2019-05-01_Digital_SLR_Photography

HELEN

DIX

ON

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May 2019 DigitalSLR Photography 59

Achievingthe correctWhiteBalance

iskeytocapturingcoloursaccurately

in-camera,butdependingonthe

desiredoutputforyourimages

colourcorrectiondoesn’tstopthere,

notbya longshot!Thankfully,there

are severaltoolsat photographers’

disposalthat make accuratecolour

renditionpossible andeasier.

GREYCARD/From£ 5

http://www.amazon.co.uk

Themostbasicofthe

colour-checking

accessories.Greycards

are cheapandsimple touse,allowing

youtotake anaccuratecustomWhite

Balancereadingin anylight,helping

to ensurethatyourfilesarein a good

placetostartwith.

EXPODISC/£ 40

http://www.expodisc.com

Amoreadvanced

versionofthegreycard,

• this semi-opaque
  devicefits ontheendofyourlens,
  muchlikeafilter,andallowsyouto
  take accurateWhiteBalancereadings
  onthe spot.Yousimply setyour
  customWhiteBalancewithitonand
  then removeit toshoot.

X-RITECOLOURCHECKER

PPASSPORT/£ 79

http://www.xrite.com

Ifaccuratecolouris

crucial, youmight want

to considera referencechart,suchas

X-Rite’s offering.This pocket-sized

guide allowsyoutomatchdifferent

huesduringpost-processing,aswell

as containinggrey,white andblack

referencepoints.

X-RITECOLORMUNKI

DISPLAY/£10 9

http://www.xrite.com

Youmightbe capturing

colourcorrectly,butif

they’re notdisplayedcorrectlyon

yourscreenwheneditingthenit’s

easytoleadcoloursastray.The

ColourMunkiDisplayallowsyouto

createa customcolourprofileforany

monitorordisplay,andeventakes

intoaccountthecolourtemperature

in theroomthatyou’reediting in.

DATACOLOR

SPYDERPRINT/£ 300

http://www.datacolor.com

Muchin the sameway

that colourcalibrating

yourscreenis a wisemove,if you’re

printingyourimagesthenensuring

that yourprinteris reproducingthe

coloursfromyourmonitoris

importanttoo.This clever

spectrocolorimetercreatesaprofile

basedonprintedtestcharts,andthen

matchesit towhatyouseeonyour

screen.It's not cheap, though.

ACCURATE COLOURS

yellow,suchas a rapeseedfield,andyoumay
findthattheimage is toocoolas thecamera
triesto balanceoutthewarmthoftheyellow.
Yourcamera’sCustomWhiteBalance
optioncanbeuseful in certainscenarios
wherebyyouhavea knownneutralinfrontof
you,suchas a photographer’sgreycard–
thesehave18%reflectanceacrossthevisible
spectrum– andaredesignedforsettingyour
WhiteBalance.The methoddiffersslightly
fromcamerato camera,butusingaCustom
WB ofteninvolvestakinga referencephoto
oftheneutralitemunderthesamelightthat
you’llbeshootingin,andthenusingthisto
settheWhiteBalancein thecamera’s menu.
Any photos taken from that point under the

CustomWBsettingwillusethisreference. It’s

idealforwhenyouhavetimeto spendgetting

it right orwhencolourreproductionis crucial,

suchas whenshootingproductsin the studio

orgettingportraitskintonesspot-on.

It'sworthmentioningthattheaboveis

mootifyoushootin Raw.Yourcamera’s

WhiteBalanceis appliedto theimage

preview,theJPEGif shootingin Raw+JPEG,

andwithin theRawdata,but whenediting

yourRawfileyoucanchoosewhateverWhite

Balanceyoulike.You’llbeofferedalistof

presetssimilarto yourcamera’s options,or

mostsoftwareallowsyouto manuallyadjust

temperatureandtint,orevenseta custom

WBby selecting a neutralpointin theimage.

DAYLIGHT WB CLOUDY WB TUNGSTEN WB