I take photos of purple flowers but they turn out blue in the digital photos. What can I do to remedy this?

Flowers include irises and purple hyrdrangeas. Magenta flowers turn out a bright red in my digital photographs too. Do I need to change the camera setting or need to get some kind of filter? All the other colors in the digital photos come out fine.

I take photos of purple flowers but they turn out blue in the digital photos. What can I do to remedy this?
You don't say if the problem is apparent on your monitor or in prints or both.





If the colors are wrong on your monitor, you need to color calibrate it. You can do this with the trial version of Photoshop, if you don't have Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. Use Photoshop Help to read how to do it, then follow the instructions.





Also, be sure you have your system set up to use Adobe RGB 1998 as a color profile, rather than sRFGB. sRGB has more limited colors than Adobe RGB 1998.





If your monitor colors are OK and the problem is in your printouts make sure you are using the same brand of paper as your printer (for example, Canon paper for a Canon printer or Epson paper for an Epson printer). You can use different brands of paper, but you will get the most accurate colors when the brands are the same.





If this doesn't fix the problem contact me via email and I'll walk you through getting your printer profiled so the prints are more accurate. There are commercial services that help you with this without you having to buy a print profile device.
Reply:I always have this problem, did you try using macro on your cam.? it captures more deatails for those type of photos but anyway, yes it probally is your printer, if not then its your monitor %26amp; if thats not the case then just change the settings on your cam.,mess around with them(that is the color mode %26amp; the White balnance) and see if that makes a differnce,that ussaly does the trick for me, and if you have a sony camera, make sure its on the seeting that looks like a "p" so you can be able to adjust those things, hope i helped
Reply:this is most likely a printer issue and not a camera or photographer (as in you) issue. all printers come with their own built in color management software. this often differs from how your camera may handle colors. what you need to do is set up a 'color profile' that you will use for printing. in photoshop i use adobe rgb 1998. there are many others that you can use specific to your printer and color mode. check your printer documentation to find yours. all printers are different and you may use different color profiles for different situations.


also consider the fact that it may be a limitation of your printer. unless you are using the 'prosumer' level inkjets you may not get the color you desire. i suggest an epson 1800 or above or a comparable canon. i prefer epson just because i'm used to them but canon produces wonderful results as well.
Reply:Change your white balance. You probably hae it on tungsten. If you are outside use the natural or cloudy setting. Or if you camera has the function where you can set a custom white balance, then find a white object near the flower, or use a white piece of paper and use that.
Reply:I am not sure what you are doing . One thing you can try is block the sun light from the flower and use the shade. you should put your camera on a tripod and shoot a slow shutter if your camera will let you. also make sure your monitor is not alittle out of adjustment that will show colors adjusted not on the chip. close is very touchy on color and full object in focus. Slow shutter will get you full focus.
Reply:This is a complex problem that needs to be solved methodically.





Many digital cameras get "confused" when used to photograph subjects that have one or two dominant colors. To begin with you need to determine if the problems is 1) a fault in the camera's image sensor, software or display, 2) an adjustable setting that needs to be changed, 3) a limitation of the camera you are using.





To determine which of these it is purchase or borrow an 18% gray card. This is a tool used by professional photographers and processing services to determine correct exposure and color balance (called "White Balance" on most digital cameras) for a photographic images. Then do this -





1. Using the EXACT SAME LIGHTING as the subject take a picture of the card, get close enough so that only the card is in the picture.


2. View the picture on the camera's viewing screen and compare it side by side with the gray card. If they match closely you can usually eliminate sensor, software %26amp; display problems. If they don't match try viewing the picture on a computer with a CALIBRATED display screen. If the picture are OK or greatly improved chances are the camera display is faulty or inadequate for judging the type of images you are making.





If you do get a good image of the grey card then your problem is almost certainly an issue of settings on your camera. Most likely the white balance. If your camera allows you to set the white balance manually you will probably need to adjust it that way to get satisfactory images.





Here are a couple of sites that can help you figure out the proper white balance settings. -





http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/whitebal...


http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutoria...





If you can't adjust the white balance manually this is a limitation of your camera.





If you have more questions you can email me.
Reply:Using Expodisc White Balance Filter,it could correction any lighting and colour balanings,Try of it,I have one that fill success of the photos which had taken.
Reply:Sounds like a colour balance problem.
Reply:I have been having the same problem with photoshop, but my Blue looks purple. If i change it to immage ready it looks blue again. I have only been having this problem since i have installed my Epson printer. I reset Photoshop by pressing Shift,+ Alt + Cntrl when starting photoshop, but i am still having the same problem.


It leads me to belive that it is a printer conflict with the software.


If you are having this issue, try clicking the switch to Image ready and see if the color changes to the real color of the photo. Ryball
Reply:This is a problem I have with my Olympus Evolt 500. But... get one printed. The color will be fine. I don't know why but certain hues of purple will look blue one a computer screen or even an LCD monitor (even to the naked eye). But it will be fine after it's been developed, you'll see. It's been suggested that Earth's sky is actually a shade of lavender but our eyes see it as blue. Funny huh?
Reply:Flowers are always tough. Because their coloration is complex, we do not see all the colors that are actually being reflected back. Insects "see" what is necessary to attract them to the flower so pollination is successful.





Some films and most sensors "see" this additional information and record it, thus giving your images a color you did not see.





You may want to try having the image files printed at a photo lab and see if indeed there is a problem with your printer, but I suspect if all of your other images are color correct, then the lab color will not be too much different from what you already have experienced.





In some cases using a polarizing filter can help.