White Balance help please

M

Meno

Messages
405
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi, im having problems getting the white balance right on a shoot using a Hilite, its driving me crazy after every shoot having to try and correct every photo.

I have taken a photo of a grey card (subject holding) and set the custom white balance in camera, then chosen Custom in menu.

I go ahead and do the shoot and the photos come out terrible, even changing the white balance to Flash is way off

Any suggestions please?

View attachment 15729 View attachment 15730
Cropped Images SOC
5DMKIII
24-70 2.8
x2 Interfit in Hilites
x2 DLites Main and Fill
Room dark

Many Thanks
 
Meno said:
Hi, im having problems getting the white balance right on a shoot using a Hilite, its driving me crazy after every shoot having to try and correct every photo.

I have taken a photo of a grey card (subject holding) and set the custom white balance in camera, then chosen Custom in menu.

I go ahead and do the shoot and the photos come out terrible, even changing the white balance to Flash is way off

Any suggestions please?

View attachment 15729 View attachment 15730
Cropped Images SOC
5DMKIII
24-70 2.8
x2 Interfit in Hilites
x2 DLites Main and Fill
Room dark

Many Thanks
Click to expand...
What are you lighting the subject with? Try an alternative to the grey card, it's possible it's not neutral.
 
I'm not sure what the problem is. The images you've posted might not be perfect, but they're certainly not a million miles off colour wise. A little tweak and they'll be fine.

There is nothing wrong with your colour reference checker (Lastolite? They're pretty accurate). Shooting with flash WB or daylight will also be very close unless there's something going on that we don't know about, like bright green walls and a red sofa just out of shot.

To get the best out of a Hilite, you need to shoot Raw and post-process - in which case in-camera WB is irrelevant anyway.

Edit: a much more common problem with Hilites is the issue you're having with lighting and exposure balance - getting the background pure white and even, without blowing the subject. And with a blonde subject and white tops, that's trickier than usual. What are your exposure settings?
 
Last edited:
Might be my imagination, but light source top left appears to be yellower then whatever's lighting the rest?
 
Meno said:
I have taken a photo of a grey card (subject holding) and set the custom white balance in camera, then chosen Custom in menu.
Click to expand...

If you're setting in camera, then it will help to fill the frame with the grey card on the source image, so the camera is accounting for skin tones, and direct light from the Hilight, etc when setting the custom white balance.

Anyway, as said, just use a colour picker in post, click the grey card in the first image and then sync the rest of the shoot from that. Quicker and easier than doing it in camera and you can tweak to taste.

(Also I'll add another voice to the colour temp not being even throughout your lighting).
 
Jayst84 said:
If you're setting in camera, then it will help to fill the frame with the grey card on the source image, so the camera is accounting for skin tones, and direct light from the Hilight, etc when setting the custom white balance.
Click to expand...

Pretty sure that will depend on the metering method being used to shoot the grey card?


Jayst84 said:
Anyway, as said, just use a colour picker in post, click the grey card in the first image and then sync the rest of the shoot from that. Quicker and easier than doing it in camera and you can tweak to taste.
Click to expand...

The OP is trying to take a good picture by setting his camer up correctly and your advising him to take a bad picture and fix it in PP ?
 
KIPAX said:
Pretty sure that will depend on the metering method being used to shoot the grey card?
Click to expand...

Metering has nothing to do with white balance. It has everything to do with colour tones in the image, so when setting it in camera off an image, you want as much of that image to be neutral as possible.

KIPAX said:
The OP is trying to take a good picture by setting his camer up correctly and your advising him to take a bad picture and fix it in PP ?
Click to expand...

Assuming the OP is shooting in raw, it makes no difference, as you know. It wouldn't be a bad picture or a fix in PP, as the raw conversion software would be setting the white balance either way. If shooting JPEGs and setting in camera from an accurate source image - ie filling the frame with the grey card and lighting it correctly - then yes, set it in camera. If shooting in raw, and/or if unable to fill the image with the grey card for some reason, then doing it in post will give at least the same result, and likely, a better result.
 
Jayst84 said:
Metering has nothing to do with white balance. It has everything to do with colour tones in the image, so when setting it in camera off an image, you want as much of that image to be neutral as possible.<snip>
Click to expand...

With Canons, so long as the WB target more than fills the centre circle in the viewfinder, then the rest of the image is irrelevant. A white target is recommended, but grey is fine so long as it's not under-exposed and full of noise.

I have to say though, that WB doesn't seem to be the OP's major issue. Why would it be? And it doesn't look that far out anyway. But using a Hilite properly, plus multiple lights, is not easy for a newcomer to studio work and there's certainly attention needed in other significant areas.
 
HoppyUK said:
With Canons, so long as the WB target more than fills the centre circle in the viewfinder, then the rest of the image is irrelevant. A white target is recommended, but grey is fine so long as it's not under-exposed and full of noise.
Click to expand...

Really. I don't do it often, but I've had some daft results in the past if there's other stuff in the frame. Which (besides there being no point to doing it in camera) is why I always set it in post - at least you can be certain what you're basing it on then.
 
Jayst84 said:
Really. I don't do it often, but I've had some daft results in the past if there's other stuff in the frame. Which (besides there being no point to doing it in camera) is why I always set it in post - at least you can be certain what you're basing it on then.
Click to expand...

Unless you mean off-the-scale-daft, then it could be because you're using a grey card that isn't quite neutral grey. Grey cards are really meant for exposure control, not colour WB, and my Kodak card for example is quite a long way off neutral though it looks okay to the eye at a glance. And those grey cards that are printed in books and magazines are rarely dead right. The OP's Lastolite grey target should be pretty good though.

But as you say, sort it in post processing and then sync the shoot.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for all the replies

It does appear another light source is present but there isn't, magnolia walls, hilite blocking window and no furniture. (Empty house).

You say just choose the reference and sync all the images in post but if i do that with the attached grey card image it throws it well off.

Will try again today using the other (white) side of the card and leaving the grey in the picture.

Thank you
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top