Automatic White balance on 5d .. yuck

[freefallu]

Hi,

I have just spent the evening photographing myself under various light conditions to see WB in action. I found that under tungsten light i had to get the temp quite low on the camera before i was the correct colour and more importantly before a white reflector came out white. When i let the camera " loose " on automatic in most situations it got me all wrong.

So heres the question. What mode do you shoot in, do you trust AWB , or use the presets in your camera or do you make some attempt to measure or gauge the light , assuming your not doing candids and have no time. I have noticed on many photos of humans that the photos im drawn to , especially outdoors have natural looking colours esp in the background.

[ssim]

Working in AWB in ambient lighting conditions will give you color casts no matter how you shoot it. If I am working under low lighting conditions with say just a table lamp or similar I will normally do a CWB. Even though I shoot RAW 99% of the time I will still try and do this, if time allows.

I have found the solution to be to shoot RAW and then change the color temperature in the conversion process. I have always found that trying to remove this color cast from a JPG to be difficult though lately I have bought some tools that make it easier.

The camera does not see the image as we see in these lighting conditions. I have done this type of shot across all of my bodies and it is not unique to the 5D.

[freefallu]

ok, i hear you, would investing in a colour meter be a good idea or a waste of dough ? I like to get things right in the camera . I am sort of " scared " of RAW due to the larger work flow for processing. Is a corrective white balance taking a picture of something white and adjusting the temperature on the camera untill you get an entirely white " return " from the object ?

[ssim]

A color meter is not something that is required, imo. However, if you want to be that exacting I suppose you could use one.

For CWB I shoot and 18% gray card and then set that image in my camera as the source for the white balance. It is works very well. The only thing to remember is to switch it back when you change lighting conditions (been there done that).

It is a matter of personal preference but I don't find the RAW workflow to be that demanding. Particularly in circumstances like this where you are having to work against potential color casts, I find RAW the simplest of the options.

[liza]

It is a matter of personal preference but I don't find the RAW workflow to be that demanding. Particularly in circumstances like this where you are having to work against potential color casts, I find RAW the simplest of the options.

I feel the same way. RAW actually makes my life simpler. It may be an extra step but the overall outcome is well worth it.

[freefallu]

ok thanks, i see what you mean about the changing light conditions , as i set the camera for different appertures ( hence I think mixing the light " mix " flash and ambient on the subject ) the temperature seemed to change quite a bit. The room was flooded with tungsten light but the flash is about neutral ( 5200k). This made me realise that if doing something thats dynamic its next to impossible to be making adjustments to temp on the fly. Whats the objective with the grey card ? Make it look white or grey by adjusting the colour balance. Sorry if thats a silly question.

RAW here i come!

Im gonna go shoot some, do you have a preferred editor , or do you use a plugin for CS2 ? Thanks for the tips.

[Tee Why]

Tungsten light causes troubles for Canon AWB. It always turns out orange/brown.
If you are shooting in JPEG, consider using a white/gray card and setting it to custom WB or using the Tungsten WB setting.

The othe option is to set it to AWB and adjust for yourself on the computer by shooting in RAW.