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Photography Question 

Melissa A. Mannon
 

Why is my purple blue?


 
 
originally titled "Pale Purple", this photo does not look very purple right out of the camera or off the printer. I originally thought the problem was my monitor. I used custom white balance to get the shot. What did I do wrong? Why is the color untrue?


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December 02, 2005

 

Brendan Knell
  Just a guess, try doing it again but underexpose then overexpose it a little, and it may help. Also, try playing with different white balances.


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December 02, 2005

 

Melissa A. Mannon
  Hi everyone. My mother, who is an avid orchid grower was actually able to answer this for me. Apparently, in the orchid world, there is a term called "botanical blue". This is a shade of purple that turns out blue when you photograph it. It is very difficult to get it to appear as it truly is, if not impossible. If anyone has more knowledge about this, the information would be much appreciated. I guess my flower falls into this "botanical blue" category.


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December 04, 2005

 

Nobu Nagase
  Blue/purple (purple/blue) colors are very sensitive to the types of lighting (warm or cold) and the direction of the light. If this is the case for you, experiment with the lighting to obtain true colors ("close to the true colors") of the flower.

I posted a photo earlier here at BP, an image of African Violet (dark purple/blue color). I added a second image of the same shooting showing the color difference between the two images where the slight difference in the camera position made the color differences. Another BP member commented about some fact about the blue colors.


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December 04, 2005

 

Jay Soldner
  Purples are always hard to shoot acurately. It's the same as shooting a sporting event where a team has a purple jersey. No matter what white balance tricks you do (while shooting) - the purple records closer to blue than purple. You can certainly fix your pictures in photoshop. There are several ways, just play around and find what works best for you.


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December 04, 2005

 
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