Roy G. Biv
Premium Member
Is it a good idea to put a PLASTIC white card in the fish tank to adjust the white balance? White balance is still a new area to me.
White card in the fish tank?
- Thread starter Roy G. Biv
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TitusvileSurfer
New member
I think that sounds like a silly idea. You wouldn't even use a white card anyway. It would be a specific shade of grey.
This is the only answer you need with your Xsi:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>RAW<<<<<<<<<<<<<
This is the only answer you need with your Xsi:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>RAW<<<<<<<<<<<<<
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Roy G. Biv
Premium Member
I cant get a straight answer on the 18% gray or the white card. Seems like everyone has their own opinions.
TitusvileSurfer
New member
A camera's brain is pretty small. Grey is the point of reference for the camera's brain. If the camera can find something with 18% grey reflective properties, it can meter off of this object and get a proper exposure. If the camera takes white balance off of something that is 18% grey, it can achieve acceptable white balance by making the grey grey as opposed to blue or red. If you try to white balance off of a white card, the card will be blue alone with everything else. If you try to set exposure to a white card, that card will be grey...as the camera assumes your pointing at a grey card, and everything else in the shot will be dark.
Now I don't want a grey card in very one of my images like a "Where's Waldo" book, but I can figure out what the sky, the trees, the road, the palm of my hand, the sand, the sun, the black dirt, and a whole host of other things will look like to a camera because I have either memorized them or it will just come to me. This allows me to set a proper exposure for the scene and basically comes with experience.
Using RAW, I don't give a flip about white balance until I load the images on my computer because I can set it perfectly every time.
Now I don't want a grey card in very one of my images like a "Where's Waldo" book, but I can figure out what the sky, the trees, the road, the palm of my hand, the sand, the sun, the black dirt, and a whole host of other things will look like to a camera because I have either memorized them or it will just come to me. This allows me to set a proper exposure for the scene and basically comes with experience.
Using RAW, I don't give a flip about white balance until I load the images on my computer because I can set it perfectly every time.
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Roy G. Biv
Premium Member
I think I need to give in to this. I dont know why I try to avoid it. I guess it seems like cheating to me.
I thought that to adjust white balance using RAW images, you need a 'white' element in the photo. I know you can manually adjust the WB but, to adjust it using the 'eye droppers', don't you need white? Since more corals/tank shots don't have natural white elements, taking a photo of a white card gives the white point you need. You don't need the card in each photo since you can carry over the WB setting to other photos.
Is there some other way to set WB in RAW for images without a natural white source?
Is there some other way to set WB in RAW for images without a natural white source?
TitusvileSurfer
New member
Having RAW and not using it is not cheating. Having RAW and not using it is dumb. Why did you even buy a DSLR? If you somehow feel let down getting good images just because you have good equipment, buy an XS10 IS and be done with it.
In all fairness, there are perfectly valid reasons for shooting JPG. Aquariums, because of the temperature of the light, aren't really one of them. If you're getting results that you're happy with in JPG I won't talk you out of it, but if you're not then it's worth a try. 
Sure.
I do most of my processing in Lightroom and only go into PS for things like dodging/burning and final sharpening.
The Adobe Camera RAW (ACR) dialog has similar sliders:
If you've got a neutral grey somewhere in the image you can click on the "dropper" and then select it in your image. If not, just use the WB and tint sliders to make the image look like it should.
Because I do the adjustment here, I generally leave the setting on the camera in AWB (auto white balance) rather than picking a preset or setting a custom WB.
I do most of my processing in Lightroom and only go into PS for things like dodging/burning and final sharpening.
The Adobe Camera RAW (ACR) dialog has similar sliders:
If you've got a neutral grey somewhere in the image you can click on the "dropper" and then select it in your image. If not, just use the WB and tint sliders to make the image look like it should.
Because I do the adjustment here, I generally leave the setting on the camera in AWB (auto white balance) rather than picking a preset or setting a custom WB.
Re: White card in the fish tank?
Back to your original question, yes that's one way of doing things. I sometimes use one if I'm shooting product images. Actually a "grey" card works best. I have one that is grey but has a white and black target as well.
Take one shot of the card, go to "levels" in photoshop and use the 3 droppers to select the black, grey and white targets. Then use those values on the rest of your images from that shoot.
The card looks like this:
Back to your original question, yes that's one way of doing things. I sometimes use one if I'm shooting product images. Actually a "grey" card works best. I have one that is grey but has a white and black target as well.
Take one shot of the card, go to "levels" in photoshop and use the 3 droppers to select the black, grey and white targets. Then use those values on the rest of your images from that shoot.
The card looks like this:
Mine isn't waterproof, as the white and black targets are stickers but you could certainly wrap it in plastic.
I got mine from http://rawworkflow.com
I got mine from http://rawworkflow.com
Roy G. Biv
Premium Member
I'm sorry you took offense to that. I wasn't calling you a cheater. I'm trying to learn the camera the best I can and not rely on a crutch. I can't be taking pictures and PPing them all, all the time. I'm trying to get to the point where I can take pictures properly and use Lightroom for minor corretions.
TitusvileSurfer
New member
I would like to apologize as I came off a bit strong. I just get passionate about this stuff sometimes and RAW is something I believe all reef tank photographers should use all the time. PP is also something all DSLR photographers should use all the time. That is part of the deal. If you shoot film, those shots have PP applied to them by professionals at the camera shop. It wasn't some magic system that got everything right more often than digital. What makes digital better than film is that we can do even more with PP. Shooting RAW isn't a crutch or unfair advantage or cheat. Shooting RAW is the very essence of digital photography itself. You should be PPing all of your images, all the time. On average I'd say I can shoot 100 images and later PP them all in 10 minutes. It still has to be done though.
