 Cheryl Ralston-Halley |
Artificial Light Without a Flash Hi. I have a Canon EOS 300D digital camera. I've been hired to photograph a medical convention this coming weekend. My one restriction is absolutely no flash pics allowed because of distraction to the speakers. I took some test shots today, and when I downloaded them, I was very disappointed to find the photos very yellow. I'm confused about what the white balance should be set on because of the yellow. It's much too far to drive to for more test shots. I'm being paid very well, and I want to do an exceptional job for them. Any information on how to photograph speakers without using a flash, so the photos have normal skin tone, would be very, very helpful. And should the white balance be changed as I move from room to room? Thanks.
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Jon Close |
What white balance setting did you use in your test? I would expect the spot-lit speakers to be under tungsten lighting, and would start with that setting. Otherwise, use the custom white balance (p. 52 of the English language Digital Rebel/300D manual). To set the custom WB, you may need a white object in the same lighting as the speakers (white backdrop? tablecloth? shirt/lab coat? etc.) You may need to bring a large white card to place in the speakers' position to set custom WB before the start of the sessions. Not positive, but I think I've read that if you shoot in RAW you can correct bad color balance in editing.
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John Wright |
Cheryl, I agree with Jon. You might also read up on the 300D's ability to do white balance bracketing.
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Dave Cross |
Hi Cheryl Jon and John are both 100% right. The yellow cast you are seeing is because tungsten light is much 'yellower' than daylight. My personal method for available light is to shoot RAW with the white balance set to 'tungsten'. If the white balance is still iffy (not all tungsten lights have the same colour temperature) then you can fix it in the RAW converter (you need something approaching white in the shot, speakers notes, shirt etc.). Just open the file in the RAW converter, click the eye-dropper (top left) and click on the white object -- presto -- perfect white balanced pictures. Shooting RAW also allows some adjustments to the exposure (+- 1 stop or so). Enjoy and let us know how you got on. Cheers
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Cheryl Ralston-Halley |
Thanks guys, my husband said I forgot to set my white balance until later. So I had it set on auto, but I also wanted to see what other white balance settings would look like also. But the yellow one was horrifying. And after your answers I know to use the tungsten setting. I didn't know if it was that or florescent. Now that I'm a little bit less stressed it makes sense, since I've went over it again. Cheryl
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John Wright |
Cheryl, As an FYI, Florescent usually comes out green (even worse than yellow in most cases). John
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Cheryl Ralston-Halley |
Thanks John, I had no idea what color Florescent was. My husband called and said he picked up a special filter just for Tungsten lighting. He tried it on the same kind of camera without setting the white balance. The camera shop downloaded them so he could see what they looked like. And he said without the filter the pics sucked and with the filter they turned out the way they should. I've photograghed all kinds of events, but could always use a flash. I've also never had an assignment that was this important, and it has me so stressed I'm heading for a meltdown. Cheryl
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John Wright |
For me, the stress is what keeps me on my toes... No worries, I think you've got the info you need to do a wonderful job. Shooting in RAW mode will help as MOST images will allow you to change the white balance if needed (I say most because even when shooting in RAW mode, not all images will be recorded in RAW format). I'm sure you'll do fine. Please tell us how it goes when it's all over... :-)
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