The smell of lilacs in the air, the feeling of warm sun and the breeze in the air all make for a nice time outside to snap some Mother's Day photos...
Thursday, April 28, 2016
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Understanding Gray Cards
(This entry deals with gray cards and their use in digital photography. In order to get the most out of this post, you'll want to have a working understanding of white balance. If you need to brush up on white balance, read my previous entry.)
A gray card is a handy piece of paper or cardboard that serves as a reference middle point for cameras. The meter system in either a camera or editing program, recognizes the gray and understands what it should look like, despite it's surroundings. For example, yellow lighting indoors that makes the people in your photo appear like they've got a bad case of jaundice.
But maybe you don't run into that problem often. Maybe you're wondering, do I really need to use a gray card for photography?
No, you don't need one. You can work without one. I've shot with a lot of professional photographers and only a handful of them have whipped out a gray card. Most cameras have impressive auto white balance settings nowadays and what can't be perfected in camera can often be fixed in a post processing/editing program like Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom... But a gray card is a quick and reliable method of having consistent image exposure.
Your camera probably has auto white balance presets for various lighting conditions but technology will sometimes disappoint you. It won't always provide the consistency you might be expecting from photo to photo.
Gray cards can be used two ways. The first is using your internal camera system to create your own settings so that your camera recognizes the gray card neutrality and shoots every photo accordingly. Tthe second is to simply edit in a post processing program, like Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom.
Essentially how it works is when your system (camera or program) recognizes the gray card, no matter the variables of your photo, it will understand that the gray card is a neutral gray and work to tweak your white balance for you.
Gray Cards and Post Processing:
The easiest way to play with a gray card involves using a post processing program of some sort. This requires shooting in RAW format in order to customize your white balance in a "photoshop" program.
1. Set up your photo, including lighting.
2. Take a shot, including your gray card. (It sometimes helps to de-focus your camera when you take this photo, that way you're shooting the colour of the card and not the texture of it.)
3. Remove your gray card and take your photos as usual. Every time you change lighting, (for example going from being under a bridge to being in direct sunlight) go back to step one and repeat.
4. When you're importing your photos, use the gray card in your initial photo for a "sample" to set a custom white balance. Take note of the white balance settings it recommends after sampling so that you can alter all of the other photos to those specifications. Or if your program is capable of it, you should be able to highlight all of the photos you want to edit and customize the white balance all at once.
Gray Cards and Cameras AKA direct measurement:
The important thing to understand if you want to use a gray card with your camera, is that every camera is different. Each camera usually has a slightly different way of achieving the same action.
For example, on my Nikon D7000 these are the steps I would take to customize a white balance setting with direct measurement.
1. Set the exposure mode to a mode that offers WB customization, like P,S, A or M.
2. Frame your shot so that your gray card completely fills the viewfinder
3. Check the exposure and adjust your settings if need be.
4. Press the WB button while rotating the main command dial so you select PRE (Preset Manual) White Balance Setting.
5. Release the button and then press and hold it again until PRE begins to flash in the control panel and viewfinder.
6. Release the WB button and take a picture of the gray card before the PRE warning stops flashing.
7. Save your WB setting so that you can then select it from your WB options.
You can usually find step by step instructions that apply to your camera in your user manual. However, youtube has a plethora of tutorials that are just as simple. Typing in "-insert camera model here- gray card" into a search engine will probably come up with a handful of helping demonstrations.
A gray card is a handy piece of paper or cardboard that serves as a reference middle point for cameras. The meter system in either a camera or editing program, recognizes the gray and understands what it should look like, despite it's surroundings. For example, yellow lighting indoors that makes the people in your photo appear like they've got a bad case of jaundice.
But maybe you don't run into that problem often. Maybe you're wondering, do I really need to use a gray card for photography?
No, you don't need one. You can work without one. I've shot with a lot of professional photographers and only a handful of them have whipped out a gray card. Most cameras have impressive auto white balance settings nowadays and what can't be perfected in camera can often be fixed in a post processing/editing program like Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom... But a gray card is a quick and reliable method of having consistent image exposure.
Your camera probably has auto white balance presets for various lighting conditions but technology will sometimes disappoint you. It won't always provide the consistency you might be expecting from photo to photo.
Gray cards can be used two ways. The first is using your internal camera system to create your own settings so that your camera recognizes the gray card neutrality and shoots every photo accordingly. Tthe second is to simply edit in a post processing program, like Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom.
Essentially how it works is when your system (camera or program) recognizes the gray card, no matter the variables of your photo, it will understand that the gray card is a neutral gray and work to tweak your white balance for you.
Gray Cards and Post Processing:
The easiest way to play with a gray card involves using a post processing program of some sort. This requires shooting in RAW format in order to customize your white balance in a "photoshop" program.
1. Set up your photo, including lighting.
2. Take a shot, including your gray card. (It sometimes helps to de-focus your camera when you take this photo, that way you're shooting the colour of the card and not the texture of it.)
3. Remove your gray card and take your photos as usual. Every time you change lighting, (for example going from being under a bridge to being in direct sunlight) go back to step one and repeat.
4. When you're importing your photos, use the gray card in your initial photo for a "sample" to set a custom white balance. Take note of the white balance settings it recommends after sampling so that you can alter all of the other photos to those specifications. Or if your program is capable of it, you should be able to highlight all of the photos you want to edit and customize the white balance all at once.
Gray Cards and Cameras AKA direct measurement:
The important thing to understand if you want to use a gray card with your camera, is that every camera is different. Each camera usually has a slightly different way of achieving the same action.
For example, on my Nikon D7000 these are the steps I would take to customize a white balance setting with direct measurement.
1. Set the exposure mode to a mode that offers WB customization, like P,S, A or M.
2. Frame your shot so that your gray card completely fills the viewfinder
3. Check the exposure and adjust your settings if need be.
4. Press the WB button while rotating the main command dial so you select PRE (Preset Manual) White Balance Setting.
5. Release the button and then press and hold it again until PRE begins to flash in the control panel and viewfinder.
6. Release the WB button and take a picture of the gray card before the PRE warning stops flashing.
7. Save your WB setting so that you can then select it from your WB options.
You can usually find step by step instructions that apply to your camera in your user manual. However, youtube has a plethora of tutorials that are just as simple. Typing in "-insert camera model here- gray card" into a search engine will probably come up with a handful of helping demonstrations.
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Understanding White Balance
One of the most common questions I get asked as a photographer is about White Balance. Usually the question is somewhere along the lines of "Hey Chels, can you fix this photo I took?" Although you may not recognize the term White Balance, chances are that at one point or another you have noticed a white balance problem before.
Have you ever looked at a photo and thought, hmm... that picture just has too much of a blue (green/ yellow/ pink) tinge to it. Maybe you took a photo indoors and the canned light made your picture look overly yellow? Or you were outside and you notice that the skin tones in a picture look overly blueish, making the subjects look cold despite the fact it was a warm day? Either way, it just doesn't look quite how it did when you saw the real thing with your own eyes.
Well, that my friends, is a white balance problem! Thanks to amazing advancements in technology, most digital cameras have great auto white balance settings. They come with not only a basic auto white balance but more customizable settings too. Unfortunately, technology sometimes falls short.
Take this photo of my favourite little bunny- Uh, I mean model. For now, ignore the tool bar on the right side. This is a screenshot of what this RAW photo looks like when I pull it up in photoshop for editing.
Nice, right? Everything looks normal. Not to yellow, not to blue... Just normal.
Here's another screenshot of the same photo. The only thing that's different is the white balance settings, which is also sometimes known as the Temperature and Tint of a photo. This time the picture looks much more yellow, almost too yellow. If this photo is ever printed, the whites of my little munchkin's eyes are going to look downright jaundiced.
When it comes to playing around with white balance you can customize it either in your camera before shooting or afterwards in a post processing program of some sort, like Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom. Keep in mind that if you opt for the latter, you will want to shoot in RAW format.
Some folks believe that you should get your photo as close to perfect when you're taking it so that you don't need to tweak photos in editing program...and some folks prefer the post processing route. There is no right or wrong, just personal preference.
White Balance via in Camera:
In order to edit your white balance on your camera before shooting, you will need to be in a mode that permits WB customization, like manual, aperture priority, etc. Pop your camera into manual and find your white balance setting. (If you can't find it on your camera, try typing in "white balance for -insert camera model here-" into a web search engine and I'm sure someone has created a tutorial for your camera.)
When you open the white balance settings you will see a list similar to this:
Auto
Incandescent
Fluorescent
Direct sunlight
Flash
Cloudy
Shade
(Choose colour temp...)
From here you simply select the setting that is most fitting for your situation.
So remember that photo from before? If I didn't like the results that "auto" provided I might try selecting "cloudy" or "shady." Or even "direct sunlight."
If I were using a gray card or other white balancing tool, I would select the "choose colour temperature" setting. (More on this in another post.)
Whatever setting you choose, a handy tip to remember is that your camera may try to retain your white balance settings that you last used, even after you've turned off your camera and forgotten all about the photos you've taken. So it's always a good idea to get in the habit of putting your settings back into auto when you are done.
White Balance via Post Processing:
If you're happy with the white balance in a photo you've taken, obviously you wouldn't touch that aspect of your photo in editing. But for the sake of this discussion, we're going to assume I'm unhappy with the white balance. Let's say that when I opened up my photo for the first time, I had one similar to that overly yellow screenshot. The photo was taken outdoors, in the semi shade of the bushes on a sunny afternoon so it's easy to understand why my camera may have gotten confused as far as temperature or tint of the photo goes.
Up close on the right hand side, we can have a look at the white balance settings in editing a RAW photo. If you're not comfortable with jumping into the deep end by playing with the temperature and tint dials, then the auto white balance presets from the drop down menu are a great way to get started.
In this case, I might try selecting the "daylight" preset since the picture was taken in the daylight. If I don't like the way that looks I might try the "shade" or "auto" and see what sort of results I get. If none of the presets seem quite right then that's when it's time to pick the lesser of the evils and then play with the temperature and tint dials!
Have you ever looked at a photo and thought, hmm... that picture just has too much of a blue (green/ yellow/ pink) tinge to it. Maybe you took a photo indoors and the canned light made your picture look overly yellow? Or you were outside and you notice that the skin tones in a picture look overly blueish, making the subjects look cold despite the fact it was a warm day? Either way, it just doesn't look quite how it did when you saw the real thing with your own eyes.
Well, that my friends, is a white balance problem! Thanks to amazing advancements in technology, most digital cameras have great auto white balance settings. They come with not only a basic auto white balance but more customizable settings too. Unfortunately, technology sometimes falls short.
Take this photo of my favourite little bunny- Uh, I mean model. For now, ignore the tool bar on the right side. This is a screenshot of what this RAW photo looks like when I pull it up in photoshop for editing.
Nice, right? Everything looks normal. Not to yellow, not to blue... Just normal.
Here's another screenshot of the same photo. The only thing that's different is the white balance settings, which is also sometimes known as the Temperature and Tint of a photo. This time the picture looks much more yellow, almost too yellow. If this photo is ever printed, the whites of my little munchkin's eyes are going to look downright jaundiced.
When it comes to playing around with white balance you can customize it either in your camera before shooting or afterwards in a post processing program of some sort, like Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom. Keep in mind that if you opt for the latter, you will want to shoot in RAW format.
Some folks believe that you should get your photo as close to perfect when you're taking it so that you don't need to tweak photos in editing program...and some folks prefer the post processing route. There is no right or wrong, just personal preference.
White Balance via in Camera:
In order to edit your white balance on your camera before shooting, you will need to be in a mode that permits WB customization, like manual, aperture priority, etc. Pop your camera into manual and find your white balance setting. (If you can't find it on your camera, try typing in "white balance for -insert camera model here-" into a web search engine and I'm sure someone has created a tutorial for your camera.)
When you open the white balance settings you will see a list similar to this:
Auto
Incandescent
Fluorescent
Direct sunlight
Flash
Cloudy
Shade
(Choose colour temp...)
From here you simply select the setting that is most fitting for your situation.
So remember that photo from before? If I didn't like the results that "auto" provided I might try selecting "cloudy" or "shady." Or even "direct sunlight."
If I were using a gray card or other white balancing tool, I would select the "choose colour temperature" setting. (More on this in another post.)
Whatever setting you choose, a handy tip to remember is that your camera may try to retain your white balance settings that you last used, even after you've turned off your camera and forgotten all about the photos you've taken. So it's always a good idea to get in the habit of putting your settings back into auto when you are done.
White Balance via Post Processing:
If you're happy with the white balance in a photo you've taken, obviously you wouldn't touch that aspect of your photo in editing. But for the sake of this discussion, we're going to assume I'm unhappy with the white balance. Let's say that when I opened up my photo for the first time, I had one similar to that overly yellow screenshot. The photo was taken outdoors, in the semi shade of the bushes on a sunny afternoon so it's easy to understand why my camera may have gotten confused as far as temperature or tint of the photo goes.
Up close on the right hand side, we can have a look at the white balance settings in editing a RAW photo. If you're not comfortable with jumping into the deep end by playing with the temperature and tint dials, then the auto white balance presets from the drop down menu are a great way to get started.
In this case, I might try selecting the "daylight" preset since the picture was taken in the daylight. If I don't like the way that looks I might try the "shade" or "auto" and see what sort of results I get. If none of the presets seem quite right then that's when it's time to pick the lesser of the evils and then play with the temperature and tint dials!
Saturday, April 9, 2016
Contest Expanded
Due to numerous requests, the free maternity photo session contest has been opened to any pregnant women who are due in either July or August 2016!
I specialize in life photography and am giving away one free maternity photo session. ...Oh an a random surprise prize too!
How it works:
If you are or know someone who is due this summer, email the nominee/applicant's name, a photo and a small introduction of who they are or why you think they should win a free photo shoot.
It's as easy as saying "Hi, my name is Chelsey and I'm due with a boy/girl/mystery baby on August 14th. It's my first/second/sixteenth child and I would love to win the session to commemorate this special time!"
(Emails go to thewishingstargallery@gmail.com)
The entrants will all be posted on my photography facebook page (www.facebook.com/wishingstargallery) and then it's up to anyone and everyone to vote for who they would like to see win.
Entry deadline is April 22nd.
Voting closes April 30th.
Good luck!
I specialize in life photography and am giving away one free maternity photo session. ...Oh an a random surprise prize too!
How it works:
If you are or know someone who is due this summer, email the nominee/applicant's name, a photo and a small introduction of who they are or why you think they should win a free photo shoot.
It's as easy as saying "Hi, my name is Chelsey and I'm due with a boy/girl/mystery baby on August 14th. It's my first/second/sixteenth child and I would love to win the session to commemorate this special time!"
(Emails go to thewishingstargallery@gmail.com)
The entrants will all be posted on my photography facebook page (www.facebook.com/wishingstargallery) and then it's up to anyone and everyone to vote for who they would like to see win.
Entry deadline is April 22nd.
Voting closes April 30th.
Good luck!
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