Custom White Balance In Digital Photography

Custom White Balance in Digital Photography

Photo Tip Friday April 4 2014

Is Custom White Balance really that important?

Custom WB = Accurate colour in your Digital Photographs

Custom White Balance can handle different Light Sources
Custom White Balance can handle different Light Sources

This is a solid fact! If you are shooting for accurate colour of your subject, such as jewelry or items for a catalogue, then I highly recommend you learn how to apply custom White Balance at the time of capture. Sometimes photographers argue they can use post processing to make the colour NICE and remove colour cast. This is true (especially if you are working with RAW files), but is doing extra post processing for colour accuracy a good use of your valuable time?

I am a big fan of post processing and although part of my business is to provide post processing service for busy pro photographers, for my own important projects I always use Custom White Balance to save time in post processing and to give my clients the best possible images with close-to-natural looking colour.

During all the years of teaching photography classes I’ve noticed White Balance is one of the most challenging topics for the majority of my students, which is why I teach White Balance in our Digital Camera Bootcamp program. But there are some photographers who want to take colour accuracy to the next level by learning in-depth information about custom White balance and the tools one should use to obtain perfect colour.

Recently I developed a workshop just about White Balance. In this workshop I am going to show you the different approaches to obtain accurate colour for yourself or for your clients. Please follow this link to learn more about this hands-on workshop:

http://omnilargess.com/event-registration/?ee=111

Is there really a visible difference between Auto WB and Custom WB?

It all depends on how well trained your eyes and brain are, which is why Post Processing may not be a good option for everyone. Each of us sees colour differently and each monitor or printer renders the colour in a different way, etc. With Custom White Balance you can be sure that you capture the correct colour in first place.

Here are some samples for comparison. I took all photos on a tripod and used a Nikon AFS 14-24 lens with identical exposures. (The Nikon AFS 14-24 is a fabulous lens. Did you know we have this lens in stock for rental?)

Auto WB
Auto White Balance
Custom White Balance
Custom WB

In the image with a custom white balance the camera was able to capture more details.

Here are some more examples:

Auto White Balance can handle different Light Sources
Auto White Balance can not handle different Light Sources
Custom White Balance can handle different Light Sources
Custom White Balance can handle different Light Sources
Auto White Balance creates a colour cast in indoor photos
Auto White Balance creates a colour cast in indoor photos
Custom White Balance provides accurate colour
Custom White Balance provides accurate colour

 

If you want to learn more about Digital Camera Photography in general, consider registering for our Summer Digital Camera Bootcamp – there are still a few spots available!

Ted and the Omnilargess Team

[SINGLEEVENT single_event_id=”digital-white-balance-workshop-2-530e3297916d1″]

 

 

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