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02/19/2008 07:37:48 AM · #1 |
Set up this set to take photos of our granddaughter and as you see everything is pink. I am using two studio flashes. Have tried white balance auto and on flash in camera. Have taken them in RAW and use photoshop CS2 to try different white balance settings but with no improvement.The background is a white sheet. Has anyone had this problem ?
How do you post photos on this site?
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02/19/2008 07:45:09 AM · #2 |
As a paying member, you have a portfolio you can upload to. As a registered user, you'll need to post your photos on another site and link to them.
In raw, are you using the White Balance tool? Click on something that is a neutral color and it should color correct the image. Now ... sometimes black or white are bad choices because there is not enough color information left in that area of the image to determine the color cast. So it's easier if you can find a neutral color (gray) somewhere in the image and click on it.
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02/19/2008 07:49:37 AM · #3 |
| Yes am using the white balance tool, but does not fix it that well. Was hoping to sort the problem in camera. Just thinking could it be the way the light reflects off the white sheet after all it is not a proper background. |
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02/19/2008 07:53:43 AM · #4 |
| not sure if your Rebel has this capability, but my 20D did (even my little G2 did). check to see if you can set a custom white balance. using a white card (or piece of paper or anything white for that matter), under the lights you will be shooting with, set a custom white balance. check your user manual to see if you can do this. |
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02/19/2008 08:04:03 AM · #5 |
Originally posted by chig:
Yes am using the white balance tool, but does not fix it that well. |
Three possibilities:
1) The part of the image you are clicking isn't truly a neutral color ...
2) As I mentioned above, it is too far gone (too white, or too black) so that there is not enough color information left to determine the color cast for the image.
3) Or where you are clicking is not receiving the same amount/quality of light as your subject. For instance, if the background is a couple of feet away from the subject then the light that is falling on it is definitely not the same amount of light as what is hitting your subject, and if ambient light is part of the exposure, then it's certainly not the same quality of light as is hitting your subject, so the white balance for the background is different from the white balance for your subject.
Best bet is to shoot a neutral gray card (not white, not black, see problem #2 above) that the subjects are holding. Do this at least once during the photo shoot and then balance the rest of the images with that one.
Also, if your strobes are the main source of light ... you could just try setting your White Balance in the raw editor to Flash or Sunlight and see what you get. If that isn't at least close, then either your strobes are not temperature calibrated, or else there is ambient light entering into the exposure mixing things up.
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02/19/2008 09:24:36 AM · #6 |
To do it in-camera means setting a custom white balance. THey sell all sorts of things for this purpose (whibal, various targets, exposdisk, color parrot, etc). You could shoot (fill the frame) a white piece of paper using the same light and settings as you'll use for the shot of your grandkids. (you ARE shooting manual I hope). The problem with this is that not all white paper is the same shade of white, so you can induce a color cast this way, but it will get you closer.
If you have no other lights on in the room, setting the camera (or RAW file later) to FLASH wb preset should get you close enough.
If you're trying to fix a shot you already have, then you'll have to learn how to do color correction in photoshop. There are a couple of ways to do it, but Levels works well and perhaps a touch of Hue/Sat to pull out any color cast if there is one.
Google and lots of things will come up for this.
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02/19/2008 01:15:56 PM · #7 |
Thanks to you all, quite a few things to try here. Quite like the sound of this Expo-Disc white balance tool, does anyone have one?
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02/19/2008 01:39:08 PM · #8 |
Originally posted by chig:
Thanks to you all, quite a few things to try here. Quite like the sound of this Expo-Disc white balance tool, does anyone have one? |
Yes. It's amazing. Buy the biggest one and just hold it over the lens - no need to get one in every size or attach it.
You need to turn AF off when you use it, and point it at the source of the light (when possible, it's not always possible).
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02/19/2008 02:04:19 PM · #9 |
I like my ExpoDisc very much, too. It makes a remarkable difference in weird lighting situations. One place I'll use it a lot is when I'm shooting Steelers games.
HOWEVER...! I have to be careful to remind myself to reset it every so often. For example, if a Steelers game starts at 1:00 in the afternoon, the light at the beginning of the game will be different enough by half time that I have to remember to get a new setting. I try to remember to reset it at the end of each quarter. With the mix of stadium lights and natural light... and natural light giving way to stadium lights as the day moves on, there is a noticeable difference in the white balance if I leave it set the same way the whole day.
So, if you're in a situation where the light changes at all, you need to be aware of it and make adjustments periodically. |
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02/19/2008 03:25:44 PM · #10 |
Many thanks for your replies, I will buy an Expo-Disc and give it a go.
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