96 Better Available Light Digital Photography
Auto White Balance (AWB) works most of the time, especially in
venues with wildly different kinds of light sources, such as con-
vention centers or athletic arenas. Joe always does a few test shots
fi rst to see if the color is close. If that doesn’t work, he tries a few
more tests using some of the other available White Balance
options. Be careful of exposure. Under most mixed-light condi-
tions, it may be necessary to increase exposure compensation to
produce a bright enough image. Because this is digital, you canWhen shooting with available
light in this Harley-Davidson deal-
ership, there was more to deal
with photographically than just a
mix of daylight, incandescent,
halogen, and who-knows-what-all
lighting. Exposure can be tricky,
too, so it’s a good idea to switch
into Manual mode as Joe did here.
Camera was an Olympus EVOLT
E-300 with the Digital Zuiko 7–
14 mm ED zoom lens at 7 mm.
Exposure was 1/30 sec at f/4.0,
and even wide open, there’s plenty
of depth of fi eld. Color Balance
was set on Auto, and here it deliv-
ered accurate Color Balance
without requiring any postproduc-
tion color correction. © 2005 Joe
Farace.
This unretouched digital image of
a Dodge HEMI-powered drag
racer was made on the fl oor of the
Las Vegas Convention Center. Not
only was Joe dealing with the kind
of mixed-lighting sources that
abound in these environments, but
there was also the big LCD screen
behind the car, kicking in red and
other colors. The Auto White
Balance mode for the Canon EOS
5D handled it with aplomb even at
ISO 800. Exposure was 1/40 sec
at f/40, hence the shallow depth of
fi eld. Although the color may not
be perfect, it’s certainly in the
ballpark. © 2006 Joe Farace.