Copy and paste the link below or click on the post title "White Balance" to go to a short article about White Balance:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/6455684/White-Balance
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
White Balance
Copy and paste the link below or click on the post title "White Balance" to go to a short article about White Balance:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/6455684/White-Balance
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A couple notes on White Balance, and the options we're presented with at the time of capture...
ReplyDeleteI know you touched on the fact that the camera uses calculations to effectively - or not effectively - figure the white balance of a scene. It's important to note that many cameras use 3 methods - the actual colored pixels inside the sensor, the exposure meter itself, and thirdly an ambient color temperature meter mounted typically near the hot shoe for the flash - at least on Nikon cameras.
This means that even if the camera were pointed at a very colorful scene - say a sunset, that it wouldn't assume tungsten lighting just because the color was so warm.
One last thing, an old device from the studio and my on-location photography days - the color temperature meter. This device is used the same way as an incident light meter - put into the scene, and a reading taken. It gives out the color temperature, and the appropriate filter set to use with film. Of course, if your camera has a custom white balance option, you would simply put the degree kelvin, and tint adjustment in, and presto, you should have baalnced color. Albeit a bit more expensive than a gray card, these devices are great when photographing in mixed light, where one must convert large areas - say making a color balanced scene in a room with flourescent lighting - with tungsten spot lights, and perhaps daylight coming through windows.