Kodak Sea Processing digital filters in SF?

[cgwynne]

Kodak is offering a new processing service for photographers who shoot under water. It's called Kodak Sea Processing and it optimizes underwater prints to look more like what you saw on the dive. This seems to happen mostly through a digital process, one I'm sure that could be reproduced in SF. But how?

Here's Kodak's PR on the problem:
<i>ROCHESTER, N.Y., June 9 - For too long underwater photos have been, well, simply all wet. Inherent problems with underwater images meant traditional optical processing often produced prints with exaggerated green or blue tints. In addition, the images frequently appeared blurry and underexposed.

Traditional photo processing has sought to remedy these problems with filters and other light corrections with mixed results. The traditional approach is often expensive, time consuming and varies greatly with different labs. The correction process of traditional photo processing also can produce false colors and prints may appear fuzzy.

In contrast, Kodak Sea Processing digitally enhances images and a Kodak-trained technician makes three separate sets of corrections to ensure that the color matches that of the underwater world. </i>

I would hope that SF should be able to do what these "Kodak-trained technicians" do. Perhaps it's not unlike the orange mask removal?

Underwater photography is very tricky, if SF could figure out the digital filtering process Kodak is using, it would save many underwater shooters alot of pics (and grief) not to mention whole libraries of existing work could be re-scanned.

I beg Lasersoft to look into this and work towards including this in the next revision of their products. You would be reaching out to a whole new segment of photographers.

Think of all the first time snorkelers and scuba divers who come back with pictures of, well nothing recognizable.

Thanks
CG

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: cgwynne on 2002-06-28 02:38 ]</font>

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: cgwynne on 2002-06-28 02:42 ]</font>

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: cgwynne on 2002-06-28 02:43 ]</font>

[LSI_Leschke]

Hi,

I actualy also read an article about the "sea processing" somewhere. I think it's basically removing the blueish cast, and restoring dull colors. You can already do that with Silverfast (global color correction tool). If you have some sample photographs which would need some of these adjustments, feel free to e-mail them to me and I'll see what can be done: martin@silverfast.com

[President_LSI]

Underwater pictures and SilverFast

We would certainly like to look more closely into it. If some one could supply us a set of pictures, possibly scanned in raw data format, we would quickly look into it and come up with a solution.

Pictures could be scanned into 48 bit SilverFast compressed format and forwarded to my email at: khz@silverfast.com!