See Hub's Images They Way They Were Intended - In Print

I'm frequently asked if the images I use in my educational blogs and live classes can be purchased. I have resisted selling my images because I was concerned about affordability. I print all my images. Consequently each print is expensive, exacting and intended to meet the standards of a gallery print. As a result, the cost of prints might be out of reach for the readers I attempt to help in my digital photography blogs.

I recently discovered a solution that makes it possible to provide an economical way for students to see my images in a larger print form and also allow the modest collector a convenient way of purchasing fine art prints. The result is a professionally printed catalog, Hub's Imagery - By Popular Demand, containing enlarged versions of 21 of my most often requested and favorite images. The catalog cost less than $20. For those interested in owning any of my fine art images, the catalog also contains details for ordering individual prints on-line.

If you are interested in learning more, seeing a catalog preview or ordering the catalog, click here. I hope you will enjoy this series of images as much as I enjoyed putting the catalog together.

Part 24c - White Balance

Parts 24a and 24b may be as much as you need or want to know about white balancing your DSLR. On the other hand, even though this is a primer for the beginning DSLR user, you may occasionally have the need for even more precise white balance control. Part 24c is written for you.

One of my wife's hobbies is creating Temari balls. These decorative accessories are fashioned out of Styrofoam balls, covered with a base color thread and then overlaid with creative designs. OK, it's probably easier just to show you a Temari ball:

Figure 1 - Temari Ball with correct color rendering

My wife is particular about the colors when I photograph her final creations. Since others might use her pictures to attempt the same project, the correct rendering of thread colors is important. You may also have similar situations where color rendition is critical.

The white balance controls we have discussed in Parts 24a and 24b will get you close. But these white balance corrections are generic and applied by the manufacturer -- not to YOUR specific lighting conditions.

This article will discuss two options for performing a critical white balance adjustment to your DSLR. The techniques are slightly more involved, but once you have walked through the process once or twice, it will seem easy.

So, let's set up the shooting situation:

• assignment: shoot a picture of wife's Temari ball collection with proper color rendering
• lighting: a table lamp (tungsten) like you might have in your home

From our previous discussion, you know that this lighting situation is challenging and significantly different from an outdoor daylight situation.

It will help if we visualize the problem before tackling a solution.

Figure 2 - Kodak Color Reference Chart

To help in this visual demonstration, I will insert the card above in each example. This is a Kodak color reference chart used by professionals when they are balancing their images.

Figure 3 - Temari ball set up using daylight white balance setting

Yikes! Something's wrong here - Figure 3. It doesn't take a color expert to see that this picture, taken using the daylight white balance setting, is skewed to the yellow and red portions of the color spectrum. Use the white patch on the Kodak chart to see how far off the path it is from true white. If one color is wrong, then they are all wrong.

Of course, there are other white balance options. We could have taken this picture using the automatic white balance DSLR setting - Figure 4.

Figure 4 - Temari ball set up using the Auto White Balance setting

Well, auto white balance is a little better. But it is far from correct. Notice the white patch is still far from true white. It still retains a yellow and red cast. If this white is wrong, then all the colors must be wrong.

We did learn that DSLRs contain a white balance selection for tungsten lighting - Figure 5.

Figure 5 - Temari ball set up using Incandescent White Balance setting

Much closer. Using the camera's incandescent white balance setting, the white patch is almost white and the gray background color in the top half of the Kodak chart is very close to gray. But the color is still not correct.

Why not? Remember the white balance settings are created by the camera manufacturer. They must necessarily make some compromises. Since incandescent lights all "burn" at slightly different color temperatures, camera makers must strike a middle ground and use an average tungsten temperature value for their "norm". Unfortunately, that "average" is not exactly correct for the table lamp light I was using to take this picture.

Is all lost? Hang in there, technology will come to our rescue. Most DSLRs accommodate this situation by incorporating the ability to create a "custom" white balance. I will be using a Nikon DSLR to create a custom white balance for this scene, but the function can be found on most current DSLRs. Be sure to check your camera's manual for the specific directions for establishing a custom white balance.

Custom Color Balance Option 1:

If we can provide a known reference, then a custom color balance can be created.

Figure 6 - White card in place to create a custom white balance

The known reference must be a white or gray card that can be placed in the scene. Figure 6 shows a white card placed in the Temari ball set up. (This specific picture was taken using the incandescent setting on my Nikon DSLR. This is as close as the manufacturer's white balance setting could get this picture. See Figure 5.)

Once the card is placed in the scene, here are the steps for creating the custom white balance setting:

1. move close enough to the scene that only the white card can be seen through the viewfinder
2. set the camera to any shooting mode setting except AUTO
3. set the camera white balance setting to "Preset"
4. hold down the WB (white balance) button until "PRE" begins flashing in the control panel
5. take a picture
6. the word "GOOD" will appear in the control panel (If the word GOOD does not appear, try again -- starting with step 4.)

That's it. The camera has adjusted its color settings based on rendering the paper it "saw" in front of the lens to produce the color white. You can now take as many pictures as needed. The white balance will remain the same until you change your white balance control setting.

My resulting picture is shown below:

Figure 7 - Custom white balance Temari balls using the white card method

Custom Color Balance Option 2:

For even more precision, there are companies making white balance accessories that work on any DSLR and have the ability to generate custom white balance settings.

For this example, I am using a COLORRIGHT attachment on my Nikon DSLR.

Figure 8 - ColorRight white balance calibration cap shown with a Canon DSLR

Using my Nikon camera, here are the steps for creating a custom white balance:

1. set the camera to any shooting mode setting except AUTO
2. set the camera white balance setting to "Preset"
3. hold down the WB (white balance) button until "PRE" begins flashing in the control panel
4. place the ColorRight cap against the front of the lens filter ring with the dark side facing the camera
5. take a picture
6. the word "GOOD" will appear in the control panel (If the word GOOD does not appear, try again -- starting with step 4.)

Like the white card method, this setting will remain in effect until you manually change the white balance control setting. So shoot away.

I have found the ColorRight white balance cap to be very accurate and much easier to carry into the field and keep clean than a white card. At $89, the white card is cheaper. But, for convenience, accuracy and ease of use the ColorRight device is exceptional.

Here is the final picture of the Temari balls using the ColorRight device to create a custom white balance setting on my Nikon DSLR.

Figure 8 - Temari balls using ColorRight custom white balance

And officially wife-approved.

Although you have probably learned more about Temari balls than you ever wanted to know, I hope Parts 24a, 24b and 24c have answered your white balance questions and provide you with an understanding of the importance this control plays in the color rendering of your final images.

Finally, there are also ways of adjusting white balance in today's digital imaging software. A discussion of methods for correcting white balance after the picture is taken and stored on your computer can be found in Hub's iDarkroom blog.

Part 24b - White Balance

To understand what's happening inside your DSLR when you make White Balance changes, a basic understanding of photographic color theory is necessary. It's another "Don't Panic" situation. Only the fundamentals of color theory are required to understand white balance. No math -- just a little practical logic. If you've been following Hub's iDarkroom, this topic is covered in Part 7.

For the purposes of this White Balance discussion, the illustration below provides all the basic theory needed and will be referenced throughout this article.

Figure 1: Photography's primary and secondary colors

Take some time to understand the color wheel above and the relationships between the colors shown. This is the basis of color photography -- whether film or digital.

The primary colors in photography are red, green and blue. Each primary color has an exact opposite secondary color.

• The opposite of Red is Cyan
• The opposite of Green is Magenta
• The opposite of Blue is Yellow
• Note: Red, Green and Blue in equal combination produces white.

These are critical relationships. Memorize!

Each primary color can be canceled by its secondary color. And each secondary color can be canceled by its primary color. So, for example, 100 units of the color red can be canceled with 100 units of cyan -- and vice-versa.

These are critical relationships. Memorize!

Combinations of primary colors produce the secondary colors. The opposite is also true. Combinations of secondary colors produce all the primary colors. Refer to the illustration above and see where the color circles overlap.

Look at the primary colors red, green and blue first:

• Where Red and Green overlap, the color Yellow is produced.
• Where the Green and Blue circles overlap, the color Cyan is produced
• Where the Blue and Red circles overlap, the color Magenta is produced.

Now look at the colors that appear BETWEEN the secondary colors in the illustration:

• The color between the Yellow and Magenta segments is the color Red (Y+M=R)
• The color between the Yellow and Cyan segments is the color Green (Y+C=G)
• The color between the Cyan and Magenta segments is the color Blue (C+M=B).

These are critical relationships. Memorize! Using these primary and secondary color relationships, all colors under the rainbow can be photographically reproduced.

On to White Balance

Figure 2: Master photo shot on Auto White Balance

The picture above was shot in bright sunlight at noon. The white card is included in the scene to make changes in White Balance easier to see.

Figure 3

The three shots in Figure 3 were taken at the same time of the same scene. The differences in color are the result of changing the white balance setting on this Nikon DSLR. The picture on the left was taken on the incandescent setting. The center picture was taken using the fluorescent setting while the picture on the right used the normal Direct Sunlight white balance setting.

Figure 4

The three photos above are taken on the Nikon's final three, built-in white balance settings. From left to right, the White Balance is set to Flash, Cloudy and Shade. Although the color differences can be subtle, by looking closely it's obvious that each image has a different color tone or tint. Why is this?

The purpose of White Balancing is to adjust the camera so that the resulting pictures render colors as they would appear under standard -- 5200-5400 degrees Kelvin -- white light (e.g., approximately the light experienced between 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in bright sunlight). See Part 24A - White Balance for discussion on color temperature. In plainer English, proper white balance will yield pictures with true whites, grays and every other color under the rainbow.

An example will help.

Figure 5

The picture on the left in Figure 5 was taken with the camera set on Direct Sunlight. The cause of the overly yellow and red picture is the color emanating from the incandescent light that illuminates this scene - approximately 3,200 degrees Kelvin. The camera was set for Sunlight white balance or about 5,200 degrees Kelvin. In that 2,000 degrees difference lie the colors yellow and red. As a result, the picture shows the true color cast as compared to Daylight.

Using the color chart in Figure 1, the opposites of yellow and red are blue and cyan respectively. To eliminate the yellow/red color cast, blue and cyan must be added. We send this message to a DSLR when the WB setting is changed to incandescent. The camera is being told to add an exact amount of blue and cyan to negate the excess yellow and red.

The picture above on the right was taken using the Incandescent white balance setting. With the incandescent correction applied by the camera, the picture now looks "normal". What's the difference? Blue and cyan.

Look at the picture in Figure 3 that was taken with the incandescent white balance setting. Sure enough, it shows an abundance of blue and cyan. Just the color needed to color correct pictures taken under incandescent lighting.

Here's another common light source:

Figure 6

This time, the incandescent light was replaced with a typical fluorescent light fixture (about 4,000 degrees Kelvin). The top picture in Figure 6 was taken with the camera set on Direct Sunlight. Now the real color of fluorescent light is visible. When compared to normal daylight, fluorescent light is green and yellow.

Pop Quiz: To correct fluorescent light to more accurately reflect daylight, the colors _______ and ______ must be added. I won't hold you in suspense -- magenta and blue.

The lower picture in Figure 6 was taken with the camera set on a fluorescent white balance setting. Magenta and blue have been added and the resulting picture looks much closer to a daylight lit picture. As the center picture in Figure 3 shows, magenta and blue are added when using the fluorescent white balance setting.

The other manufacturer-supplied White Balance settings work in the same "color correcting" fashion. Flash, cloudy and heavy shade color temperatures are progressively more and more blue. As the pictures in Figure 4 indicate, each of these lighting conditions require their own amounts of yellow to offset the blue inherent in each lighting situation.

Figure 7

The picture on the left in Figure 7 illustrates the excessive blue light that is present in pictures taken in cloudy daylight conditions. The picture was taken with a Direct Sunlight white balance setting. The picture on the right used Nikon's Cloudy white balance setting. The blue cast has been eliminated by adding more yellow to the exposure.

What about Auto White Balance? Yes, you can certainly use Auto White Balance. But you are relying on the camera to accurately judge the available light and make the correct white balance adjustment. When you know the light source, it is always more precise to select the proper white balance setting on your camera.

Remember: When you move to a new shooting location with a different light source, the white balance control will have to be adjusted accordingly.

The discussion above describes the intended use of a DSLR's white balance control. The only way to accurately reproduce the colors in a scene is to set the correct white balance.

Photographers who understand the effect each white balance setting has on the final image and which colors are being adjusted have also learned to use white balance as a creative tool.

Figure 8

The top picture in Figure 8 was shot using Direct Sunlight setting. The color balance accurately reflects the landscape colors as they appeared to the eye. Using a Shade white balance setting, the camera can be "forced" to add more yellow to the scene and provide an enhanced sunrise color tint to the scene. In this case, the photographer used the white balance control as a creative tool.

Taking the time to understand white balance will produce images that are true to the original scene. After mastering the intended use of your DSLR's white balance control, you can explore the creative options that this control offers.