Calling all skin tones

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I think it's time to feature skin tones in a big way, and to kick this off, I'd like to start another class focussed on skin tones.  If you have one or more images with skin tones that need improvement, please post them to this thread.  I'd like to include it in the next curvemeister class, which centers on skin tones.

The images should belong to you, and I would like to have your permission to use the image for both the class, and possible use in tutorials, examples of skin tone pinning, and featured in other ways at the curvemeister.com web site.

Mike

[mikemeister_admin]

Mike,
  Sounds like a great idea. I may have some photos that you may want to use. I will have to go through all my stored files. When would you like these and in what size or format etc?
            Barry

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Any size VGA and above.  Post them here, or email them directly to me.  I do prefer images whose colors have not been modified. - Mike

[mdavis]

I'll try to find some for the class and pass them along, Mike, but you might consider looking at the picture you used in an earlier class of the woman and child in a backpack.  The skin color is critical in that picture, and not so easy to achieve without a skin pin.

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Good idea - the backpack one is a good image for skin tones.

[mikemeister_admin]

Mike
  I am afraid I will not have any photos for skin tones before Christmas, Is the new year OK. ;D
            Barry

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No deadline.  I expect the skin tones class to be very flexible as I change things the first few months.

Skin tones are hard to come by - most of my images are of animals and places, not people.  Then there is the added problem of model releases, etc.

Mike

[mikemeister_admin]

Merry Christmas to all!  I am a newbie to curvemeister (as well as posting)  so bear with my ignorance.
I have been struggling with trying to match skin tones from a clients sample print to the RA-4 output.  I recently purchased a Eye-One Display but can't seem to use it for matching benefits.  Any ideas, tips, tricks etc.?  I would LOVE to know when your skin tone class will occur and can provide at least 25-100 headshot images (with approval for use) to play with.  I own a photo lab in Midtown Manhattan that specializes in reproducing actors headshots.  For 11 years my company was king of B/W...but now the industry is 90% color and I have been struggling with color for the past year. 

I look forward being part of this posting/forum/blog/gapfest....

Truly,
Michael Canizares

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Hi Michael,

The Eye One will do a good job of matching your display to the particular gamma and color temp you select. This is a good first step, so your investment is well spent.  Although adjusting your display results in a better match to your final print in some cases, it does not alter your final printed work as such.  For that you'll need to modify your numbers in Photoshop.

Your case is unusual in being so exacting, and because it involves matching a new print to an existing one.  This probably requires "closing the loop", ideally with a reflective spectrophotometer, though we can get by with a scanner for this purpose. 

So, for example, you would scan one of the customer's "target" prints, and a test print printed on an RA-4 printer (like a Fuji Frontier), compare selected locations of the two images, and devise a curve to convert one to the other. 

Creating the curve is a bit unusual because you will be using starting values from your digital image, and delta values from the two prints.  When this curve is applied to the original digital print, and printed again, the skin areas that you "pinned" will be very close to the original print colors.  At this point, you can use the scanner once again to get an accurate idea of how close your are to matching the target skin tones.

I'd certainly be interested in any images you might provide, particularly if you have any whose skin tones are off, due to aging or other problems.

Mike

[mikemeister_admin]

Dear Mike,
I hope you enjoyed your Christmas.  Thank you so very much for the input and insight and I greatly appreciate your time to answer my q's...so here is another (with more to eventually come!)...

I do not mind investng in a reflective spectrophotometer, for my situation what you recommend?

Where would you like me to send skin tone file samples?

Thanks again,
Michael