Atlanta, Georgia POTN'ers

Anyone: Can you reccomend a camera eye piece or something else useful for someone such as myself that wears glasses? I hate having to always put my hand around my eye piece to be able to see my meter and stuff clearly.

WB 101 according to ME. LOL!! =D

By all means, correct me if or where I am wrong. I am trying hard to fully understand WB. Since I am new to WB, this will be in very laymen terms that anyone can understand, which might actually be very helpful for others still having a tough time with this also. I am just thinking out-loud, and reiterating what I have learn thus far. And I think I got it!

AWB (Auto White Balance):

First and foremost, for AWB to work properly, your scene must have white present in it, in order to determin what white is. Your camera uses its internal histogram (looking for the lightest point) to determin what white is. Your camera will then "automatically" adjust all other colors accordingly to what it determins white to be. Assume however for a moment that you are photographing a landscape scene of grass and sky, and the sky is completely blue, your camera has no way to "AUTOMATICALLY" adjust colors accordingly. So in this case, AWB may not produce the most desirable colors. If there are however white clouds present, and you have a camera that handles AWB well, using AWB may be suitable.

EXAMPLE:

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'text/html' | Byte size: ZERO

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'text/html' | Byte size: ZERO

DigitalDawn wrote in post #5061087
CWB (Custom White Balance):
Carry a piece of paper with you. If the scene has no white in it to determin what white is, and you are unsure of your scenes color tempature (kelvin), pull out a piece of white paper (or commercial grey card) and take a picture of it while the camera is set accordingly (day,

To be exact about it, what the camera is actually looking for is 18% gray- thats what the commercial gray cards are all about, calibrated 18% gray.

DigitalDawn wrote in post #5061087
Customized Kelvin:
I have no freakin clue yet at what point you would want to use a custom Kelvin (light temperature). All I can think is that if say Tungsten is producing to yellow/orange, you could adjust this temperature setting accordingly tp produce an exact look you want. LOL!! =D

Those who do commercial photography in studios with mixed lighting or lots of reflections (think a stainless steel kitchen) sometimes use a color meter. For around $1400 you can know exactly what the Kelvin number of your lighting setup is. Then you just dial it into the camera.

For less then $30 I'll just shoot a 18% gray card or use my expodisc.

Always bear in mind that WB is about what you want it to look like, not what is "perfect". Example: if you set you WB "correctly" during a sunset shoot- you would loose the warm glow color-cast. Everything would look normal

digital dawn, whered you find that quote in your sig?

i had it on my facebook forever, but i could not find who the original author of it was.

Lowbyte wrote in post #5061386
To be exact about it, what the camera is actually looking for is 18% gray- thats what the commercial gray cards are all about, calibrated 18% gray.

Those who do commercial photography in studios with mixed lighting or lots of reflections (think a stainless steel kitchen) sometimes use a color meter. For around $1400 you can know exactly what the Kelvin number of your lighting setup is. Then you just dial it into the camera.

For less then $30 I'll just shoot a 18% gray card or use my expodisc.

Always bear in mind that WB is about what you want it to look like, not what is "perfect". Example: if you set you WB "correctly" during a sunset shoot- you would loose the warm glow color-cast. Everything would look normal

Thanks so much for helping out with this subject. I believe this subject is so very important and needs to be discussed. I however have a few questions / comments. And of course I am always looking for clearification.

$30.00 for a commercial gray card? WHERE?
I looked at them on B&H and it was almost $80.00!
Expodisc? Is this that WB filter?

So beside a light meter you can also get a color meter? With so many gadgets to hep us determin what camera settings are required, what the heck is left for us to do? I guess I am glad that I am not starting out with all of the latest and greatest gadgets. This forces me to have to think for myself.

About your statement: "WB is about what you want it to look like, not what is perfect".

Would this be true in "most cases" when photographing landscapes, indoors, etc, but with say wedding photography if its not white, its wrong? I can see how in many situation it would be all about "what" you invisioned. I tend to like moody photos and I believe understanding this fully will help me create moody photos. But it does seem to me also that there would be some cases whereas rendering white as white would be required and extremely important for realistic purposes. P.S. I have "NO" desire however to shoot weddings.

Thanks in advance! Your the best!

e r y k wrote in post #5061490
digital dawn, whered you find that quote in your sig?
i had it on my facebook forever, but i could not find who the original author of it was.

Gosh I cant remember who the original writter of this signature is.

Like many, its been around a very long time. I use to use it just because I am a nature hugger. Then I saw it on a site and remembered how much I loved this statement. I then realized it applies greatly to photography.

I however don't believe this is the original statement which is why its hard to find. I think the "take nothing but pictures" over time has been changed to suit peoples needs. Just a thought of course because I almost recall seeing this say "take nothing but memories" and a few other things. =/

Not sure!

Expodisc is invaluable - buy one and forget about the gadgets and cards.

If you must have a card - go down to Showcase and buy one of their 5 dollar stuffsack lens cloths - they are a perfect 18% grey. It clips on your bag and is there when you need it - to clean the dust and smudges - or get a reading.

Then set up your image editing software (photoshop) to see the black point as 10,10,10 - the white point to be 244,244,244 and the mids to be 133,133,133 - and then go download the proper print driver profiles for your printer. Only thing left to do then is buy or borrow a screen calibrator system (hardware - not software) and calibrate your screens.

Color management gets a lot easier.

jBear2000 wrote in post #5062273
Expodisc is invaluable - buy one and forget about the gadgets and cards.

If you must have a card - go down to Showcase and buy one of their 5 dollar stuffsack lens cloths - they are a perfect 18% grey. It clips on your bag and is there when you need it - to clean the dust and smudges - or get a reading.

Then set up your image editing software (photoshop) to see the black point as 10,10,10 - the white point to be 244,244,244 and the mids to be 133,133,133 - and then go download the proper print driver profiles for your printer. Only thing left to do then is buy or borrow a screen calibrator system (hardware - not software) and calibrate your screens.

Color management gets a lot easier.

Okay so I was right, that is the WB Filter looking thingy!

I have read about these and then while at Wolf Camera the manager and I discussed these. He also highly recommended this and said he never leaves home without it. My fear however was that I was going to have no clue how to use it. But I would bet I could figure it out real quick.

I hope to later purchase a monitor spider for correct calibration. Anyone want to let me barrow one?

Thanks a ton for this!

Any suggestion on my prior post: Can anyone reccomend a camera eye piece or something else useful for someone such as myself that wears glasses? I hate having to always put my hand around my eye piece to be able to see my meter and stuff clearly.

You could do what I told my wife's sister...
we were on Fort Walton Beach and she had just lathered up with sun screen. She has sensitive skin and was in a panic 'cause she forgot the stuff for her face. She said "what am I going to do about my face?"
I could not resist - " you could put a bag over it - that would help!"

A cap, hat or towel all work too.

I was at the Jack Resnicki seminar today and he shot an expodisc image for white balance with the camera pointed to between 1/2 and 3/4 to the subject and standing with his back to the light source. Its not how the directions say do it - but it works. Its really easy. You also need to buy the 77mm which is $129.00 +-. Then just hold it over the smaller lenses. No need to buy more than one. You also need to shoot another one every time the light changes. Thats about every 10 minutes in the afternoon sun.

jBear2000 wrote in post #5062456
You could do what I told my wife's sister...
we were on Fort Walton Beach and she had just lathered up with sun screen. She has sensitive skin and was in a panic 'cause she forgot the stuff for her face. She said "what am I going to do about my face?"
I could not resist - " you could put a bag over it - that would help!"

A cap, hat or towel all work too.

I was at the Jack Resnicki seminar today and he shot an expodisc image for white balance with the camera pointed to between 1/2 and 3/4 to the subject and standing with his back to the light source. Its not how the directions say do it - but it works. Its really easy. You also need to buy the 77mm which is $129.00 +-. Then just hold it over the smaller lenses. No need to buy more than one. You also need to shoot another one every time the light changes. Thats about every 10 minutes in the afternoon sun.

So thats why most photographers wear caps / hats. And here I thought it was just all about the COOL FACTOR! Thanks I will give this try! Dang thats a lot of light changes. But thanks, this was a great suggestion, and I particularly love the money saving suggestion.

I noticed yesterday that my composition is becoming very automatic / second nature for me which I am totally thrilled about. Now if I can just remember to get all of the settings changed everytime "automatically / second nature". But all in all, I think I am well on my way. I have actually learned tons in such a short time, and I cant wait to learn even more.

jBear2000 wrote in post #5062456
I was at the Jack Resnicki seminar today and he shot an expodisc image for white balance with the camera pointed to between 1/2 and 3/4 to the subject and standing with his back to the light source. Its not how the directions say do it - but it works. Its really easy. You also need to buy the 77mm which is $129.00 +-. Then just hold it over the smaller lenses. No need to buy more than one. You also need to shoot another one every time the light changes. Thats about every 10 minutes in the afternoon sun.

I invested in an expodisc a few months back. Really easy to use and gives good results. I also got the 77mm.

e r y k wrote in post #5056484
with all due respect jBear, nobody is forcing you to join.

i just think a seperate forum would be much easier to gather people / sell things / meet locals.

trying to find something in this thread is nearly impossible.

Wow, I stay off the boards for a couple of days and it turns into 'ImportAtlanta' lol Let me know when it is up and I am there as well. And saw your shot in G&N. Looked good and nicely lit, but then again Chassidy always has a way to make a photo look good.

Well I finally got some new skin filters for PS and wow does it make a difference and is a lot faster. Anyone else use a filter plug in or do you just select the area?

So now that we are getting into warmer weather, when is the next shoot? (yes I know it is supposed to be 38 tomorrow )

Dawn, it seems that 95% of this board can critique your photos but not tell you how to fix them. I just found a member that I thought could help the most and would PM them to get feedback and how I could fix the shot next time. It has helped so much.

Using the manual I figured out custom white balance and boy does it make a huge difference.

I have yet to go to a guru seminar where the "guru" of the day doesn't use an expodisc. If that doesn't help you - i don't know what does. Simple, easy to use and in the grand scheme of things - not terribly expensive.

Setting up Photoshop correctly - ought to be of some help as well. Maybe not for all - but for many.

Figuring out how to do levels correctly - ought to help out in a pinch too.

none of that was critique - it was help. If used it would help anyone's shots. If unused its useless.

y'all have fun - I'm going back to FM. No need to stick around here.

Planning a trip to Savannah and Tybee Island soon.
Would love recommendations / tips for camera care when shooting on beaches.
I assume when dealing with sand and salt there should be some sort of spacial care tips.

Thanks in advance,