Butterfly

[rom]

Hi all!
I'm pretty new to all of this, but I took this photo tonight, it's a so called 'Cabbage White' butterfly. I like it but it sums up a recurring issue I've been having - just can't get the colours right. I don't know is it a while balance issue or just the fact that i shot it in very dark conditions. Settings are ISO 200, Shutter 25sec., f18.

Any ideas as to why and what it's lacking would be much appreciated!
Thanks!
rom

[NgaiHill]

Hi, what are you shooting with? And what white balance setting were you using? And what type of lighting was being used? - you say you took the photo "tonight" so not sunshine. Sorry to throw a bunch of questions at you but it would make it easier for us to help answer your questions if you provided that type of information. Also you said your shutter speed was 25 sec. Really??

[rom]

Originally Posted by NgaiHill

Hi, what are you shooting with? And what white balance setting were you using? And what type of lighting was being used? - you say you took the photo "tonight" so not sunshine. Sorry to throw a bunch of questions at you but it would make it easier for us to help answer your questions if you provided that type of information. Also you said your shutter speed was 25 sec. Really??

Hey, no worries about the questions. I took the shot with a Canon EOS 550d on a tripod and with a shutter release. White balance was set to automatic (am new to this and WB is something i've never messed with!). It was shot in my house, in a dark room, where the dominant light source was a halogen bulb from the next room shinning through a window in the door! It is one of those energy saving bulbs and had only been switched on so it wasn't v bright. Photo was taken at 8.30pm GMT (was dark outside). And, it really was 25 sec!

I put the full resolution photo up on flickr. The one I posted to this form was 1/5th original size.

Thanks again!
rom
IMG_4916 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[JFSanders]

Light thrown from a compact fluorescent bulb will be very inconsistent especially as it warms up. Secondly the wall is off white and combined with the light will throw off your WB. Very hard to get such a combination to give usable results. The auto WB was probably confused by the light/wall color. Might be able to fix in a PP program but the lack of sharpness and noise will probably negate any advances you make in WB. Jim

[PrimeTime]

Usually auto WB won't work right indoors. Here is the corrected image. Its best to use manual WB instead of going through a bunch of color corrections......................

[gturner]

good save PrimeTime.
Agree with the guys above, WB under halogen and neon is very hard to get right.

why did you shoot at F18? That really is necessary?

At F4 you could have been at 1/8th or so.
If you had bumped up your ISO to 800 with that, you could have been close to hand holding.