It is also important to realise that
our brain and eyes compensate to see
a white object as white even under
coloured lights. Look at a white object
using say, an orange filter. As soon as
you bring the filter up to your eye,
momentarily – for a split second – the
white object will appear orange but
by the next split second, it will appear
as white. That’s enough proof that our
brain and eyes compensate for the
colour of the light.
Outdoor shot (simulated)Late evening shot (simulated)Okay. But we are told that setting
proper WB is not important if we
shoot in Raw. Isn’t that correct?
Yes and No! It is a fact that with Raw
files we can change the WB during
post-processing in an image editing
program, like Photoshop. But my
question to you is, why do you want
to start with a wrong WB? How can
you be sure that the WB that you now
set is correct for the scene that you
saw before your eyes when you tookthe picture? I see you saying
“Oh, I perfectly remember the
colours when I photographed
the scene”. Pardon me for being
blunt, but if you say so, you
are fooling yourself! There are
over 10,000 shades of green in
nature, over 7,000 shades of
blue and similarly, with other
colours. It is impossible to
correctly remember the colours
you saw, days or months ago.On the other hand, if you start
your image processing with the
correct WB, you have one less
thing to worry about. Also, it is
easier to add colours (for your
personal likes) but it is difficult
to get rid of unwanted colours.
Note: I am assuming that your
computer monitor is calibrated/
profiled and displaying
consistent colours.Of course if you are shooting
in JPEG, then you don’t have an
opportunity to change the WB
in post-processing. WB, along
with other parameters like
colour saturation, sharpness
and contrast, are baked into
the JPEG file. Hence it makes
sense to set the correct WB at
all times. One may argue that
an accomplished Photoshop
user can adjust the colours
to his liking even with a JPEG
file. Granted, but are you ‘that’
accomplished Photoshop user?
And even if you are, why create
more work for yourself?So how do I set a proper WB
on my camera?
Simple. Digital cameras have a
dial or other means (through
the Menu) to set a WB according
to the lighting condition. For
example, if you are shooting
in sunlight, you set the WB
to ‘Sunlight’ (‘Daylight’). If
the subject is under shade,
set the WB to ‘Shade’. If the
subject is under cloudy lighting
conditions, you set the WB to
‘Cloudy’. So also with other
lighting conditions like when
the subject is under tungsten or
fluorescent illumination.http://www.smartphotography.in 73
Smart Photography January 2016