Aquarium, which WB?

[tecboy]

I'm planning to go to the aquarium. Just wonder which is the proper white balance should I use? Should I use custom WB?

 

[cgipson1]

I'm planning to go to the aquarium. Just wonder which is the proper white balance should I use? Should I use custom WB?

How is the aquarium lit? Flourescent? Halogen? Skylight? That will answer your question better than we can.. since we don't know what aquarium you are going to, and most have probably never been there. Most of the aquariums I have been to try to maintain a daylight balance... as that is natural, and the inhabitants usually prefer it.

 

[tecboy]

Got it. I'll experiment it, thanks.

 

[480sparky]

Shoot raw, tweak in post.

 

[SCraig]

You'll never find one that fits all. Reef tanks are lit differently from regular tanks. Tanks with a lot of live plants are frequently lighted differently. Some tanks have specialty lighting for a special color cast. It's always a crap shoot. Personally I shoot with auto white balance in RAW and worry about it later.

 

[tecboy]

Yep, I was wondering about the lighting condition in the tank. Shooting RAW?! Boy, I will take over 100 raw photos and post processing over 100 photos. Thanks for tips, guys.

 

[xposurepro]

Why spend time "fixing" a photo in post when you can shoot it right in the first place. You don't want to spend time fixing bad photos. You want to spend it editing great photos. The best option is to shoot with a custom WB. The digital target from Photovision is the best tool for custom wb in my experience. You could also use an expodisk (I find mine less reliable and it was double the price).

 

[2WheelPhoto]

Why spend time "fixing" a photo in post when you can shoot it right in the first place. You don't want to spend time fixing bad photos. You want to spend it editing great photos. The best option is to shoot with a custom WB. The digital target from Photovision is the best tool for custom wb in my experience. You could also use an expodisk (I find mine less reliable and it was double the price).

Simpler for me to tweak 1 slider in Lightroom (WB) when I'm editing anyway than drag one more product around and get it out to shoot against it?

 

[xposurepro]

Why spend time "fixing" a photo in post when you can shoot it right in the first place. You don't want to spend time fixing bad photos. You want to spend it editing great photos. The best option is to shoot with a custom WB. The digital target from Photovision is the best tool for custom wb in my experience. You could also use an expodisk (I find mine less reliable and it was double the price).

Simpler for me to tweak 1 slider in Lightroom (WB) when I'm editing anyway than drag one more product around and get it out to shoot against it?

It all depends on how often you shoot. My camera counter rolls over to zero on a monthly basis so moving that one slider can quickly add up to countless hours of pointless post-editing and for me time is money. I have several versions of the Photovision .. the smallest one actually hangs around your neck like the expodisk. The larger one folds and slips into the sleeve in the back of my bag. There's really nothing to lug around.

 

[2WheelPhoto]

Why spend time "fixing" a photo in post when you can shoot it right in the first place. You don't want to spend time fixing bad photos. You want to spend it editing great photos. The best option is to shoot with a custom WB. The digital target from Photovision is the best tool for custom wb in my experience. You could also use an expodisk (I find mine less reliable and it was double the price).

Simpler for me to tweak 1 slider in Lightroom (WB) when I'm editing anyway than drag one more product around and get it out to shoot against it?

It all depends on how often you shoot. My camera counter rolls over to zero on a monthly basis so moving that one slider can quickly add up to countless hours of pointless post-editing and for me time is money. I have several versions of the Photovision .. the smallest one actually hangs around your neck like the expodisk. The larger one folds and slips into the sleeve in the back of my bag. There's really nothing to lug around.

No worries, I can tweak faster than pulling the card off my neck and dealing with it every time the WB changes in an aquarium setting per OP's question. And in studio I just use the correct WB =)

 

[SCraig]

Why spend time "fixing" a photo in post when you can shoot it right in the first place. You don't want to spend time fixing bad photos. You want to spend it editing great photos. The best option is to shoot with a custom WB. The digital target from Photovision is the best tool for custom wb in my experience. You could also use an expodisk (I find mine less reliable and it was double the price).

The light falling on your target isn't the same color temperature as that in the tank. It isn't even the same lights. The only way to properly meter it would be to submerge the target in the tank and I somehow don't think they will let you do that.

 

[scorpion_tyr]

Use Auto WB or set a custom if you can find something big enough and white enough. Just know that the water will change the properties of the lights going through it so even if the water is lit by flourescent light, and you set the WB to match it'll come out looking funny.

 

[mfdrookie516]

I've had the best luck shooting in an aquarium with the auto white balance, then tweaking in PS afterwards. In a reef tank, for instance, the lighting is usually somewhere between 15,000k and 20,000k, which will look very blue in pictures (and in person). My reef tank is about 15,000k. While this isn't a great pic, it might show you what to expect before and after (or leave the potential to show you what else you could do with it). Corals are especially hard to capture accurately without some post processing, IME, as the blue tends to wash out the color. Once you bring the color temp down, the colors start to come out.

Original -

Edited (lowered color temp, increased contrast just a bit, and sharpened just a bit) -

I admit, it helps having one to practice on... If at all possible, use a tripod. With fish, you'll want a fast shutter speed, or else they'll likely be blurred.

 

[unpopular]

My terrarium which is inside a 30g aquarium tank has the color temp printed on the bulb.