not to sound condescending but wouldn’t you correct them the same way you correct anything else?
You don’t say where the images came from.
I’m more accustomed to color correcting skin tones. I’m rather nervous about correcting food. The were shot by a photographer.
on film?
Digital?
do you have a reference?
Do they really need color correcting?
Do they really need color correcting?
That was my first thought.
But I will give you a suggestion rather then go overboard, try the Hue/Saturation adjustment and give a little more or less saturation for the master channels and then if need be do the same for the individuals colors. as an adjustment layer easy to delete.
Just treat it like you would any other subject and clean up any messy looking bits. If you have a colour target to match to that’s a great help. You adjustable colour corrections in case yu need to go back and edit it. A lot depends on the quality of the original pictures too.
You may need to consider how it’s going to be printed (in case the printer has a special output curve – try contacting them and asking them to print out a small sample pic you send them) as this can drastically change the way you retouch it especially if they have any min/max print requirements.
Also important: Who is the client? Is it a food company, a caterer, or ??. A company who produces the food will probably be more picky about color than a third-party. In many cases, "color correct" is highly subjective.
For most of what I shoot (a very wide variety), color correct is what I deem appropriate. However for products like cosmetics or clothing, the color needs to be as close as possible to the actual items. I’m not sure that’s the case with food but it depends on the client.
I don’t think I’d be too anal about it – after a month on the back of a truck, the color will change anyway. 😉
-phil
I am a photographer and I specialize in food, product and a little lifestyle. It is important to communicate with your Client and perhaps get a profile from the printer. I try to keep my system calibrated but everyone’s vary a bit. I suggest that you deliver a softproof along with the files so they can compare while on their monitor.
Tony
www.tcphoto.org
