20 27 July 2019 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I subscribe 0330 333 1113
Technique WHITE BALANCE
HOW TO SET A CUSTOM WHITE BALANCE
1 Select Custom
Enter the menu or use the relevant direct
access button to bring up the white balance
options on the LCD screen. Scroll down to
Custom, usually at the bottom, and press OK.
This will take you through to a screen where
you need to shoot a reference image.
2 Fill the frame
The camera will now ask you to shoot a
reference image of something white. Use a
sheet of white paper and place it in front of the
camera. Look through the viewfinder and fill
the frame before pressing the shutter button
or another button as directed by the camera.3 Confirm custom setting
Once the reference image has been taken,
most cameras will take you through to a
confirmation screen to accept the custom
setting you’ve created. A custom setting should
be created each time you shoot because they
are specific to the light conditions at that time.1 Take your shots
Set up your shot and take one with the
colour checker in the scene, then remove and
continue shooting. Load your images into your
raw-editing software and select the one with
the colour checker before using the white
balance dropper to click on the white square.
2 Copy settings
Keep the reference image selected, hold down
the Shift key and select the main image(s).
Click on the Sync button making sure WB is
checked. Click Synchronize or OK. This will
copy the white balance settings so that your
images without the reference card adjust too.3 Get perfect white balance
The result will be 100% perfect white balance.
The colour checker is great for studio use
because studio flash colour temperature
varies from one brand to the next. The colour
checker is also great for any subject under
any lighting – even when using a Big Stopper.HOW TO USE A COLOUR CHECKER
Working in difficult
conditions
The most difficult conditions
you’ll ever find yourself
working in are those where
there are mixed light sources.
This is problematic because
you have two or more light
sources with different colour
temperatures, and setting a
white balance preset to deal
with one light source means
that the other light source
will create a colour cast.
There are two main ways
to deal with this: one is to use
Auto white balance, and the
other is to create a custom
white balance. Auto white
balance will assess the scene
and attempt to come up with a
white balance that neutralises
the light in the scene, and in
most cases will do a reasonable
job – but more often than not
it’s far from perfect because
it creates an average. In fact,
Auto white balance can be
a tempting setting to use in
many, if not all situations,
because as the name suggests
it sets the white balance
automatically, so that’s one less
thing to worry about. The
problem is that it simply tries
to neutralise light, so if you’re
shooting a sunrise or sunset,
for instance, the image will
appear subdued or even blue.
The most effective way to
deal with mixed lighting is
to set a custom white balance
where you take a shot of a
white card (could also be a
piece of A4 plain white paper)
under the light conditions in
which you’ll be shooting. You’ll
find that this will provide even
more reliable results than
using the presets.The WB setting of
a white background
is easy to correct
Nikon D610, 50mm,
1/125sec at f/8, ISO 100