WB and flash questions

[vkashi]

hi all,

i have always wondered about these two things and would love to have your feedback.

white balance
do our eyes always see white as white irrespective of light source? i always thought that things appeared differently under candle light as opposed to fluroscent light. i mean there might be minor correction but the same white appears different to me under incadescent and fluroscent light... so when we accurately preset the white balance in digital cameras, will white paper appear exactly the same irrespective of light source? and is this a true rendition of what we see?

flash
the red eye reduction system works by making pre-flashes to contract the pupil yet pre-flashes for flash metering is blamed as the cause for blinking eyes. so are pre-flashes good or not?

thanks in advance for all the clarifications and knowledge

 

[theRBK]

hi all,

i have always wondered about these two things and would love to have your feedback.

white balance
do our eyes always see white as white irrespective of light source? i always thought that things appeared differently under candle light as opposed to fluroscent light. i mean there might be minor correction but the same white appears different to me under incadescent and fluroscent light... so when we accurately preset the white balance in digital cameras, will white paper appear exactly the same irrespective of light source? and is this a true rendition of what we see?

Actually the eye sees the warmness in the white under candle light or the greenishness of white under fluorescent light...its just that the brain "tells" us that it is white white...don't think there is any correction done by the brain...but it is possible to train our brain to ignore its basic "corrective" instinct

the white balance of cameras on the other hand works at changing the warm or greenish or whatever white into white white, so that the output white looks as if it where actually white shot under some ideal white light source...

flash
the red eye reduction system works by making pre-flashes to contract the pupil yet pre-flashes for flash metering is blamed as the cause for blinking eyes. so are pre-flashes good or not?

thanks in advance for all the clarifications and knowledge

there's no good or bad...it helps to reduce red eye, but as you said, some people are prone to blinking due to such flashes...some are more sensitive to this effect than others...I know one person who just cannot keep her eyes open in flash photography...if you don't want such things to happen, try shooting with off camera flash that would not reflect off the person's retina so you don't have to use red-eye reduction mode...then again, the flash might pre-flash for exposure control...