white balance question

MHB · Jul 21, 2014

Im pretty ignorant when it comes to white balance. I always just used auto but now Im starting to see that its not all that great for every occasion. what white balance do I need to use if Im going to fix the raw file with a grey card in post? does it matter at all? by the way Im using flash and am doing indoor and outdoor photos if that makes any difference. thanks!

SnappingShark · Jul 21, 2014

When I shoot in RAW, I just shoot auto WB and correct in post.

astroNikon · Jul 21, 2014

I was pretty ignorant in WB too .. using AUTO WB all the time. I still use AUTO WB all the time but now in post I make tweaks.
Ever since someone identified purple water ... I never noticed. Now I notice colors issues all the time. http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/nature-wildlife/364211-my-waterfall-vacation-c-c.html#post3273016

If you are using a flash it should have a white balance standard .. usually 7000 Kelvin (i think)
here's a nice WB & flash article that I read
White Balance

but as mentioned I just shoot in AUTO WB and fix in post if needed.

JustJazzie · Jul 21, 2014

Your flash manual SHOULD say what Kelvin temperature to set to. When I use my studio strobes, I ALWAYS manual set white balance. Any other time, Like BrightByNature, I usually leave it on auto and correct the raw file in post. Sometimes if it looks REALLY off, I will do a quick custom white balance in the camera.

KmH · Jul 21, 2014

The purpose of white balance is to tell the camera what color temperature of light is being used to shoot the scene.

Our eyes and brain automatically make adjustments as we use them to see the real world the camera can't.
The camera can only deal with 1 color temperature in each photo.
If you shoot a scene lit by more than 1 kind (color temperature) of light source (known as 'mixed' lighting), post process you can only fully correct for 1 of the light types (color temperature), or partially correct for all the light types used to light the scene.

So controlling white balance starts before you release the shutter by noting what types of light source are lighting the scene you are shooting.
Understanding White Balance

Incandescent/tungsten lights have a lower color temperature than fluorescent lights do, and fluorescent lights have a lower color temperature than sunlight has.
If set your camera white balance to sunlight and then use tungsten lighting your photos will have an orange-ish color cast.
If set your camera white balance to sunlight and then use fluorescent lighting your photos will have an green-ish color cast.
Color temperature - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Portrait photographers that shoot outside can use white balance to help separate their subject from the background with color.
They use flash, gel the flash to the color temperature of tungsten lighting using a CTO gel, and set their camera white balance to Tungsten.
Light from the gelled flash then looks like sunlight on the subject, but the background ambient sunlight has a nice soft blue-ish color cast to it making the subject look nice and warm.

TCampbell · Jul 21, 2014

When you shoot RAW, the camera will record the white balance setting you picked and save that to the image meta-data, but it will not actually make any adjustment to the image itself (the image is not corrected.) This is done so that the software on the computer can handle all the manipulation and YOU get to make all the decisions. Some software will look at the embedded white balance choice and then apply that to the image when it's being displayed (not all programs do this.)

This means when you shoot RAW, the white balance choice isn't important because you'll make those decisions in post processing.

If you choose to shoot in JPEG format, then the white balance choice IS applied in-camera. You have some choices... if it's cloudy outside, pick the "cloudy" setting. If it's sunny, choose "sunny". etc. etc. As long as you don't forget to dial it in to the setting to match your circumstance, you'll probably get better results.

You can even better results using "custom white balance". This involves using a color neutral source (usually a commercial "gray card"). You take a photo of that card in the IDENTICAL LIGHT that you intend to shoot your subjects. The color of the light will apply a color cast to the gray card. The camera can detect this and realize the "gray" is actually a bit too orange (just as an example if you were shooting with incandescent lights) and use this to know exactly how much it should adjust color to bring the gray card back to color-neutral. Once you take this sample image, the camera can then apply that same adjustment to all subsequent images. Just remember that if the light changes, you need to take another photo of the gray card and have the camera re-update it's custom white balance.

With all this said... sometimes correct white balance is not artistically pleasing. If you're shooting a sunset, you're going to get that warm golden color light that photographers love. The white balance would actually neutralize that and your photos would no longer be "golden". Similarly if you're trying to shoot a candle-lit scene, the scene will not look cold if you perfectly compensate.

luisro · Jul 29, 2014

Nice!!! Thanks for the tips.

dennybeall · Jul 29, 2014

I'm going to play with WB in post anyway just to see if I like the differences. So doesn't matter since I don't do any studio work anymore.

ConradM · Jul 30, 2014

Yet another reason why optical viewfinders are archaic. :mrgreen: Get something with an electronic viewfinder, see WB changes in real time and save time in post.