Tungsten, what am I doing wrong?

[COKE CAN]

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/9238/jeremy42nl.jpg

How do I get rid of the orange while shooting with a Digital Rebel?

Should this be a post processing question?

[RinkRat]

Not that I'm an expert, but here's what I'd do.

Shoot in RAW & AWB.

Open the image in RAW dialog box in PSCS(Or whatever RAW processor you use)

Zoom to 100%

Select Eyedropper tool

Find something in the image, that seems to be real close to 18% Gray, and click.

[Curtis N]

Have you tried tungsten white balance?

If shooting JPEG you need to select it before you shoot.
If shooting RAW you can select it when you convert it with your RAW conversion software.
(I usually forget white balance when shooting, which is one of the reasons I shoot RAW.)

[jrsforums]

No EXIF data on image so can't tell, but assume you shoot in AWB...which Canon is known to have problems with. You could shoot with WB in Tungsten...which may or not help as Canon's Tungsten is set at 3200K and incandescent is many times down to 2800-2900.

Also, are you sure it is incandescent light, not sodium vapor....if it is, it will be a real problem as the spectrum is "inconsistent".

All of the above nets out one of the many reasons I shoot RAW....and adjust as necessary in conversion.

John

[nat869]

Shoot in raw, carry a white balance card with you and at some point shoot the card in the same light that way you have a reference for later. With a raw processing software, I use C1 Pro, use the dropper to click on the white balance card and apply those settings to your pics. I suggest this method because it looks as if you were at a car show and might have had to deal with crowds. Normally I shoot the white balance card first and then use the custom white balance setting, but that is somtimes not practical.

[jimsolt]

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/9238/jeremy42nl.jpg

How do I get rid of the orange while shooting with a Digital Rebel?

Should this be a post processing question?

If you're not shooting RAW, then it is a problem to be dealt with before shooting. White balance tells the camera what the color temperature of the light you are shooting in is. Your picture suggests the light is either tungsten (which would look orange if your camera is set to daylight) or maybe flourescent. Whatever it is, set your camera to that white balance setting.

Many have problems with auto white balance. It works well most of the time for me, though in this situation I'd have set it for whatever kind of light is there. If you are dealing with mixed light sources (that doesn't appear to be the case here) you would shoot a custom white balance per the instructions with your camera.

In RAW, you can play with it to your heart's content in post. If you have something in the picture you are sure is white or the legendary 18% gray, you can use the eyedropper. If there is nothing like that there, you adjust using the color temperature slider till the colors look right to you. OR you might find that selecting one of the presets in your RAW converter will do the trick instantly.

Jim

[cecilc]

How do I get rid of the orange while shooting with a Digital Rebel?

I think you can do this "in-camera" - but you can also do it in post .... but I think it's easier to do it as you take the shot.

All of the above suggestions are good ones ....

If it was me, I'd try one - and maybe all - of these:

1) Shoot in RAW with AWB and adjust in post.
2) Shoot a frame at the existing light with a white card and set a custom white balance from that frame.
3) Set a Kelvin temperature to manage the white balance. With those lights, I'd start at about 3900 and see how a frame looked with that setting and adjust upward (more blue) or down (more red) as you needed.

The first option is the only one that would require white balance adjustments in post. If the next 2 were done adequately, you'd have the correct white balance when the shot is taken .....

Hope that helps ...

[COKE CAN]

I think you can do this "in-camera" - but you can also do it in post .... but I think it's easier to do it as you take the shot.

All of the above suggestions are good ones ....

If it was me, I'd try one - and maybe all - of these:

1) Shoot in RAW with AWB and adjust in post.
2) Shoot a frame at the existing light with a white card and set a custom white balance from that frame.
3) Set a Kelvin temperature to manage the white balance. With those lights, I'd start at about 3900 and see how a frame looked with that setting and adjust upward (more blue) or down (more red) as you needed.

The first option is the only one that would require white balance adjustments in post. If the next 2 were done adequately, you'd have the correct white balance when the shot is taken .....

Hope that helps ...

I don't think you can adjust temps on a 300D

[COKE CAN]

If you're not shooting RAW, then it is a problem to be dealt with before shooting. White balance tells the camera what the color temperature of the light you are shooting in is. Your picture suggests the light is either tungsten (which would look orange if your camera is set to daylight) or maybe flourescent. Whatever it is, set your camera to that white balance setting.

Many have problems with auto white balance. It works well most of the time for me, though in this situation I'd have set it for whatever kind of light is there. If you are dealing with mixed light sources (that doesn't appear to be the case here) you would shoot a custom white balance per the instructions with your camera.

In RAW, you can play with it to your heart's content in post. If you have something in the picture you are sure is white or the legendary 18% gray, you can use the eyedropper. If there is nothing like that there, you adjust using the color temperature slider till the colors look right to you. OR you might find that selecting one of the presets in your RAW converter will do the trick instantly.

Jim

Hmmm, I'll have to play with it I guess. I was shooting JPEG fine on Tung. WB. Unfortunately that was what came out.

[Tom W]

What kind of lighting are you shooting under? Are those standard incandescent (tungsten) lights, or are they some type of high-pressure sodium? If they are the latter, it will be very difficult, if not impossible to remove the orange cast. High and low-pressure sodium discharge lighting has a very narrow light emission spectrum.

EDIT: That narrow spectrum is the orangish color that these type of lights produce. Very little light energy is emitted in other colors, so if you get rid of the orange, you get rid of most of the light.

[tim]

To summarise:
1) Shoot JPG, with a custom white ballance.
2) Shoot RAW and worry about it later. A custom white ballance will still help.
3) Shoot RAW, and use the eyedropper tool to select a white or neutral grey color (depending on which dropper you use).

Personally I shoot RAW and AWB, and worry about it later, but a custom white ballance could save a lot of post-processing time for big shoots.

[Jim_T]

On tough white balance situations, I shoot RAW. I lay a gray card under the light I'll be shooting in and take a photo of the gray card. Later when I'm processing the photos, I go to the image of the grey card and select the card as white using the eye dropper.. I apply that white balance to all the shots i took.... It works out pretty good.

Note that you'll never get natural looking shots under monochrmatic light, but you'll lose the sickly orange cast.

[Curtis N]

I don't think you can adjust temps on a 300DShoot RAW, and adjust the temp with Canon's Digital Photo Professional (DPP) or the RAW converter of your choice.

If you take one shot of a grey or white card, you can use the eyedropper tool in DPP to click on the card and adjust the whole set of images at once. The other programs probably have similar capabilities.

[scottbergerphoto]

Not that I'm an expert, but here's what I'd do.

Shoot in RAW & AWB.

Open the image in RAW dialog box in PSCS(Or whatever RAW processor you use)

Zoom to 100%

Select Eyedropper tool

Find something in the image, that seems to be real close to 18% Gray, and click.
That is incorrect for ACR. It will work on a converted image in levels with the grey eyedropper but it is not the recommended way in ACR. Bruce Frasier recommends that in ACR you click the WB eye dropper on a part of the image that is bright white and still has detail.

[RinkRat]

That is incorrect for ACR. It will work on a converted image in levels with the grey eyedropper but it is not the recommended way in ACR. Bruce Frasier recommends that in ACR you click the WB eye dropper on a part of the image that is bright white and still has detail.


hrmmm...

Guess that explains why I still have to do some tweaking afterwards. :o

Thanks Scott.

[d'homme]

If your use Photoshop.. u can lessen the color with the "photo" filter. Choose the blue and adjust it.

[ScottE]

Can the digital rebel not do Custom white balance?

With my D60 or 20D I would just take a picture of a white card in the same light and set custom white balance. Even though I shoot RAW, having the white balance almost perfect in the "As shot" setting in the converter gives a great starting point.

Scott

[Bob_A]

I used the greypoint dropper in levels and clicked on one of the rims. I have no idea if the colors are correct. Nice car though :D

[Johnny V]

That is incorrect for ACR. It will work on a converted image in levels with the grey eyedropper but it is not the recommended way in ACR. Bruce Frasier recommends that in ACR you click the WB eye dropper on a part of the image that is bright white and still has detail.

Correct...but if possible it's best to sample an area that is in the 190-210-+ range not in the 230-255 range.

[sony23]

My go

Is this the right colour of the car.

Bruce

http://www.goodwoodrestoration.co.uk/photos/jeremy.jpg


http://www.goodwoodrestoration.co.uk/photos/jeremy2.jpg

[pierrot]

What kind of lighting are you shooting under? Are they some type of high-pressure sodium? If they are the latter, it will be very difficult, if not impossible to remove the orange cast.
Same as you, it looks so much orange that it seems like these are NaHP lamps...

[Eagle]

Can the digital rebel not do Custom white balance?

Yes it can.

Page 52 of the manual explains how to set a custom white balance.

[nigelch]

Same as you, it looks so much orange that it seems like these are NaHP lamps...
Exactly. And because they do not give a continuous spectrum, you will NEVER manage to balance the picture, because the colours were not there in the first place in the light that is illuminating the scene. Only way to shoot this is:
1) Shoot "as is" and go with the wild colours.
2) Set up a whole load of studio flash and light it like a studio shot, blowing out the sodium lighting.
N

[d'homme]

I don't think those lights are tungten. Most lighting outside now are sodium vapor ... which is not tungsten. What color is the car suppose to be?

[griff2]

Whatever white balance you use, if those lights are sodium, you're stuck with a monochromatic image.

As for setting a custom white balance here's how to do it on the 300D:

using a white piece of paper, fill the viewfinder with the paper, making sure it's uniformly lit with the ambient lighting your going to use
take a picture and in the menus go to "custom WB" and select the picture of the white piece of paper
choose custom white balance on the camera.
I prefer this method to any other (and I shoot RAW all the time) since it gives me more consistent results than using the eyedropper in the RAW conversion software.