White Balance

[Mo.]

Since I'm getting the hang of exposure, I wanted to learn more about WB.

I have some difficulties in having it perfect for different kind of pictures.

Oh yeah, also before I forget what will be the advantage of me using RAW instead of JPEG.

Advice/Links/Experience will be appreciated.

 

[The_Traveler]

Most useful page

 

[480sparky]

White balance is nothing more than telling the camera what type of lighting you're shooting with (sunlight, shade, flash, incandescent, sodium, etc). While it's preferable to get it correct when shooting, you can change it in post if you shoot raw.

Get yourself a gray card....... it's about as cheap and low-tech as you can get and still produce results.

 

[cgipson1]

Hey Mo.. you may find these enlightening!

Understanding White Balance

Introduction to White Balance

Grey Card Instructions

Tom Jung Photography: When White Balance Matters

notes from the frontier of boredom: Why White Balance Matters

 

[Snaps]

Use auto white balance and correct it in photoshop if you need to.

 

[MLeeK]

Use auto white balance and correct it in photoshop if you need to.

WHAT???

If you are shooting in jpeg definitely DO NOT do that!!! You can't correct white balance 100% in jpegs.
You can if you are shooting raw, but it's a pain in the azz. You are always best off getting it right in camera. Time spent in photoshop is time wasted.
You are always best off using a custom white balance whenever possible, however the presets can be fairly accurate too.
Charlie's links should help you!

 

[Mo.]

Will take a look, thanks guys.

 

[Buckster]

I use a gray card as well. Simple, quick and effective.

 

[KmH]

Many scenes have more than 1 kind of light source.

Sunlight has a color temperature of about 5500°K. Tungsten lights have a color temperature around 3200°K.
So if you have both sunlight and tungsten light in a scene, known as mixed lighting, the camera can full account for one or the other light source color temperature but not both.

Our brains make automatic adjustments for us that make both sunlight and tungsten light look closer to the same color than what the camera sees.

In a mixed lighting situation photographers using flash can put a gel on the flash unit(s) to give the light from the flash the same color temperature as the dominant light in a scene helping the camera out.

 

[Vtec44]

^ What he said!

I typically balance out all the light sources, set a constant WB in Kelvin, set a neutral gray point, then mass process using that point in post process. Auto white balance will change even in the exact lighting condition, so there's no consistency and it's a pain to correct it in post process, especially on hundred of pictures. I've learned that the hard way by forgetting to switch back to Kelvin after using the camera to take pictures of my kids. :mrgreen:

 

[Snaps]

Use auto white balance and correct it in photoshop if you need to.

WHAT???

If you are shooting in jpeg definitely DO NOT do that!!! You can't correct white balance 100% in jpegs.
You can if you are shooting raw, but it's a pain in the azz. You are always best off getting it right in camera. Time spent in photoshop is time wasted.
You are always best off using a custom white balance whenever possible, however the presets can be fairly accurate too.
Charlie's links should help you!

I don't shoot in JPEG, I shoot in RAW

And I find it works perfectly 99% of the time and PP is a decent place to put right those that aren't

 

[KmH]

Oh yeah, also before I forget what will be the advantage of me using RAW instead of JPEG.

Tutorials – The RAW File Format