White Balance question

[msr224]

I have a Nikon D40. I am trying to manually set the white balance to be able to get a truer color with my pics. I know how to do it and all with my camera but everytime I do it in the tank it says it is unable to read.

Anyone have experience with this and know a trick? I thought about buying a white piece of plastic like maybe a new cutting board and trying with that in the tank......

Thanks for any help.

 

[Reef Bass]

I suggest shooting in RAW mode and setting the color temp / white balance while post processing. It's much easier, the colors will be more accurate and there's no fiddling with custom white balances and white objects.

 

[fppf]

You just need a true white card.
Fill the frame with the card under the light your shooting, then set the custom white balance. Its quick and easy.

We use a white piece of plastic while shooting underwater without strobes to adjust white balance. Works with video as well.

In order to accurately set white balance post, you need something pure white in the frame. Other then that your really just guessing.

 

[Brett9917]

I agree with Reef Bass. If you have the software that will let you adjust white balance on the computer, I would do that over the a white card. One of the problems you can run into is, unless you are running one color of light bulbs through out the entire tank, you will need to set a new WB every time you want a shot of different area of your tank. For instance if you run your actinics in the back of the tanks, and say 10,000K up front, you will need a different WB for corals in the back compared to something up front. With post processing, it's just a simple adjustment of a slider to get it where you want it.

 

[saltySamurai]

if you really want to white balance, pump up the shutter speed. I noticed that decent shots in my tank were taking about 1/100, but in order for my D40x to measure white, I had to up the shutter to around 1/800 - I guess the white is super saturating the sensors under the aquarium lights. Never had this problem outside...

 

[returnofsid]

It sounds like your camera is failing to automatically focus on the object??

If this is the case, it's pretty common. You're filling the camera with a white object, that's flat, with no noticeable differences. The cameras have difficulty automatically finding a focus point. You can put a small mark on your object, which the camera will more easily focus on. Or, use Manual Focus.

I typically use a absolutely white styrofoam picnic plate.

 

[msr224]

Ok, going to try some of the above suggestions in acouple days when I'm off again.

Thanks for the info and ideas. Going to try to do it in camera as I don't have editing software right now.