Never able to get COLORS right in images!!

[mary896]

Hello everyone, it's been a while!!
I should have asked this YEARS ago....but I take a ton of images for my small biz website. And I have NEVER gotten multiple colors to appear anywhere close to accurate. Especially the saturated hues or deeply toned hues of ANY color. Blue, green, purple, red...they all look like 1/2 of what they should look like in depth and rich tones. AND this has happened with all of my smart phones (all android). I've tried messing with the ISO, etc. Nothing works. To get anywhere NEAR the ballpark of something I can work with (and it still usually won't work) I have resorted to taking all of these product pics at dusk, outside and then still needed to do a ton of image editing. It's ridiculous. I'll attach pics of one I took and one that's actually accurate that I copied online of the exact same item. BTW, I took my pic with blinds almost closed and no direct light at all. And it's still washed out blue...and purple colors are even worse.

I'd absolutely LOVE any ideas or advice. Or is this just 'normal'? That would be tragic.
Thank you, thank you...
Mary in Oregon

 

[Hadron]

To be honest, getting colours accurate across the whole gamut is difficult - even real camera manufacturers often struggle with it. Worse yet, many people don't actually want accurate colours: they prefer images that are brighter, have more saturation, higher contrast, more "pop" than an accurate image would have, and phone manufacturers often cater to this.

Basically there are 4 solutions here:

1) Use the controls your phone's camera app offers. These vary between phones: my previous Pixel 2 basically let you control the degree of HDR and, erm, that was about it. My current Galaxy s21 is pretty similar, but does also include a "pro" mode with more user control (exposure & colour temperature for example).

If your camera app has the option to shoot raw you will have more lassitude for adjusting things in post-processing (and the price of post-processing being obligatory, but then it sounds like it is already for you).

2) Try a different camera app and see if it works better.

3) Try a different phone: different manufacturers take different approaches here, e.g. Google tend to be a bit more restrained than Samsung (though Samsung are better than they used to be). But don't expect night and day: best advice would be to look at review samples from the phone you consider before buying.

4) Buy a real camera rather than relying on a phone. You won't get the same computational photography options that the best smartphones have built-in, but a larger sensor collects a lot more light in each exposure, which means a wider dynamic range.

 

[mary896]

Some great advice here Hadron, I've tried 2 of the 4 things mentioned. I do wonder if buying an actual camera will be the thing to solve color issues. But I fear it will be yet another waste of time and money. BUT it is certainly worth thinking about. I beleive I've tried another camera app on a previous phone with the exact same results, however I haven't done so recently. I'll give that a go first, just in case it works. I don't hold hope, but it MIGHT work. Dang, I knew this was probably not fixable....I sure hoped though.

I'll keep trying and I greatly appreciate these ideas. Who knows? Never give up, never surrender!!!

 

[mikedt]

Besides what's already been said about using a real camera, e.g. a DSLR with a good lens, like a Nikon, or Canon, or Sony, etc. Adequate subject lighting is very important as well. Like using lights that are designed for photography, instead of just relying on the whatever it is room lights and/or what comes in through the windows.

This seems to be a good tutorial for taking great pictures of smaller objects. like craft items. With emphasis on the lighting.
https://www.craftprofessional.com/how-to-light-product-photography.html

 

[mary896]

I knew the right kind of lighting plays a huge part in how colors appear in images. BUT I've tried everything I can think of from different bulbs (every kind available!!) to natural and indirect and morning and night and dusk and dawn. Ugh. It's starting to sound like I need to buy an actual camera. I've had an online retail store for 22 years and I used to use a digital camera in those early days. I don't remember WHAT my pics used to look like way back then. I just hate spending more money when I HAVE a camera. Oh well. Sounds like I might have to....Thank you for your help mikedt!!!

 

[mikedt]

I know lighting can be important. I'm often taking pictures from colour pages in textbooks to put into my PPTs for lessons, using only a Samsung Note20 Ultra phone camera. And I always do it towards the middle of the day, when the light coming in from the window is suitable, or else I go outdoors and do it. As the room lights in my apartment are compact fluorescent, which gives awful results with the phone camera.

I guess I could buy a document scanner, instead of using the phone.

 

[mary896]

FLUORESCENTS...OMG. Nothing good ever comes from fluorescent lighting! )

 

[Milo Williamson]

Some great advice here Hadron, I've tried 2 of the 4 things mentioned. I do wonder if buying an actual camera will be the thing to solve color issues. But I fear it will be yet another waste of time and money. BUT it is certainly worth thinking about. I beleive I've tried another camera app on a previous phone with the exact same results, however I haven't done so recently. I'll give that a go first, just in case it works. I don't hold hope, but it MIGHT work. Dang, I knew this was probably not fixable....I sure hoped though.

I'll keep trying and I greatly appreciate these ideas. Who knows? Never give up, never surrender!!!

It all depends on the eye.