Tips on Photographing Fusia/Magenta?

[BendixenArt]

I have such a difficult time getting the fusia color to photograph well. Its really odd. Does anyone have any tips? I take photos next to a window, no flash, no artificial light as usual but the color ends up looking neon. Here is an example:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/127593712/fusia-red-magenta-paper-rosettes

[Former_Member]

I completely understand your frustration.! I almost wanna stop creating bright pink items because i have so much trouble photographing them! But i found that if you tweek your camera's white balance settings you can find the correct color! Point the camera towards your item and see if it looks the same color and then change the white balance settings and do it again! I hope that helps you out.!

[Former_Member]

I don't have any photography suggestions but I will say that on my computer the flowers look what I would call "true red". I think of fusia as having a pink undertone. I say this because all computer monitors are going to show your product colors differently. I didn't check - but do you put a color disclaimer in your item description? Good luck with the photos - I know how frustrating it can be. I use natural light and got a white box to cut down on the shadows.

[Former_Member]

I have the same problem photographing purple, but upon further reading apparently purple is extreamly hard to photograph so most designers don't actually use purple in their samples.

[KittyCrackernuts]

Likewise, I have the same trouble with my other shop (fabric) and every time I thought I had the color balance absolutely perfect in Photo Paint, the reds and purples would go wonky as soon as I uploaded it, and it still drives me crazy! Even when I laid the fabric flat on the scanner, it seemed to do the same thing. I'd love to know if anyone uploads to different venues, and whether those venues have the same skewing effect on reds and purples, or if it's just something particular to Etsy.

When taking pictures, I found that having complimentary colors together in the same shot somehow made it less bad, but it still wasn't right.

[Former_Member]

Your photography setup in nice, Ohh I believe maybe photoshop help? :)

[twowhiteowls]

I have the same problem with purples too. I use white balance, but it still doesn't solve the problem. What I do is edit the photo in Picassa. I find using warmify on the pic adds some blue to it. If that doesn't do it I just keep trying different settings till it works...sort of.

[Former_Member]

I struggle so hard with the pinks and purples. I've been playing with the color saturation on my photo editing, seems to help. Also the order in which I edit the photo: start with balance versus starting with color tweaking. I also found that using the automatic adjusting on tough colors is a no no, gotta do the manual fine tuning.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/127660989/necklace-set-including-bracelet-and?ref=shop_home_active

https://www.etsy.com/listing/127666286/mauve-beaded-stretch-bracelet?ref=shop_home_active

https://www.etsy.com/listing/127665612/bracelet-purple-rectangle-focal-bead?ref=v1_other_2

they still don't look true
Lizzie

[PiecesofMeCardsnMore]

I have trouble with anything with a blue undertone (purple, blue, grey, some reds). I adjust the white balance and exposure settings on my camera. I take my photos in a light box. I do 99% of my photo editing manually (I have Photoshop) and I still have issues. I'm glad it's not just me!

The colors in this listing were a nightmare to edit. The flower is a bright coral red. In the last two photos I have it against a brown kraft envelope. OMG, talk about being difficult to edit! On my monitor the coral looks neon. It's bright, but not that bright! I couldn't tone it down without washing out the brown envelope. *sigh*
https://www.etsy.com/listing/127153987/mini-note-cards-set-of-6-flower-note?ref=shop_home_feat

[BendixenArt]

You guys are amazing! Thank you so much for the feedback. I didnt know it was such a "thing" for so many! Your stories and suggestions help :-)

[Former_Member]

Put something blue like a bit of ribbon in the corner or along the bottom of your shot. The camera will adjust to a wider color spectrum and the pinks will read more pink and not red. Then crop out the blue ribbon from your shot. This works for purple too. It is not perfect. But, it helps.

[Former_Member]

I use a light box I made out of a Sterlite container. Three gooseneck lamps with Daylight GE CFL bulbs (bright white light). The backdrop is a white piece of sketching / drawing / watercolor paper. I manually set the white balance on my camera before I start shooting - same three sources of light, same white background, means I always get a white background to my pictures. I edit my pictures with Picmonkey using the "neutral picker" on the background to get rid of any colors left over.

And I have pictures that come out like this with pink / magentas:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/113626098/hot-pink-stud-earrings-fluorescent?

https://www.etsy.com/listing/103632440/hot-pink-earrings-10mm-glossy-opaque?

https://www.etsy.com/listing/115988074/magenta-fairy-earrings-hot-pink-rose?ref=shop_home_active

(I do other things as well, but that's how I get rid of any weird background shading)

Takes a lot of work, but I never ever put up a picture that's not edited in some way.

Hope it helps!