White balance for mixed lighting - 20D

[jimlp]

I hope this is in the right forum. When shooting people outside if it is harsh light I will shoot in open shade with fill flash but the background is usually sunny/daylight balanced, with these 3 lighting variables what would be the best way to approach the situation? I will obviously shoot RAW but I am wondering if anyone has found that the 20D leans in a particular direction regarding overall color cast in these conditions. Thanks in advance for any replys.

[Jon]

Get one shot with a grey card. Colour balancing is going to depend on colour of the subject matter to a degree as well as the colour of the light, and shadows are all going to be uniquely affected.

[roanjohn]

Diffuse the light or use a reflector to avoid using flash.......the color temperature are too different for the camera to know which is which.

Ro1

[robertwgross]

What Jon is suggesting is to choose one dominant type of light, and then do your custom white balance based on that. Then, you may have one lesser type of light, and it will just add some color/flavor to the main part.

Alternatively, you could try to neutrally balance out all of the lighting flavor, but that may not be what you intend.

---Bob Gross---

[jimlp]

I was originally going to go for the best balance for the skin tone as that is most important in a people picture, but letting the shadows fall where they may could present problems.

[jimsolt]

White balance adjusts the camera for the color temperature of the light. Whether it falls on skin tones or shadow areas the color of the light does not change and this is what white balance is for.
NOW, depending on what that light is falling on DOES make a difference in how your picture will look, but if you start with your camera seeing the light temperature properly, you can make the other adjustments more easily.
Shooting in RAW gives you a ton of lattitude in these adjustments and that is a great start also.
Jim

[Jon]

Well, in a mixed lighting situation unless one source overpowers the others shadowed areas are going to, by definition, show the effect of all but one of the light sources. That goes for colour balance too. Whether the dfference in colour balance is significant will depend on the nature and intensity of the various light sources. It doesn't matter whether you shoot in RAW or JPEg; correcting these areas is going to require precise manipulation in your photo editor program.

[CanonUser]

- Custom WB for the main subject, the image's main point of focus.
- Shoot in RAW mode.
- Use E-TTL fill flash.
- Set exposure to protect hilights.
- In DPP, convert to TIF 2 versions of the same photo. One with the proper WB/exposure for the shaded area and one for the sun lit area.
- Layer both photos Photoshop, use a layer mask to merge the 2 together.

[Todd Jacobsen]

Get one shot with a grey card. Colour balancing is going to depend on colour of the subject matter to a degree as well as the colour of the light, and shadows are all going to be uniquely affected.

Jon's point has worked for me.

1) Shoot RAW
2) Take a "test" shot with gray card at subject
3) Shoot
4) Utilizing PC Software (Adobe ACR), adjust white balance based off of gray card shot

Technique works for limited time since outdoor light can change based on cloud movemnt and time of day. Recommend gray card test shot every 10 minutes. It's easy and digital "film" is free.

Even with CWB, you may not get it right.