Lessons learned: For years, I have run my camera white balance setting on 'auto'. Yesterday was very cold with an ever changing mix of sun and cloud with periods of overcast -- a good...

Pierre H.J. Dumais Loc: Mississippi Mills, Ont.

For years, I have run my camera white balance setting on 'auto'.
Yesterday was very cold with an ever changing mix of sun and cloud with periods of overcast -- a good time to try a different white balance setting and changed it to 'cloudy'.
First up was a Mourning Dove. The photo looked too warm in spite of a lot of fiddling around with sliders. It was a lot of time wasted, but, it was what was sent off to UHH Photo Gallery.
Later, the balance was changed back to 'auto' and a Nuthatch flew in. Shortly after a Chickadee arrived.

Here they are, with the warm Mourning Dove last.

The moral, at least for me -- the camera does a much better job in these circumstances.
A few technical writers suggest leaving the setting on 'auto'. I agree, at least for me.
Others may be more skilled or adept at PP, and good for them.
I prefer to let the camera do it. And that's my lesson learned

Nutchatch on 'auto'

(Download)

Chickadee on 'auto'

(Download)

Mourning Dove on 'cloudy'

(Download)

angler Loc: StHelens England

Great shots Pierre and I agree about using the auto white balance the camera does a much better job of it.

jeryh Loc: Oxfordshire UK

Hey- you've just learned what we learned ages ago. same goes for the controversy over raw v. JPEGs ! Camera does very nicely in both cases !

Pierre H.J. Dumais Loc: Mississippi Mills, Ont.

jeryh wrote:

Hey- you've just learned what we learned ages ago. same goes for the controversy over raw v. JPEGs ! Camera does very nicely in both cases !

Good for you for having learned ages ago.I am in my eighties, been in photography for more than 50 years but am very slow.

dooragdragon Loc: Alma , Arkansas

Not only that but if you wear the corrective lens that automaticly darken in sunlight it changes how you see colors , also the ones with a light or darker tint on the upper half also affects how you see colors and how the camera does ( I wondered why my sunsets didn't always look the same after I took the shot then it did while i was taking it and then realized it was due to my tinted glasses )
Pete

Pierre H.J. Dumais Loc: Mississippi Mills, Ont.

angler wrote:

Great shots Pierre and I agree about using the auto white balance the camera does a much better job of it.

Thanks Jim. Yup! I'll leave this for the younger guys

pierre

Pierre H.J. Dumais Loc: Mississippi Mills, Ont.

dooragdragon wrote:

Not only that but if you wear the corrective lens that automaticly darken in sunlight it changes how you see colors , also the ones with a light or darker tint on the upper half also affects how you see colors and how the camera does ( I wondered why my sunsets didn't always look the same after I took the shot then it did while i was taking it and then realized it was due to my tinted glasses )
Pete

Hi Pete
Not only that, my focusing eye needs surgery which will likely be done in April. I've already had a cataract surgery.

pierre

dirtpusher Loc: tulsa oklahoma

ever try increasing exposure comp. a couple when like that. your camera is trying to set everything to 18% gray. colors will be even crisper.

Pierre H.J. Dumais Loc: Mississippi Mills, Ont.

dirtpusher wrote:

ever try increasing exposure comp. a couple when like that. your camera is trying to set everything to 18% gray. colors will be even crisper.

Yes, thanks
My point is that the camera does it very well for me and it save a lot of setting rechanging.

Pierre

IsoBob Loc: Hamilton, NJ

Pierre-I use both auto and manual. From my experience I can't understand the significant change in the color in this photo. If I go from normal to cloudy I wouldn't expect to see this result. A little warmth but not quite so much as in this photo?
Bob

Pierre H.J. Dumais Loc: Mississippi Mills, Ont.

IsoBob wrote:

Pierre-I use both auto and manual. From my experience I can't understand the significant change in the color in this photo. If I go from normal to cloudy I wouldn't expect to see this result. A little warmth but not quite so much as in this photo?
Bob

Thanks for commenting Bob.
It's heck of a lot easier, for me, to stick with Auto. Switching to manual would be great if it always worked -- for me.

Pierre

vicksart Loc: Novato, CA -earthquake country

A professional suggested that I stick with auto, and I do that - most of the time. Sometimes it's interesting to try some of the other options. Since I'm still learning the limits and potential of my camera, I almost have to experiment. With that in mind, your examples are very helpful. Thanks for sharing these and the information.

Pierre H.J. Dumais Loc: Mississippi Mills, Ont.

vicksart wrote:

A professional suggested that I stick with auto, and I do that - most of the time. Sometimes it's interesting to try some of the other options. Since I'm still learning the limits and potential of my camera, I almost have to experiment. With that in mind, your examples are very helpful. Thanks for sharing these and the information.

I first read this years ago by Ken Rockwell. I hate fiddling around when out shooting-- even changing lenses -- and do my settings before leaving home. Heck, I am even using a new work horse lens. It's an 18-300mm VR 2. So now, when out looking for things to shoot I've got it from landscapes to wildlife in most instances. Ah, progress!!!!!!!
Thanks for visiting my friend.

Pierre

bob_71 Loc: Severna Park, MD

As one of your age brethren, I am in total agreement! Like today's children, the new crop of camera's is a hell of a lot smarter than they were in our youth! I would challenge any of us to manually set the camera controls as fast as, and as well as, the camera auto settings and I just don't believe any of us can be as consistent. I include focus setting in the above assertions!

Thanks for sharing!

Bob

rlaugh Loc: Michigan & Florida

Whatever works for you and you are comfortable with..is the right way...good job!!