Blue cast on pics: why do some of my pics have a blue cast on them, like blue shadows etc, I know I can edit them ok but what causes the blueness, I always have a uv filter on, and...

OZMON Loc: WIGAN UK

why do some of my pics have a blue cast on them, like blue shadows etc, I know I can edit them ok but what causes the blueness, I always have a uv filter on, and sometimes a polarizing filter, but still sometimes they are blue tinged.

davidrb Loc: Half way there on the 45th Parallel

OZMON wrote:

why do some of my pics have a blue cast on them, like blue shadows etc, I know I can edit them ok but what causes the blueness, I always have a uv filter on, and sometimes a polarizing filter, but still sometimes they are blue tinged.

Sounds as though you have set your white balance for artificial lighting. Change that setting to either Auto (AWB) or one of your sun settings. Your meter thinks it is inside. FWIW, many photographers remove UV's for shooting, they are good sources of distortion. GL

Searcher Loc: Kent, England

OZMON wrote:

why do some of my pics have a blue cast on them, like blue shadows etc, I know I can edit them ok but what causes the blueness, I always have a uv filter on, and sometimes a polarizing filter, but still sometimes they are blue tinged.

I am aware of three reasons for blue casts and or blue shadows:

1 White balance set incorrectly (only needs a tiny adjustment) Easily correctable in PP
2 Atmospheric pollution (landscapes with distant hills etc.) Virtually impossible to avoid.
3 Shadows can be a little blue in harsh sunlight especially when the exposure is a little off. Easily correctable in PP.

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

OZMON wrote:

why do some of my pics have a blue cast on them, like blue shadows etc, I know I can edit them ok but what causes the blueness, I always have a uv filter on, and sometimes a polarizing filter, but still sometimes they are blue tinged.

Remove the filters, if this cures the problem, it's obiously a filter problem Do all your lenses have a blue cast? If only 1 has aa cast then it's that lens that may need a refurb of some kind. If all your lense have a cast, assuming all your settings are correct white balance and or exposure settings, then the problem could be sensor related. In other words, I have no idea what the problem is.

OZMON Loc: WIGAN UK

thanks for info, looking back I had my white bakance on auto, I will be shooting in raw in future as well, then I will get more control over post processing.

flyguy Loc: Las Cruces, New Mexico

OZMON wrote:

why do some of my pics have a blue cast on them, like blue shadows etc, I know I can edit them ok but what causes the blueness, I always have a uv filter on, and sometimes a polarizing filter, but still sometimes they are blue tinged.

It would help others help you if, in the future, you would provide the details of your camera settings, etc. so readers have more information for troubleshooting.

winterrose Loc: Kyneton, Victoria, Australia

boberic wrote:

Remove the filters, if this cures the problem, it's obiously a filter problem Do all your lenses have a blue cast? If only 1 has aa cast then it's that lens that may need a refurb of some kind. If all your lense have a cast, assuming all your settings are correct white balance and or exposure settings, then the problem could be sensor related. In other words, I have no idea what the problem is.

No, you don't do you?

christofras Loc: Gold Coast Australia

OZMON wrote:

why do some of my pics have a blue cast on them, like blue shadows etc, I know I can edit them ok but what causes the blueness, I always have a uv filter on, and sometimes a polarizing filter, but still sometimes they are blue tinged.

use a grey card to get correct white balance.

CO

christofras wrote:

use a grey card to get correct white balance.

This is good advice. Take a pic of the gray card at the shooting location. You can then do a correction in your editing software to neutralize the shift in color temperature. Were the pics that have the bluish shift taken under cloudy conditions? You can also put your camera's white balance on cloudy or open shade to correct that.

twowindsbear

First off - POST SOME PIX THAT HAVE THE PROBLEM!!!! Without actually seeing the problem - you'll only get speculations about a cure. As another mentioned, details about your camera, lens & settings will help out a LOT, too.

All that said - now, I'm gonna 'speculate.' Were these shots made under a clear, blue sky? And not in direct sunlight? That can cause a blue cast to your photos. This shows a LOT in shady areas of snow pictures, where the clear blue sky is lighting & reflecting off the snow.

dlmorris Loc: Loma Linda, Ca

You don't say what camera you are using, but Canon has a setting for shooting in the shade on a sunny day, specifically designed to deal with that blue cast. One book I have suggestes using the sunlight setting rather than AWB for sunlight shooting. I haven't tried it, so it's just an idea to try.

MtnMan Loc: ID

Searcher wrote:

I am aware of three reasons for blue casts and or blue shadows:

1 White balance set incorrectly (only needs a tiny adjustment) Easily correctable in PP
2 Atmospheric pollution (landscapes with distant hills etc.) Virtually impossible to avoid.
3 Shadows can be a little blue in harsh sunlight especially when the exposure is a little off. Easily correctable in PP.

Also you can get a blue sky reflected off snow or water. At least if you live in the mountain west where we frequently still get blue skies.

Searcher Loc: Kent, England

MtnMan wrote:

Also you can get a blue sky reflected off snow or water. At least if you live in the mountain west where we frequently still get blue skies.

How on earth would I know that, I live in the UK - Cloudy, drizzly, raining. Having said that there is a weather warning out, blue skies and temperatures up to 30°C for the next two days. Then it is back to heavy rain, drizzle, clouds . . .

GaryS1964 Loc: Northern California

OZMON wrote:

thanks for info, looking back I had my white bakance on auto, I will be shooting in raw in future as well, then I will get more control over post processing.

Taking a tip from Bryan Peterson I set my WB to Cloudy when shooting outdoors during the day. Adds warmth to the resulting JPEGs. I set it to match the light source when shooting indoors or with flash.

I also shoot in RAW + JPEG and try and setup the camera to get the best JPEGs possible. When I fail I have the RAW image to use for PP.

watchcow Loc: Moore, Oklahoma

It might be worth uploading an unedited jpeg that exhibits this issue. check the box to store it so we can download it and read all the EXIF data. somewhere in there it should say what the white balance is even if it is auto most cameras make a notation about the correction applied. It helps to know that environment when that picture was taken, daylight, cloudy, in the shade, in a cave with tungsten bulbs, whatever... and a bit about what you wanted it to look like when if came out of the camera?