A question of balance
April 23, 2008
Sometimes, notwithstanding the fact that I’m a self-confessed “Idiot” (photography-wise at least) I almost manage to impress myself.
And this is one of those occasions!
Its the matter of White Balance. Generally, I don’t have much of a problem with it. Most of the stuff I shoot is outdoors and one of the camera’s own white balance presets (auto, daylight, shade, cloudy, etc) does the business admirably.
(Although even here I sometimes run into problems, such as when I recently visited a friend and the pics I shot of his closest town were, so he gleefully informed me, all exhibiting a somewhat cyan hue. Well, I fiddled around with them for a while but, on repeatedly getting feedback from friend to the effect that “that’s not quite right” I eventually said “Sod it” and just went with “as shot”. But that was about the time I was also colour-calibrating my monitor, so there may have been other variables in play.)
So to recap, shooting out of doors doesn’t generally present a problem… but indoors! Ah, that’s another matter entirely. Despite trying all the various camera presets (fluorescent, tungsten, etc) somehow I always seemed to end up with shots that simply didn’t look right colour-wise.
Of course I’m fully aware of that “Manual White Balance” option on the camera, but have studiously avoided it so far on the basis that its one of those weird “real photographer” type settings, despite the fact that its kept niggling away in the back of my mind.
But so p****d off have I become with the dismal failure (again colour-wise) of my indoor shots, necessitating significant post-processing to get them looking even half-way right, that I decided I’d have to firmly grasp the nettle, and venture into the mysterious realm of manual white balance.
First step then, read what the manual has to say (arghhh!).
So this afternoon found me in my local pub (although in point of fact its not strictly such, but that’s another story entirely), manual in one hand, camera in the other, specs perched on end of nose. (My “local” is actually the ideal place for such an exercise, simply because the lighting in there is so… um… challenging!)
Recite all the instructions (involving the use of a white card and various obscure camera settings) aloud to my mate (who happens to be the bar manager there). Not that he has any intention of helping me (awkward sod) but I find that doing such helps to “fix” the various steps in that mire which is my excuse for a mind.
Step myself through the process “for real”, and then take a few test shots.
Lo and behold… it works! Amazing! I’m really chuffed! What I end up with are a series of shots that (again colour-wise… boringly) are the closest I’ve come so far to the original (i.e., “real life”). Wow!
I’m especially pleased because my own particular “take” on photography is that generally pics should emulate, as closely as possible, the original scene.
If they fail to do that, then why bother with all the technical gadgetry of cameras and suchlike, and not simply (!) draw/paint a picture in the first place?
Ok, the resulting shots are pretty defective regarding exposure etc, but in terms of colour they’re definitely the biz!
So unlike yesterday’s photo session, today’s has definitely ended on something of a high note.
April 24, 2008 at 1:32 50
I feel your pain, but not your success. While the presets for WB do a pretty good job most of the time while one is outside, there are still too many options: sunlight, cloudy, in-shade (where the camera is shooting from inside a shaded area and into light). The problem is I never know when I’m definitely moving from one situation to another. I’ve tried the cloudy setting on days that were nothing but cloudy. But the net result was that the sunny setting rendered more natural colours.
And don’t even get me started on inside photography. The only setting that works right each time inside is the one for flash IF I actually use the flash. It’s very annoying.
I guess it’s time to bite the bullet and invest in either a white card or a 18% gray card. Or one of those Expodisc things, which are great, but not perfect either. I guess you are once again leading the way….now I need to get out the manual and do the same. Just wish I had a great pub in which to spend the time….
April 24, 2008 at 1:49 24
Re what you say about the cloudy setting. Odd that, cos I’ve experienced similar results (the daylight preset working better… i.e., rendering more vibrant colours). The conclusion I’ve come to is that whilst our eyes may see one sort of lighting conditions, the actual quality of the light is recorded differently by the camera. Dunno. Guess that’s where experience comes in.
Anyway, what I did was grab a sheet of A4 white card from the local stationery supplies shop and I’m now gonna carry it with me all the time. So far I’ve only used it the one time (in the Bear) but I fully expect to press it into service for outdoors shoots if the light’s in the least bit iffy.
Having sussed out how to do the manual w/b thing on the camera, should be a doddle!
April 24, 2008 at 2:47 51
HEY THERE! LOVE the photos. They are wonderful. Ok, I have to laugh, being from America…but I just LOVE the phrase “sod it”
Congratulations on the great work. I too have difficulty (read as all the time) with indoor shots. I can’t seem to ever get it right. I am working on it though. Again, great photos!
April 24, 2008 at 2:58 44
Hi Tam.
Thanks for the kind comments. Yeah, indoor shots have been a real bane for me, hence my decision to finally get to grips with this white balance caper. I think if one gets one’s head around that it sorts out a lot of the issues re indoor stuff… in my case at least!
Hmm… some of my phrasing can be a bit… um… “impolite” occasionally. But I tend to write these blog posts pretty much as I speak for it seems to me that blogs really lend themselves to an informal way of communicating and imparting info.
April 24, 2008 at 3:08 03
Oh, and as an afterthought for the benefit of both my fans (yep, got two of them now. Whoopee!), those indoor shots where I was doing the manual white balance stuff were taken using just the ambient lighting… no flash or other lighting “extras”. And camera was hand-held using ISO 400 with shutter speeds varying between 1/4 - 1/20 and aperture varying between f/3.5 - 5.6
April 24, 2008 at 14:53 41
Hello again Tam! Don’t worry - you’re not alone - I’m just another Yank too!
Apparently Mike is the cosmic center of all things amateur photography related.
We are like moths to his photographic flame.
Teach us my lord and master….we beseech thee…..
April 24, 2008 at 22:02 12
Now children, the word for today is… “obsequious“!
April 24, 2008 at 23:31 44
I prefer the term sycophant!
April 30, 2008 at 22:50 17
[...] to a previous post where I was experimenting with manually adjusting the white balance using a white card, well, I had [...]