Curvemeister Forum

Hi Greg:  More success with this image I think.  Brian

OK Brian,

This might span a posting or two....This particular image has multiple problems.  The green cast on the brushed metal is one of them.  The other problem is the fruit.  We are going to tackle them separately.

For the frame, working in LAB you can set a neutral on the lower right edge and then set multiple hue clocks around the frame by alt-clicking while in CM.  this will give you a better idea as to what is really going on here.  shot1  Your curves are shown in shot 2 you are trying to achieve simular results but have applied too much adjustment to the problem.  As everyone begins to correct this image they start to fight against themselves...  the real trick in this instance is compromise.  You are going to have some residual color cast, you really just want to reduce it.  Eliminate as much as you can but keep the adjustments small.  

After you get the frame right you select the fruit with the marquee tool...  the marquee tool will allow you to protect parts of the image by creating an "instant" mask.  Shot3...After you have the marquee set you enter CM and the result is shown in Shot 4.

You can now adjust the fruit without messing up the frame.  You have separated the problems into two parts....See next posting...

Continued from previous....

Now the trouble is too much red in the carrots and melon and not enough yellow overall so you can do this part in LAB or RGB  Since you like LAB I stayed in that space.  
In Shot 5 -  I mark the red using a right click and selecting "Mark" from the menu.  This allows me to go back to the A curve and adjust only the part of the curve that is causing the trouble.
In shot 6 -  I now set a neutral on the shelf. and lift the red end of the curve until the colors are less offensive.  This is the opposite of a increase in the saturation slider.  I don't want to de-saturate all of the colors just the reds.

In shot 7 is have placed 2 control points on the new curve since I do not want the existing curve to buckle and I adjust the green a bit to make it more green.  It is a subtle adjustment but it helps.  notice that there is a slight blueish cast overall...this leads me to...

In Shot 8 - we adjust the B curve to add some yellow to the frame and make the overall colors look better.  leaving us with...
the final shot...

Phew...Greg

Aha . . . a mask!  Very tricky.  Thanks for the tip.  Let me see what I can do with it.

Hi Greg:

Here is a second crack at this image incorporating the approach you suggested.

Thanks,

Brian

Bravo....

Wonderful correction
Greg

But . . . is it "subtle."

Actually it is "delicious"....

That is what I am really looking for...The fruit looks great and the frame is in control.  Esp. the watermelon that is usually where people drop the ball...they get the rest of it pretty well figured out but the reds bleed through too much.

Greg