White Balance?????

[Mr.EightA]

1 2
34
5 6
7 8
9
I didn't change any thing but the positioning and power of flash and camera and all the white balance is different. I was just trying to practice some low key. Now I really feel like I just don't understand white balance. If someone could help me to understand and also c/c on the low key.

 

[WesternGuy]

Perhaps you would care to tell us what you don't understand about white balance. What setting did you have for the white balance in these pictures? Ignoring the black and white images, it would seem to me that the white balance of images 2, 4, 5, 6 and 9 are similar, not exactly the same, but close. I suspect that changing the power of the flash might have an effect on the white balance, although I have never tested this aspect of a flash's output. Image 8 is a bit different, having a bit of a reddish cast to it. Not sure why this is the case, but maybe if you tell us the details of each, then maybe someone will be able to explain this difference.

In its simplest terms, white balance is that aspect of an image that can be adjusted in camera or in post processing so that the colours in an image are as true as possible. Different light sources have different colour hues to them, for example, the light from a flash is quite different from sunlight in the middle of the day. Even the light from different flash units may have slightly different Kelvin temperatures and thus have an effect on white balance. White balancing allows the photographer to adjust the colours in an image to account for these types of differences. These adjustments can be made in the camera, by setting an appropriate white balance setting, or they can be done in post-processing using a development adjustment to refine the white balance. If you Google "white balance", you will find a wide variety of references and explanations that will, hopefully, answer any questions you may have. If they don't answer your questions, then post back and someone will probably be able to help you.

WesternGuy

 

[Derrel]

If white balance is allowed to run free in AUTO mode, there can be a lot of variability, depending on ambient light, which can override the WB that is best for flash. If you set a WB using a pre-set, like the one for Flash, then use flash, the images will be pretty close. If you shoot in raw mode, the raw converter determines the default WB that will be applied, and at times, that may look a bit weird,. so you'd want to override the default the software had chose, to get a better-looking WB setting for your idea of what looks best. There is no "correct" white balance, really--it depends on the creative effect desired. Sometimes we might want a colder look, other times a warmer look. On a sunrise or sunset for example,. the "correct" white balance will correct-out the beautiful, warm toned light that gives the pinkish or golden hues, and AUTO white balance will often ruin most sunrise/sunset shots, and it's better to set the WB to Daylight, not AUTO in those cases.

 

[Mr.EightA]

Well I can now see that most have similar white balance. I guess I just don't understand how it can change with just the output settings. The room was dark so there was no other light then the flash. My w/b was set to auto so maybe that's what is changing it. And thanks for the feedback I will continue to work on it.

 

[petrochemist]

I've heard that some flashes vary significantly in their colour output depending on their power setting. So it's poosible thats a factor.

 

[Rick50]

What Derrel said. I think the flash was picking up color from the surroundings and by using auto.......