What's the best way to avoid color fringing in shadows using budget gear?

Question

First post!

I'm a toy collector and like to take pictures and videos of my collection. I've got a lightbox and turntable from Foldio which is great for my needs because I don't have a lot of space for backdrops and lighting.

Most of the time I take quick shots with my camera phone on automatic settings, and adjust the white balance to get the background white. after that, I dial down the exposure in Lightroom.

This sometimes results in a blue/green tinge in the shadows (example attached), which I would like to minimize going forward.

What would you recommend to reduce color fringe, within this framework:

• I don't have room in the lightbox to throw more light on the backdrop.
• It's hard to see how much I am overexposing on the phone display, but it's not worth the trouble to set up and use a DSLR.
• I would like to minimize post processing (I'd really like to just add a watermark, if possible)

Any tips, no matter how trivial, would be appreciated. Thanks in advance for helping out an amateur!

Answer 1

The darker area under the figurines are reflections, not shadows. They are expected to have color similar to that of the figurines. Using a phone as the backlight, here is an image that demonstrates similar reflections. In addition to having similar coloration, the lettering is reversed.

Some options to consider:

• Leave them as they are. Those who realize they are reflections will not be bothered by the coloration.

• Replace the surface under the figurines with something less reflective. The reflected color may still appear.

• Use a polarizer to block the reflections.

• Selectively decrease saturation using layer masks. However, anyone who realizes they are reflections, not shadows, may find it looks unnatural. (Global or highlight adjustments would likely add an undesirable tint to the figurines.)