making this video.

[@henriksorensen1]

Sal - thank you so much for these inspiring videos ! I get it - and will use my colorcheckker more now - definitely

[@SalCincotta1]

You are so welcome!

[@alexswanson4733]

This was an amazing video. I have never know how to use the color checker. I have the old one but was not using it like this. Very informative! My editing is terrible but and this is the first step.

[@SalCincotta1]

ty so much. im right there with you... years ago i purchased it but never understood how to use it - once i figured out how easy it was to add to my workflow - it became part of my every day. enjoy!

[@fireice2585]

You should use the gray card for white balance because the gray patches on the 24-color side of the color checker are not gray in actual values. For example, the reference value for the white patch on those gray patches is (244, 236, 233) under sRGB. There is too much color shift for it to be considered gray.

[@tolik3149]

Sal Thank you!! Great video!! Happy Thanksgiving!

[@SalCincotta1]

Same to you!

[@gergobarta7498]

My biggest issue when editing pictures is that its so hard to be consistent in my style. For example if I edit a picture taken during the golden hour in autumn, it will look very different from a picture taken during the golden hour in summer. I hope this tool will help to get more consistent editing, thank you.

[@SalCincotta1]

i know exactly what you mean... but to me - what you are referring to is image styling... warm tones... cool tones, etc... but the first step shold be getting color right (reds, greens blue, etc) and then getting white balance to neautral. once you do that... you watch... your toning of images will look that much better.

[@jpdj2715]

When you use this tool, the easiest thing it helps you to do is adjust to "neutral" in one click of the eye dropper (almost). You can make that more refined by running a test shot of the reference card through a program that creates an ICC profile file from the shot. The effect of that to the golden hour will be that you loose the golden hour light - it becomes neutral - about what you see on the middle of an overcast spring/fall day in the moderate zones (latitude). This does not come without a problem, because the light in the shade is much more blue than in direct "golden" sunlight and when the WB & tint are adjusted, the colors in the shade become more blue. This works vice versa with the golden hour shade that is very blue, can become neutral and where visible, anything in the golden light will be too yellow. So in this case, the problem is that you do not measure the actual WB and tint of the light you shoot in. If that is what you want, then you shoot a neutral grey card in the light that you want to "measure" and tell your camera to use that grey card as WB/tint correction (it should be a grey card for WB/tint, reference because some cards/targets are only for exposure and not really perfectly grey). The question is if your camera stores the WB and tint correction you now measured in each of the shots. If not, you have to verify what WB/tint correction the camera made with this sequence of shots - you have to repeat the procedure for different light circumstances (lenses, cameras, raw processing software even maybe, etc.) The simple approach is to shift WB/tint in post in a way that to you represents neutral light - like the moderate spring/fall overcast midday light I mentioned before - that may be about 5,000K and your camera should not need a tint correction at that. On your display that may look artificial and way too yellow, so then you identify a point that is to your liking and becomes your standard for the type of shot at hand. Shift WB to a lower value and your image becomes bluer, shift to a higher value and it gets warmer. A reference card may dictate the camera to 2,500 K WB, so shifting to 5,000 K will give an idea of how warm the WB of the light was. If you want to retain the light-atmosphere of the moment, then you should not want to get neutral images, not try to make them all look alike. The point is that the feel of the light changes over each day as well as over the year. The sunrise has its warm light but much cooler than sunset and a more clear sky (less haze). This is purely because the atmosphere in the morning has less moist and dust in it than towards sunset. Over the year, the angle of the sunlight changes and with cooler temperatures the air can hold less moist, so you get much clearer landscapes from this. As long as there is no morning fog or cloud inversion. As to the impact of WB and tint to your raw file: nothing. WB and tint in camera are only meta data. Changing the settings does not change the raw file at all. So if you shoot raw only, then forget about "Auto WB" because it complicates the camera's AI work and the result is meta data only. Set the camera e.g. to Cloudy and you see that most times it looks well when you open your photos. Including flash/strobe. What is smart too, in this reference card context, is to identify tint differences between your cameras.

[@jasonm9787]

You are one of the few that teaches the fundamentals with ease. Thank you for this amazing video.

[@SalCincotta1]

Wow, thank you! I truly appreciate it!

[@cgrosbeck]

Sal great video and the part you talk about other photographers po po on color check is funny THEY JUST DON'T KNOW and have never tried or they think it is to complex to do NOT THE CASE. If not used like you said it will be a nightmare in post!!!! NOTE: never touch the color Checkr patches it will degrade them!!!!!!

[@ckjjclan]

Wow. Thank you.

[@gvasquez330]

I have been using this incorrectly, getting skin tones wrong. Thank you for this useful information and Happy Thanksgiving.

[@SalCincotta1]

You are so welcome!

[@karlweb1]

Thanks Brooklyn I have use the XRite version Is there a difference and if what is it if you know. Awesome video, thank you 😊

[@SalCincotta1]

ty sir. not sure if there is a big difference. for me personally i like the data color eco system. i use them for my monitor calibration, camera calibration, and printer... so its perfect.

[@dbiermanphotog]

Why didn't you adjust the "White" slider to get your white point correct the way you did the "Black" slider for the black point? Seems that would have been more accurate and wouldn't have changed when you later upped the exposure when you added your style to the photo. Referring to the high key photo in the walkway.

[@lavaughnfields853]

ya you do have a point to yes if you are old school we did it with film all the time so this is not some thing new if we as photographer have not been doing this may bee it is with new photographer wine we used film we would alway ask for a color test be four they would process the film ok I used to do weddings but not now. And still do Calibration on monitor and printer as well.

[@jrmandrial]

Thanks!

[@dlands1]

Thanks Sal! I noticed in the 'after' image when you had applied the custom profile, the righthand panel still shows the profile as "Adobe Standard'. I was under the impression that the profile field is whaat would show the custom profile. If that is not the case, where can you see the adjustments the custom profile made and undo any of it if desired? Thanks again.

[@SalCincotta1]

good eye!! it loads a preset on the left side when completed.

[@mhs6305]

Hi can I use the Spyder Checker 24 instead? What is the difference between them? Which one is more accurate? Thanks

[@TroyD-vo1bz]

I do fine art reproduction/giclee' prints. Just curious if the spider Checker can be used as a stand alone program for creating icc profiles for superaccurate color? Typically I'm shooting in raw mode and then converting to 16 bit for final output in Photoshop. In the past I've used very high end cameras such as the betterlight scanning back and associated software, but mine went belly up about a year ago and now using the canon 5DSR. I've been having a hell of a time trying to find software that does good icc profiles.

[@SalCincotta1]

the spider checker alone - no. in order to create an ICC profile thats working towards print and paper types. they have other software for that - so check out their site. keep in mind - most paper manufacturers have their own icc profiles. so you want to make sure your monitors are calibrated so that what you are seeing on your monitor matches (closely) to what is being printed on various paper types. hth.

[@vivianvaldi7871]

Hy there SC. Let's say I didn' hear it. What usually is your WB on set ? Standard Daylight or a Custom ajusted WB ? Do you ever do Custom Ajusted WB in cam or do you stick with the Daylight Preset EVER ?

[@SalCincotta1]

for me... i typically set to kelvin 5000-5500 depending on skin tones.

[@vivianvaldi7871]

@@SalCincotta1 Thx SC... So I'm gessing it's the manual fix with the dial, so preset manufacturer 5000 Kelvin. Not the in cam, through the lens balance set.

[@jonl0711]

Sal thanks for the video, I use the X-rite. Ok our checker and the software, just wondering if there is a version for Capture One?

[@SalCincotta1]

not that i have seen. but thats a great question... makes you wonder if there is a work around. meaning... the software creates a profile thats an xmp... i wonder if that can be imported into capture one... 🤔

[@jonl0711]

@@SalCincotta1 Guess I'll find out when I import the ne from LR to Capture One as I use both products at home and only C1 at the studio. Thanks all the same.

[@benitodelrosario6336]

Mind blown

[@mhs6305]

Thanks for sharing. I'm using the Spyder X calibration device to calibrate my monitor. Should I get the Spyder Checker Photo from Datacolor or Colour Checker Passport from Calibrate?

[@SalCincotta1]

data color.... right... stick with the same brand.

[@mhs6305]

@@SalCincotta1 thanks

[@mhs6305]

@@SalCincotta1 From my previous experience of colour checker passport, once a color profile is created, it is stored in the ACR's "Color Profile" section. Is it the same as Spyder Checkr Photo? Spyder Checkr Photo seems to store the created profiles elsewhere.

[@SalCincotta1]

@@mhs6305 no... it stores it as a preset - i show this in the video.

[@mhs6305]

@@SalCincotta1 I am using Adobe Camera Raw. So you mean just ignore the "profile" section in ACR?

[@brandonperez5629]

Nice so if I go to B&H and buy Syder Checker Photo Color Chart & Spyder X Pro Colorimeter separately, I’m good to go? I don’t need the $400 kit with the bells and whistles?

[@SalCincotta1]

again - depends on what you want... :) i use their full kit for camera calibration, printer calibration, and monitor - so if you are not using all those - then yes - you can just use this chart, but be warned... if you dont calibrate your monitor - the entire thing is pointless.

[@rokg12]

Sal did you notice one detail in your video...shutter speed (exposure was 1/800 1.2 ISO 400 at color checker and on the photo was 1/100 f2.8 ISO 200), I know this is "almost" the same exposure 1/2 stop difference) but if you wants to be really acurate... the exposure should be the same.... or? Do you think that user presets are the same as the image profile? When I use color checker from Xrite then we change profile from let say Adobe standard to user profile generater with the Xrite color checker and not user presets.

[@SalCincotta1]

yes. its the nature of the beast. obviously outdoors or in an uncontrolled environment - exposure will change slightly... only way to fully manage that is by shooting manual which there is ZERO scenario im doing that at a wedding or outdoor session. :) only time i shoot manual is in a controlled environment like my studio - then this is a non-issue. so the only thing you might need to do is adjust exposure slightly to match up... but the color is spot on. does that make more sense? as for xrite... hmm... i think its accomplishing the same thing just in different ways... so it makes sense to me.

[@rokg12]

@@SalCincotta1 Ok, I agree with you. Shoot in studio is differnt than outdor photography (wedding). You lear me something anyway... how to set neutral exposure - white RGB 90percent and black RGB 5 percent.... good tip. thanks

[@SalCincotta1]

@@rokg12 you got it my man!!!

[@mrstudios010]

After white balance before color adjustment looks better than after of preset. Made her green and weird. Tinting just seems like defeating the product and that the checker is wrong. I use a different brand card and I don't have this issue.

[@SalCincotta1]

i will respectfully disagree with you. remember - your looking at a color corrected image in video that has then had an export lut applied and then compressed for upload - so that always has to be allowed for. as someone who has been doing this for years... i assure you - the color correction process - calibrated monitor, to preset to final print is on point.

[@mrstudios010]

@@SalCincotta1 I can agree with you or disagree. Being respectful is always right. I wish I could see the prints, and what other factors you are working with that makes this calibration work for you. If it's working for you, use it, live by it. Have a great morning.

[@jamespalmer5564]

​@SalCincotta1 HI,I am a amateur photographer in Greece, I just seen your video and got convinced to purchase the spyder checker. But the method you start with is faulty. Take the picture, crop it ,send it to spyder checker software without any adjustments. Then when you open your software do the adjustments, then copy paste to all images taken in the same scene to get the correct software adjustments. You can thank me later. But think of the process, because it took me all but 3 minutes to troubleshoot. I also did the process as you teach kn the video ,and it downgraded my pictures to a more pastel and muted. The reason is you tell the software that I want you to take this image amd bring it up to speed amd colorcorrect. Then when you start the procedure in your photoediting app,it will then apply the correct colors from start to end . You explain it beautifully and with great precision. ,not at the right time though. Do the same adjustments after you reopen the photoediting software, saves you the headache.

[@landontritt6631]

Ive gotten to the point of my career where i want to be very accurate with color and didn’t know how to use the color chart so thank you. I do have one important question. I have specific presets i like to use and then tweak from there. Once you do all this and then add a preset wouldn’t that just change it all to being off again?

[@SalCincotta1]

great question - to me this comes down to workflow. so my presets are all based on a balanced image. so, the first thing i do is get color right then apply presets. (so my saved preset would include a balanced base) if that makes any sense. but you are correct.. if you dont find a workflow like that then the minute you apply one it would wipe out... HOWEVER... keep in mind, you really want your monitor balanced or no matter what you are looking at is off any way. thanks for watching!!

[@landontritt6631]

That makes since! So the best thing for me to do is calibrate my monitor, then color check and correct all the colors, black and white points. Then do some note things and make a preset from that!

[@artursandwich1974]

How less effective would it be if in this high key shot I used a spot on the dress for my white point, the darkest part of her hair as my black point, and say a shady part and f the dress for my grey point? How much off would I be?

[@SalCincotta1]

hmm interesting question... im not really sure., but ic ant imagine it being accurate at all. because there is a reason you are using black, white and 18% grey. that is not possible using random colors.

[@artursandwich1974]

@@SalCincotta1 I'm not talking random colors - the dress is definitely white and it's on location just like the card. But while the card may be held in a random position getting the correct general light, the dress is where it should be and only you know which bit of it you want to be the 100 (or 90)% white. You also got to black as 90% so the darkest bit in hair still seems to be it. While I understand why you're pushing for the Spyder card, I'm still pretty certain often various things on location can be used. Just wondering how far off they would be.

[@SalCincotta1]

@@artursandwich1974 understood. I still can’t tell you how far off because a white dress is not pure white no matter how much you think it is. Sheen, wrinkles etc all change how white balance is reflected. What if the dress is slightly off white? And remember this is white balance you’re talking about but none of that addresses actual colors like reds and blues and greens. Which is part of what this does. And for that I would say based on my experience very far off. :)

[@artursandwich1974]

@@SalCincotta1 Oh, yes. Color balancing would be extremely difficult. 😉. I'm not saying I don't see the use or benefits of the card. My questions rather rise from a low budget and always looking for alternatives for what I can't afford (and yes, I know it's an investment into a betterment). And I've found a very interesting alternative (naturally not perfectly accurate - white is a few points off, but colors are spot on, checked with calibration tools) - it's a set of 48 aquarelle paints, roughly the size of the card, from a renowned producer of those. But I guess the card is on my shopping shortlist, anyway. Thank you for your kind replies.

[@SalCincotta1]

@@artursandwich1974 gotcha gotcha. I’ve found color temp can be very subjective. The most important thing to do is calibrate your monitor. Becuse without that all this is pointless. I find Mac monitors to be extremely cool in temp. And I used a monitor calibration tool and it blew my mind the difference. That’s when I because a huge believer in this.

[@FerroDuque]

If you can calibrate your photos after touching the colorchekr with your fingers, it is because the premise that colors change with the oil on your hands is false.

[@mrstudios010]

Sal, that's why I stopped shooting Canon. Fighting color balances every slight change seemed to be a waste of time. I switched to Fuji and Nikon

[@SalCincotta1]

i think every platform has its color challenges... just gotta work around them. :)

[@Daniel_DP83]

you should not touch the color patterns! 😞

[@mordavian]

Great tool but lifespan is only 2 years unfortunately.

[@mabdelsattar9768]

this is stupid old software Calibrite ColorChecker Passport Photo 2 is better