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nakmom
January 25th, 2012, 09:04 PM
I decided to take a picture in the sunlight today and holey molely was I shocked! I'm thinking maybe my MacBook captured it way wrong. I thought henna didn't lighten hair at all? I posted about a month ago that I used Lush's Caca Rouge on my DARK hair and it came out a rich dark reddish color. That's not what it looks like in the picture!

Hair morning after henna (taken with iPhone):
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/407906_3219005352772_1195530046_33471719_145639573 2_n.jpg

Hair Today (about a month later taken with MacBook)?!?!
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/404195_3219008872860_1195530046_33471721_446383242 _n.jpg

What is up with the color change?!?! Is it just how the sun was hitting me and the computer?

blondie9912
January 25th, 2012, 09:08 PM
My hair colour varies all the way from yellow-y white blonde to deep brown depending on the lighting. Taking all of your photos in the same area with the same lighting will help to minimize the shock of seeing your hair suddenly appearing 4 shades lighter, when in reality it hasn't changed a bit :p

I've never used henna, however, so I can't vouch for whether it lightens over time.

Hollyfire3
January 25th, 2012, 09:09 PM
Oh WOW that is crazy! I wonder if it was just sunnier when the macbook pic was taken. Although, i do know computer cameras do ocsure color, so i do not think the color has faded THAT much, try taking another pic with the same camera used for the first and see. I understand the camera color dilema, my hair is a dark chestnut brown with only a slight redish hint in full on sunlight, but, in a recent pic, the early morning sun had lite up my head just so until i became a frizzy haired ariel hued redhead for a milasecond! Totally NOT my haircolor and totally crazy...then again, you would swear my hair was black if you saw a pic of it from my iphone...oh well, cameras are wierd anyway, that is what mirrors are for, so WE can see the real color...lol.

hototogisu
January 26th, 2012, 09:43 AM
It's the white balance settings that causes the difference in colour. With a digital camera, you need to define what 'white' is. With a film camera, the paper you print on is the 'white.' Different white balance settings will affect the colour temperature of the photo.

Also, the second photo is way overexposed, which would change the colour.

Amber_Maiden
January 26th, 2012, 09:46 AM
Lush henna always fades. It's more of a henna gloss than anything. Pure BAQ henna is more permanent.

Georgies
January 26th, 2012, 09:54 AM
That's pretty intense! You said your hair was dark to begin with? Henna does give that orange glow in the sun so maybe that's what it is? My hair is pretty dark naturally but henna makes it look lighter to me, especially in the sun. Maybe not quite as much as your photos though!

btw, both colors are very nice!

torrilin
January 26th, 2012, 10:55 AM
In both pictures, you can see the white balance setting is off. (and IIRC neither the iPhone nor most in laptop webcams really let you control white balance) In the first picture, the siding on the building isn't really visible in places, so you know the picture is whiter than it "really" was. In the second picture, your shirt and the sky in the window are almost indistinguishable and both appear bright white... even tho in other parts of the picture, it's clear your shirt is more of a medium grey. Again, this tells you the picture is brighter than reality, tho in a much more extreme way this time.

So neither picture is showing a very true to life image, and neither one shows your hair as dark as it actually is.

Madora
January 26th, 2012, 11:38 AM
I think the sensitivity of your lens also plays a role..not to mention angle of photo, position of the sun.

trolleypup
January 26th, 2012, 11:47 AM
Both white balance and exposure are off in both images, and Yes, different cameras will record color differently, and depending on the firmware, will respond differently to different (lighting) conditions.

As much as you can, try to have a fairly neutral normal colored background with even lighting...this will help the auto white balance and auto exposure produce a minimally adjusted image. Try to stay away from situations where there are areas of bright light and deep shadow or strong/contrasting color, back lighting or high lighting can also contribute to inconsistent images.

It is boring, but a mid-light grey stone or concrete wall is a good background for hair pictures.

ps: a fancier camera may have better firmware and make "better" color balance and exposure choices...or may have some level of manual control so you can choose setting that produce better images.

In both pictures, you can see the white balance setting is off. (and IIRC neither the iPhone nor most in laptop webcams really let you control white balance) In the first picture, the siding on the building isn't really visible in places, so you know the picture is whiter than it "really" was. In the second picture, your shirt and the sky in the window are almost indistinguishable and both appear bright white... even tho in other parts of the picture, it's clear your shirt is more of a medium grey. Again, this tells you the picture is brighter than reality, tho in a much more extreme way this time.

So neither picture is showing a very true to life image, and neither one shows your hair as dark as it actually is.

spidermom
January 26th, 2012, 12:00 PM
That's quite a huge difference, but I'm sure the why of it has been satisfactorily explained.

My hair can look white in some pictures, more of a milk chocolate color in others, so I'm pretty familiar with the phenomena.

Maverick494
January 26th, 2012, 12:14 PM
Funny how that goes huh? I have a really hard time capturing the true colour of my hair. Check this:

Same day, shot in the same hour, different (crappy) camera's:

http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/3061/picturealone.png (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/696/picturealone.png/)

http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/1531/schermafbeelding2012012f.png (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/821/schermafbeelding2012012f.png/)

Hollyfire3
January 26th, 2012, 12:15 PM
Funny how that goes huh? I have a really hard time capturing the true colour of my hair. Check this:

Same day, shot in the same hour, different (crappy) camera's:

http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/3061/picturealone.png (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/696/picturealone.png/)

http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/1531/schermafbeelding2012012f.png (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/821/schermafbeelding2012012f.png/)


Beautiful hair and style, crazy camera lighting!

nakmom
January 26th, 2012, 05:17 PM
Thanks, for all the replies! My friend is taking a photography class this semester and learning all about his camera so I may just see if he'll take hair pictures from now on in the same spot! I REALLY looked at my hair as much as I could in the sun today with a mirror, so I know both pictures are off (the one yesterday was extremely off!) :laugh:

torrilin
January 26th, 2012, 07:55 PM
Honestly, you don't need a class most of the time. If you can set up a custom white balance, that will take care of a lot of the problem. Almost all point and shoot cameras will let you do that. For most cameras, setting a custom white balance involves having some plain white paper and hitting a button so the camera knows what you think is white.

The exposure compensation setting is a way of telling the camera what you think is black. Again, almost all point and shoot cameras have this. It's even easier than white balance, since you're usually adjusting a slider on your camera's screen so the black bits look black. The only trick is don't use the street or your black jeans for black... there are different shades of black, and you usually want the exposure compensation set so only the absolute darkest possible black is black. So unless your jeans are brand new, black and super dark chances are you want them to show different shades on the screen.

If your hair is as dark as it looks to be, it may need help in the lighting department if you want it to look as pretty as possible. But for basic length shots, not such a big deal. Lighting you might need a class for, but I don't think most introductory photography courses really cover it.

And a picture doesn't *have* to have the truest possible colors to be good. Art isn't always lifelike :).

nakmom
January 26th, 2012, 09:43 PM
Honestly, you don't need a class most of the time. If you can set up a custom white balance, that will take care of a lot of the problem. Almost all point and shoot cameras will let you do that. For most cameras, setting a custom white balance involves having some plain white paper and hitting a button so the camera knows what you think is white.

I don't have a camera other than my iPhone and MacBook, so I can't adjust anything (or I haven't figured out how) :( Since my friend is taking this class for fun, I just figured he could take pictures for me while he's learning. :)


I took another picture today with my iPhone. Here's how it turned out (it was windy!)

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/404393_3227112755452_1195530046_33473857_836919667 _n.jpg

EdG
January 26th, 2012, 11:08 PM
Here are some examples of how auto white balance and exposure can affect the colors. The carpet is the same in all photos.

http://www.edgrochowski.com/articles/comp10_cpu.jpg
http://www.edgrochowski.com/articles/comp10_mem.jpg
http://www.edgrochowski.com/articles/comp10_mb.jpg
http://www.edgrochowski.com/articles/comp10_gc.jpg
http://www.edgrochowski.com/articles/comp10_ps.jpg

Ed

jacqueline101
January 29th, 2012, 09:27 AM
My hair changes colors on its own through out the day. I have cameras capture my hair color differently then what it looks like in real life.

PianoPlaye
January 29th, 2012, 10:20 AM
Hurrah!
An explanation for why my hair looks brown some days & red some days & blonde mouse some days. All in the white balance.

(Me, colour? Last I coloured my hair I had just missed with poster paint. To "help", I then trimmed my fringe with nail scisssors, the day before the School Photographer came in. My poor Mum! :o)

LissaJane
January 29th, 2012, 11:35 AM
Different settings on the camera/different lighting/different position of where photos are taken/different lenses.... All kinds of things can make a difference to the way one camera shoots to another.