Is Your Monitor Color Accurate?
Your monitor is a tool you need to be able to trust. If your monitor color isn’t accurate, you won’t see true-to-life colors, highlight and shadow details, not to mention correct skin tones. And if you’re looking at an image that isn’t true, how can you edit it properly, or get your screen to match your prints? You can’t. Datacolor Spyder5 will solve all of that in minutes.
Learn More about Datacolor Spyder5
Q&A with world renowned fashion and beauty photographer Lindsay Adler
Why is color calibration important to you?
As a fashion and beauty photographer, accurate color becomes essential to my career. When photographing clothes for a designer, I need to capture and deliver files that accurately represent the true color of those clothes. When I'm photographing skin or beauty images, I need to have stunning skin tones and accurate color. Overall, color is essential to my career!
How do you use color calibration within your workflow?
I start by photographing a color chart as a way to get a reference point for accurate colors in my images. This will help not only make adjustments to white balance, but ensure each color is being correctly represented in the photograph.
Next, I use custom profiles in Lightroom to automatically read the color chart and adjust colors as necessary.
When viewing my images, I work on a variety of monitors. I make sure these monitors are calibrated and also try to work with the highest quality monitors I can afford. I am in particular a fan of Eizo products, and was first introduced to these monitors on high-end fashion shoots in NYC.
What are some issues that may arise if you are not properly calibrated?
For me, there are three big issues that arise when I don't have proper calibration. First, when my images end up in print in a magazine the quality of the images could be severely lacking. I always want a beautiful rendition of my work, and without color calibration it is possible that they will look bad in print. Second, if colors are inaccurate for a designer, they are going to feel that I did not provide the services they required and I will have an unhappy customer. Finally, skin tones become important as a way to help a subject look their best and also help my clients sell their products. If the skin is not accurate, then the image will not meet its potential. If you look at my work, you see just how pervasive and important rich color is!
How long have you been using Spyder products?
I first got a Spyder product when I had a small portrait business in upstate NY more than a dozen years ago. At that time I was shooting, retouching and printing all of my files. For this reason color calibration became important as I managed each part of the image-making process.
What are some things you like about the new Spyder5?
Spyder5 helps me to take control of the many variables that may effect my color. For example, it helps me determine optimal monitor brightness– something that previously had been up for a lot of debate and varies from monitor to monitor. Furthermore, it is easy to use as always and even offers me the ability to monitor how ambient light can effect my images appearance. All of the elements that effect my monitor calibration have been considered!
About Lindsay:
Fashion photographer Lindsay Adler has risen to the top of her industry as both a photographer and educator. Based in New York City, her fashion editorials have appeared in numerous fashion and photography publications including Marie Claire, InStyle, Elle, Rangefinder, Professional Photographer and dozens more. As a photographic educator and having been named one of the top 10 best fashion photographers in the world, she is one of the most sought after speakers internationally. Lindsay enjoys teaching on the industry's largest platforms and most prestigious events. She has worked with some of the top brands in the photographic and related industries such as Canon, Adobe and Microsoft. Her client list consists of Grey, Edelman, Microsoft, Saatchi & Saatchi and more.
For more than half of her life, Lindsay has been refining her craft, vision and knowledge… and now she’s sharing it all with you in one place. Want to learn about lighting? It’s there. Want to learn posing? It’s there. Want to learn her favorite Photoshop techniques? Yep… there too! Want to be inspired to push yourself? Oh yes, you can certainly find that there. Sit back and enjoy hundreds of hours of tutorials created for you to dive right in, learn and grow!
Visit Lindsay’s educational site here
Want to connect with Lindsay?
Visit her website here. You can also check her out on (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter)!
