A qns for flash users


sinned79

Senior Member
Jun 18, 2009
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Singapore
www.dennislee.co
Just curious, what white balance u usually use when u shoot with a flash? And whats your preference?

I tried the below:

AWB - gives me closer to skin color and actual color of subject (eg clothing color)
Flash - gives overall orangy tinge on the photo

Note: Btw i shoot in raw format.
 

Depends on ambient lighting as well. I find the best way is to shoot an 18% grey card, then select that image as custom WB. Shoot RAW to give the most flexibility with post process.
 

Just curious, what white balance u usually use when u shoot with a flash? And whats your preference?

I tried the below:

AWB - gives me closer to skin color and actual color of subject (eg clothing color)
Flash - gives overall orangy tinge on the photo

Note: Btw i shoot in raw format.

Normally I shoot in RAW using AWB when using flash. In event that I think WB need adjustment, I'll adjust it during PP. Just ensure that within the photo there's a white sport for you to pick! Else I will just use a plain A4 white paper to do a snap shot at that area on flash.
 

Depends on ambient lighting as well. I find the best way is to shoot an 18% grey card, then select that image as custom WB. Shoot RAW to give the most flexibility with post process.


Normally I shoot in RAW using AWB when using flash. In event that I think WB need adjustment, I'll adjust it during PP. Just ensure that within the photo there's a white sport for you to pick! Else I will just use a plain A4 white paper to do a snap shot at that area on flash.

thanks for the tips guys! :)

still newbie in flash haha :sweat:
 

Depends on the temperature of the flash also.
Some 3rd party flash like Nissin Di866 gives a slightly warmer tone.
 

Well, I'm not sure about using a grey card. But for me with a budget, I just use White A4 paper! haha. So far I think it's still okay for me. Perhaps I'll try out gray card one day. But any know if there is really a significant difference if we "pick" the WB point during PP between a grey card & a plain white surface? Pros please advice... thanks
 

Well, I'm not sure about using a grey card. But for me with a budget, I just use White A4 paper! haha. So far I think it's still okay for me. Perhaps I'll try out gray card one day. But any know if there is really a significant difference if we "pick" the WB point during PP between a grey card & a plain white surface? Pros please advice... thanks

i want to know also haha.
 

i want to know also haha.

mmm I'm interested in the use of A4 paper as well... is it pure white as in good enough as a control? Never tried, so don't know.

Still need post process to "pick" the white rather than setting WB correctly in cam :think:
 

Well, I'm not sure about using a grey card. But for me with a budget, I just use White A4 paper! haha. So far I think it's still okay for me. Perhaps I'll try out gray card one day. But any know if there is really a significant difference if we "pick" the WB point during PP between a grey card & a plain white surface? Pros please advice... thanks

not all white papers are equal. you can read more info here in the first post: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=58677

I've also read that when u use white for WB, there is a risk of over exposure on the white object (blown area) which may mess up your WB.

However, if it has worked well for u so far then just stick to it lor.

Personally I also shoot in raw when possible. Main correction I do is actually white balance during PP, esp when shooting indoors. And if you have varying lighting conditions, it is probably not going to be too practical to keep shooting the white or grey card when you move to a spot with different lighting, esp if you are shooting events. One trick I often use is to use the white of the eye as the point to get the WB. Does not always work well but in shots with people in it, I find it tends to be a more reliable gauge than a shirt or something that "should be white".
 

Personally I also shoot in raw when possible. Main correction I do is actually white balance during PP, esp when shooting indoors. And if you have varying lighting conditions, it is probably not going to be too practical to keep shooting the white or grey card when you move to a spot with different lighting, esp if you are shooting events. One trick I often use is to use the white of the eye as the point to get the WB. Does not always work well but in shots with people in it, I find it tends to be a more reliable gauge than a shirt or something that "should be white".

yeah i recently shoot an event... all my WB varies a lot cos the location is in a factory... and the lighting there not balance.

thanks for the tips!
 

raw is damn xiong on my cards and hdd.... so i wack jpg and hope i get it right, the first time. if not check, adjust, shoot and aim to get it right the 2nd time.

with flash on, its damn hard to use awb i imo. it will give yellowish tone as awb with flash = flash wb. which will make all yellow light very yellow.

depending what you want, you will need to balance your flash with your ambient.

eg, you want your background to be dark/darker than usual (~2 or more stops under, with flash filling in). then you probably not need to spend the effort balancing your flash with ambient coz you're not seeing much of the ambient anyway. awb works.

otherwise if you're shooting at 1stop under (or less) with flash filling in. you need to balance your flash light to make everything more consistant. (eg slap on a 1/2 cto or full cto) Depending on the ambient (moving from 1 room to another, subject standing under lamp/away from lamp) will yield different wb. Thus there is a need to adjust before/between every image. (luckily, they all fall within a small range)

edit: i learnt this from a videographer a few weeks ago. BYOL. Bring your own light. Bring a strong 1/2ct video light and plant it in a area you want to light to provide more "Ambient" light.

custom kelvins works best. for hotel indoors, a 1/2 cto + wb between 2900~4000 works. (of if you are lazy, slap on a full cto, and keep wb on tungstern). Do take note of spotlights though. they are usually white and will throw your wb(and sometimes exposure) off. ask before hand if there will be spot lights.
 

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raw is damn xiong on my cards and hdd.... so i wack jpg and hope i get it right, the first time. if not check, adjust, shoot and aim to get it right the 2nd time.

with flash on, its damn hard to use awb i imo. it will give yellowish tone as awb with flash = flash wb. which will make all yellow light very yellow.

depending what you want, you will need to balance your flash with your ambient.

eg, you want your background to be dark/darker than usual (~2 or more stops under, with flash filling in). then you probably not need to spend the effort balancing your flash with ambient coz you're not seeing much of the ambient anyway. awb works.

otherwise if you're shooting at 1stop under (or less) with flash filling in. you need to balance your flash light to make everything more consistant. (eg slap on a 1/2 cto or full cto) Depending on the ambient (moving from 1 room to another, subject standing under lamp/away from lamp) will yield different wb. Thus there is a need to adjust before/between every image. (luckily, they all fall within a small range)

edit: i learnt this from a videographer a few weeks ago. BYOL. Bring your own light. Bring a strong 1/2ct video light and plant it in a area you want to light to provide more "Ambient" light.

custom kelvins works best. for hotel indoors, a 1/2 cto + wb between 2900~4000 works. (of if you are lazy, slap on a full cto, and keep wb on tungstern). Do take note of spotlights though. they are usually white and will throw your wb(and sometimes exposure) off. ask before hand if there will be spot lights.


thanks for the tips! :thumbsup: