Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Cheap Alternative for Getting Your White Balance Right

You just got a DSLR this Christmas... Now what?

Well, one of the things you should know is to learn how to get the white balance of your photos correct. Why is that? Well, you can get some pictures that are more yellow than others, sometimes more blue than what you like, and you should learn how to correct for that. (For a more general discussion of white balance, check out this wikipedia entry.)

Check out my picture below:

Shot with a Canon 5D Mark II

My subject is supposed to be color white but because of the color of the light source, my picture has a really warm tone. So, if I want to produce the white "dress", I would need to have something to correct for the warm tone.

There are a lot of choices out there but I saw this cheap alternative that still gives magnificent results. It's the Polaroid White Balance Lens Cap 77mm. (I got this since the filter size of my "biggest" lens is 77mm.)


So how do you correct your white balance?

First, you have to do a calibration shot. This is done by knowing what the light falling on your subject is like:

If this is how I shoot my subjects...

...then this is how I do a WB calibration shot.
Essentially, "shoot" the location where you would take the picture. That's it!

Well, first, I should mention, you should set your DSLR to the Program (P) or Aperture-Priority (Av) Mode. Then set your camera to manual focus - with the WB cap on your lens, the camera won't be able to focus onto anything. Then, as in a Canon DSLR, take a shot, set that shot as the WB reference, and set your WB mode to Custom. (For shooters with a different brand, please consult your User Guide to change your WB. The important thing is how to get the shot for reference.)

After this, simple process, shoot away!

Shot with a Canon 5D Mark II

Perfect! I got the white balance that I wanted!

And if your point-and-shoot can do custom white balance, then just use the same lens cap to get the proper setting.

These two photos were shot using the Canon Powershot SX230 HS.




And for less than $10, you've got yourself a really good deal!

------------------------------------
Photos made by the Canon 5D Mark II with a Canon EF 24-105 f/4L lens and a Canon Powershot SX230 HS.

2 comments:

  1. Just learned this a few months back in my Canon S95. I realized that I've been shooting some yellowish pictures without adjusting the WB.

    ReplyDelete
  2. ey carl, check my "cheap" alternative for getting the white balance here: http://bit.ly/uVccFy

    ReplyDelete

Labels

Photography Chicago There's Always A Shot Review Philippines Gadgets Outdoor Photography Accesories Metro Manila Street Photography Events Photography Inspiration Photo Journalism Summer Photography Advice Travel Winter Accessories Photography How-to Portraiture The Wife Apple Autumn Shot A Million Times iPhone Video Review Product Review Holidays Long Exposure Spring Architecture Princeton iPhone Accessories Inspiration Taguig Art Indoor Music iPod Canon Cameras Event Fireworks Photography Technique Photojournalism How-to Museum Product Photography Books Fine Art Fitness Health Personal iPhone photography Flowers Fujifilm Panorama iPhone Photo Blue Hour #MoreFunInThePhilippines Food Photography Landscapes Lenses Filipino Fujinon Launch Mac Shoes Sony California HDR Japan Makati City Musings Navy Pier Night Photography Photoshop Science iPad Android BGC Bags Blog Contest Family Fashion Fitbit Friends Internet Motion Blur Non-iPhone phone Road Trip Running Sunset USA iPad Accessories iPhone Apps Animated GIF Apple Accessories Battery Bluetooth Cebu Cycling Dance Earphones Food Garmin GoPro Gym Home Luzon Macro Natural Light Photography Outdoor Run Pageantry Parade Quantified Self Quezon City Smartphone Sports Tabletop Photography Time Lapse Video Videography Workout iOS 4K Advice Anime Animé App Review Apple Watch Architectures Asia Athletics Beach City Scape Cosplay Dining Drop-proof case Duathlon Editorial Emotion Flower Globe GoProMax HD Halloween Holy Sites Home Theater Hyperlapse Joby Laptop Accessories Learning Long Zoom Love Lowepro MacBook Manga Manila Milky Way Mind Museum Minnesota Mobile Phone Mobile Phone Photography Movies North Luzon Orange PSHS Pasay City People Photography Event Post-Processing Power Rain Requests SM MoA Samsung Satire Sound Speakers TPLEX Tagaytay Tanay Televisions Temples There is always a shot Walking Workshop iPhone Case iPhone Xs Max

Comment Guidelines

Keep all comments relevant to the original post. Do not post comments which contain profanity, hate speeches or solicitations of any kind. Posting comments to this blog constitutes your agreement to adhere to these guidelines.