Part TWENTYTWO: Working For Yourself

Forgive me!

I originally wrote out about 20 or so posts, on getting yourself into business and photography tips.
I have been posting these, in the order I wrote them. However, now, looking back I notice quite a few holes in my tips process. So, without further ado, I give you a post that should have happened quite a while ago, in terms of where it belongs in the Photography Work Flow Process.

White Balance
(...and how to correct it!)

steem Logo.jpg

White Balance.jpg

Above, on the left, the original shot.
On the right, I have tried to correct white balance of the image, and remove a bit of the orange colour cast.

White balance is the term used for cameras, photography, and images.
A camera these days, is a computer. And by using certain settings in camera, you are telling it what type of light you are shooting in and what the camera should interpret as White, Black, and Neutral Gray. From there, it gives your camera a chance to accurately reproduce the colors your eye perceives.

We typically think of Color Temperature of a day, in terms of Degrees of Kelvin. (ºK).
Here are some typical Kelvin Color Temps:
2000ºK A small candle indoors
2800-3000ºK small indoor lightbulbs
3250º Tungsten Theatrical Lights
3500ºK Early morning, late Evening before sundown
4550ºK Warm white flourescent tubes
5500ºK Midday sun
6000ºK Xenon Flash
6500ºK Blue Sky, with large shadows
7750ºK Snowy winter, Blue Sky

Using the camera's internal AUTO white balance is often a nice place to start. it "sees" the scene, makes comparisons to an internal series of settings and tries to guess based on what it "sees" what white balance to best shoot at. Most times, it can do well. But, there are plenty of times when a camera's guess at correct color temperature for white balance is flat out wrong.

There are plenty of times when it is wrong, and alter, you need to make corrections in Photoshop or (for me) Lightroom.
The goal, is make sure the colors in the image appear correct, when viewing.

Open an image, in Lightroom

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In Develop mode, on the right, note the module called Treatment.
Click on the Eye Dropper tool:

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... and move it over to a spot on the image that is supposed to be a neutral color gray.

Screen Shot 2018-03-19 at 17.54.46.png

When you click, notice who the image changes color? (compare below and above)

Screen Shot 2018-03-19 at 17.54.51.png

Compare this close up of the Treatment color below, with it's image above.
Screen Shot 2018-03-19 at 17.54.59.png

The color temperature goes form 4250 (original image) to the shot of the food tray with 3100ºK
The whites of the Strawberries no longer have an orange tinge to them. The Melon and Pineapple no longer have orange tones in them.

Using the camera to correctly shoot, based on the light available is always the first choice.
Knowing how to correct color balance, later, in Lightroom sure does help when (not if) you occasionally make a mistake whole out shooting!