Question about manual white balance adjustments

[jenles]

Hi - I'm probably way to amateur even for the beginner forum - I'm using a point and shoot (and feel rather embarrassed with all the DSLRs around!). It's a Canon A1100IS. I'm trying to take product pictures of jewelry, fabric, and other small objects for web only photos. In the summer, I could get nice sunlit photos but now as we get closer to the fall and winter, I'm getting less good daylight. I bought a light set, 4 bulbs of 5000K temps, and made a lightbox out of a large clear rubbermaid container. I'm getting terribly inconsistent photos (whether inside the box or on a table surrounded by the lights), and overall I think it's the changing of light to dark subjects, but another problem is that I have multiple shots of the same item - one might be bright, the next gray and hazy. I'm using the Daylight WB. So, after reading the manual and some tutorials, here are my questions -

• If I use a gray card for manual white balance, do I need to retake the gray card shot before color changes? For example, I'm trying to take photos of sheer gift bags that go with the jewelry - if I switch from a black to white bag, does it need to be reset with a gray card in between, or as long as my camera doesn't go in 'sleep mode' or get turned off, is that one shot ok for multiple subjects?

• Is it possible that my camera is just having issues? If I would take 5 pictures in a row of the same product, shouldn't they all look the same? If some look darker, or hazy, could this be a camera problem or is it just operator error? I generally have the exposure on 2/3. All photos on 0 are pretty dark. Outdoor photos and family shots always generally look nice. But when I need to take product shots - it all falls apart.

Overall my photos look hazy and kinda dull. Is there a setting on the camera that I can be using to make this better? Right now, I take the photos and my husband tweaks it in PS. But he's spending a LOT of time in PS. I used to use my sister's Canon Rebel on occasion, and I took really nice photos with that, even though I didn't know what I was doing. But again, not sure if it was the camera as much as it was my lack of knowledge and dumb luck!

 

[Robin Usagani]

1. As long as you have the same lighting condition, once you set the WB, it should be the same.

2. Your camera is probably using auto mode so it will evaluate the frame differently if you had a white bag (lighter) vs black bag (darker). You need to use manual mode to get consistent results.

 

[bazooka]

The reason your photos look hazy and dull is probably because your camera is underexposing the shots. It will tend to do this when shooting on a white background. The more white in the shot, the more the camera will underexpose. If you're interested in why, google "Camera metering". The solution is as Schwetty mentioned.

EDIT: Another reason your photos may appear hazy, is if direct light from your light sources is hitting the lens (even if the light is out of the shot). This can be solved by building a cardboard 'hood' or 'flagging' the lights so they cannot 'see' the lens of the camera.

 

[DiskoJoe]

You need a better camera. Continuing to use sub standard equipment when running a business is not something I would advise.