streetmarty Loc: Brockton, Ma

Hello all,

We all have our favorite things to photograph, mine is streets, but like everyone we also shoot a bunch of other subjects because of being the "family photographer", like parties, and portraits for example.

So 95% of the time I'm in the street, RAW, aperture priority, AWB. I have never given WB a second thought because I was under the impression that it matters not if you shout RAW just adjust in LR/PS.

I just seen a video where a professional in the field shooting flowers, RAW, used a gray card to set his custom WB. I found that interesting and dug a little deeper. I find another video where a pro was saying that gray cards have absolutely nothing to do with WB but are used to set metering!! And that you, even
if you shoot RAW should be using an x-rite color checker?

I've either been lucky or dumb but I have always been pretty happy with my photography but now I think I'm missing something here. Am I?

Thanks,
Marty

Notorious T.O.D. Loc: Harrisburg, North Carolina

I consider the ColorChecker Passport to be the best money I have spent on photography. Joe Brady and Mark Wallace have YouTube videos on its use. Great tool if you shoot RAW.

BboH Loc: s of 2/21, Ellicott City, MD

I use the Kelvin, setting the temperature for what I perceive the light conditions to be. To check, I shoot something that is predominantly red - if what my camera shows matches the object then my WB is OK; if not I tweak the Kelvin.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

Your camera may be able to bracket for WB. Then you can pick the one you like in post.

streetmarty Loc: Brockton, Ma

I have the 6d... thank you.

streetmarty Loc: Brockton, Ma

Thank you ill check them out!

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Or you can adjust the RAW in post processing.

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

It is true that you can adjust WB in post when shooting RAW even if it is way off. But I always take a custom WB anyway if time and circumstances allow it, so I don't have to worry about fixing it in post. You can use either a white or gray card for custom WB, but older gray cards may have shifted color, or may have been made just for exposure and aren't necessarily color neutral.

streetmarty Loc: Brockton, Ma

Ok interesting, thank you!!

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Gray cards are for metering and not a great way to set white balance or color tint - both of which must be addressed for good accurate color. The ColorChecker Passport is hands down the best device for doing that. And it even has a gray card for metering.

Notorious T.O.D. Loc: Harrisburg, North Carolina

I’m with Gene on this topic...CCP...

a6k Loc: Detroit & Sanibel

To the best of my knowledge (99% Sony) raw means raw. The WB in the raw file is inherent in the light that hits the sensor. The WB correction that you may want to apply to the post-processed output (JPG, etc) is your choice. Some post processors will show you the WB that the camera settings dictate and that were recorded as EXIF data but that is in interpreted image on your screen, not the actual raw image. As a result, your initial view of the image that you are "developing" will be affected.

But if you use RawDigger you can verify for yourself that changing the WB settings on the camera has zero affect on the raw image itself. Scottie Elmslie has posted about this with regard to Nikon as well as Sony. I have verified it for Sony.

If you have a white target or a gray target somewhere in the picture (or the Color Checker, etc.) then you have a rational way to post-process. If you don't want to get fancy or expensive, use some Teflon plumber's tape for the white target that you will point the post-processor to. It's usually done with an eye-dropper symbol in the user interface. You can search my postings for more on the tape or you can find an article on it at the FastRawViewer website.

A perfect gray target and a perfect white target will, in theory, give you exactly the same color balance. Either, with some finesse, will give you a "correct" exposure. How you decide what is a perfect exposure is a huge subject and beyond the scope my these remarks. Gray is just dim white, eh? The white target has some advantages that the article explains. But if you were to meter the white target you would want to adjust the exposure the the difference between white and gray.

streetmarty Loc: Brockton, Ma

So I was right all along? WB settings mean nothing if you shoot raw. So Kelvin scale same? Does nothing if you shoot raw? Thank you!!

Notorious T.O.D. Loc: Harrisburg, North Carolina

Kelvin temperature is just another method of selecting a white balance... like daylight, fluorescent, flash, cloudy. If you think WB doesn’t matter if you shoot RAW then you must never look at the JPEG that is embedded in the RAW data. Take a photo at Kelvin 3,000 and another at Kelvin 9,000 and see how different the resulting JPEGs look. Personally I think it is important to try and get WB close in the RAW shot. Your thoughts may vary...

streetmarty Loc: Brockton, Ma

No I hear you, I shoot street photography all black and white mainly. I was asking about this because of the few times I do shoot color. I always shoot raw and have always been under the impression that with raw WB is always done in post! Thank you.