White Balance

[Fluorite]

I just like to see how you people keep your white balance constant. I use auto most of the time but it isnt constant all of the time. I shot a few frames on a running track and the reds of the track werent constant.

If I were to use mannual, that means I have to calibrate the WB regularly which is a pain as the colour temp of the light outdoors change as the sun starts to set.

So what do you think is the best solution? Pls: Do not introduce post-editing or shooting raw here as I am concerned with colour consistency when shooting events.

[Zerstorer]

AWB will attempt to evaluate WB in each every individual shot. If you want consistency, just use any fixed WB setting.

[Fluorite]

But as mentioned, the light colour temp will change outdoors.

[seankyh]

I think it would be best to shoot raw. Measuring white balance each time is a big pain in the a** But RAW will need a more complicated workflow..

[Fluorite]

That is exactly the thing... Sigh, any other ideas? I guess keeping the consistency of WB outdoors in JPEG is tough. Raw is great, but I just can't afford to shoot RAWs all the time- Large files, longer processing, etc.

[Fluorite]

Guess I will have to use Expodisc and calibrate WB every now and then. But that will interupt my workflow.

Will consider it when before going to bed.

[rncw]

Originally Posted by Fluorite Guess I will have to use Expodisc and calibrate WB every now and then. But that will interupt my workflow. Will consider it when before going to bed.

expodisc is good for outdoor. for indoor/night shoot, i normally use auto (with flash).

[shinken]

Expodisc is good for both indoors and outdoors. But takes getting used to. There's a learning curve to overcome on delivering the expected results. It's also quite a hassle to use it indoors. But if gotten used to, can be quite rewarding.

[Goldenstars08]

I use AWB most of the time...

[shinken]

Sharing an article on WB I just read

[Fluorite]

Thanks for the article. But does anyone has a solution to a quick and accurate WB calibration as above?

[shinken]

Color-meters? Heard about it, but never actually used it. Here: another article on WB which mentioned color-meters

[hazta]

Dunno abt e rest but I snap a pic of e grey card n use it s my preset white balance. Works for me...

Or perhaps u can use any grey bg pics???

[catchlights]

No short cut.

If have any, as in a software, it will be as popular as photoshop.

If have any, as in a device, it will be as popular as skylight filter.

If you can make any of that, you will be rich. very very rich.

[sammy888]

Originally Posted by catchlights No short cut. If have any, as in a software, it will be as popular as photoshop. If have any, as in a device, it will be as popular as skylight filter. If you can make any of that, you will be rich. very very rich.

I was wondering when some sanity would prevail here heheheh..... save me the trouble heeeee

[jbma]

Originally Posted by catchlights No short cut. If have any, as in a software, it will be as popular as photoshop. If have any, as in a device, it will be as popular as skylight filter. If you can make any of that, you will be rich. very very rich.

Now this is sensible. There is no short cut. It's RAW or nothing. You can't have consistency when you are outdoors.

[freelancer]

Originally Posted by Fluorite Thanks for the article. But does anyone has a solution to a quick and accurate WB calibration as above?

I use the WhiBal http://rawworkflow.com/products/whibal/index.html

Easy to use and its durable. There are some helpful video tutorials on the link above.

If you are looking for a software based white balance tool I would suggest that you take a look at rawshooter (RSP) which does a decent job in estimating the white balance temperature. If you want to be exact, you will need a white balance shot (WhiBal, Expodisc, etc)

[Green Baron]

With some practice, you can correct most white balance problems by manually tweaking the RGB curve using the curve command, except those extreme cases. It may not be perfect but it is a reasonable tradeoff for those who do not want to deal with RAW files.

Also note that unless you have calibrated your monitor, doing WB/colour correction on uncalibrated monitor could be worse than not doing WB/color correction !

[wong1979]

Originally Posted by Green Baron With some practice, you can correct most white balance problems by manually tweaking the RGB curve using the curve command, except those extreme cases. It may not be perfect but it is a reasonable tradeoff for those who do not want to deal with RAW files. Also note that unless you have calibrated your monitor, doing WB/colour correction on uncalibrated monitor could be worse than not doing WB/color correction !

Hi, Ot a little bit here. When you tweak the RGB, do you do it for the main RGB curve alone, or you individually adjust the colors. Also, do you think it's a major doctoring or it's just minor one. Because, I too have noticed that by tweaking the RGB curve can improve ur pic tremendously. But then again, the purpose of photography is to present the best picture perfect pic? So if the original pic doesn't look right, that bit of PSing isn't that 'sinful' right?

[catchlights]

Originally Posted by wong1979 Hi, Ot a little bit here. When you tweak the RGB, do you do it for the main RGB curve alone, or you individually adjust the colors. Also, do you think it's a major doctoring or it's just minor one. Because, I too have noticed that by tweaking the RGB curve can improve ur pic tremendously. But then again, the purpose of photography is to present the best picture perfect pic? So if the original pic doesn't look right, that bit of PSing isn't that 'sinful' right?

If you adjust on the main, you are adjust RGM curve as a whole, what color adjustment can you make?

Btw, how much to adjust or how much PS work you want to do to your images is very subjectives, no right or wrong, to each of his own, no point discuss here.