Custom White Balance

[wulf]

For once I have a day with not much on so, after a long lie-in and between the stages of baking some bread, I have been doing some photography. My first target was to make sure I got my latest fiftytwo self portrait done in time. In the process I was making use of my new remote control but I also did some playing around with custom White Balance.

Take a look at these two shots:



The first uses auto White Balance; the second one is the custom setting and much nearer what I see with the naked eye (if anything, just a touch undersaturated). To use custom White Balance on the D40 (and, probably, most or all other DSLRs) you need to take a photo of something that is fairly plain in colour (or use a suitable photo you took earlier). Here is the one I used:



There is a slight gradient but that doesn't seem to have a negative result on the end effect. I was using a tool that cost me absolutely nothing except a couple of minutes of my time:



It is a bit of translucent white plastic cut from a milk container - if your milk comes in bottles or tetrapak, I am sure that you can probably find other sources of similar material.

I took the idea from the filters you can fit that have a translucent gauze for the purpose of taking a white balance shot. This picks up the overall quality of the room and seems to give good results. It is also very portable and, if I lose it, the only problem is that I have left a piece of litter behind.

Wulf

[Nathan deGargoyle]

The top from a Pringles container seems to be the preferred option.

[Nicole]

I use the white, semi-clear plastic rear lens cover that came on 2 of my lenses. Fits perfectly over the front of the 52mm lenses. I'd have to adapt that for other lenses to use something else, but seeing as 2/3 of my lenses are 52mm it works for now

[waffles]

Index cards for me. Easy to carry around and they're white. Plus, I can write on the other side.

[porterd2nz]

Many people will note that the Pringles cans now have clear tops. You can still use these if you use a very fine grade sand paper and gently opaque the lid with it. They tend to get a bit dirty after a while laying in the bottom of my camera bag but another one can be made pretty quickly.

[Matthew James Norman]

Great little demo, wulf, thanks for taking the time out to write it up - It's going to help me in the future.

So you get your piece of white card or top of the Pringles tube, then what? Take a photo of it against any background while using the 'set white balance' function?

[wulf]

Yes - that's the sum of it. Sometimes the colours will still need a tweak in post processing but it will get you into the ball park.

Having said that, Auto WB often works well and the other modes have their uses, both for capturing what you see or as the equivalent to putting a coloured filter on the front of the camera to tweak the mood of the scene.

Wulf

[Klaidas]

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/R...rd-Review.aspx

I think I'll try this out after seeing the difference that it makes

[porterd2nz]

I admit it, Wulf's idea was better than mine, so I combined them both to get:



Posted more on this in the DIY thread here.

[wulf]

That is a neat solution. If the elastic is taut enough, will it also serve to hold the Pringles lid onto the end of the lens?

Wulf