Professional Resources for Photographers

I think it is safe to say that RAW workflow is the standard for almost all professional photographers. Even with that, I am sure there are still many pros that choose to shoot JPEG files. There is nothing wrong with either method. If the shoe fits, right? I personally prefer a RAW workflow myself but to each his own right? Applications like Adobe Lightroom further sweeten the deal for me. Programs like this make RAW workflow a breeze. Batch processing allows you to correct one RAW file and process the same settings across multiple images. Presets can be created to recollect your favorite settings and effects even. These various methods all help save you time and allow you to spend more time behind the camera rather than editing photos on your computer. For JPEG shooters, this luxury really can only be done through the use of your in-camera settings or custom actions in Photoshop. And good luck if you need to make some drastic white balance corrections!

Your in-camera white balance setting is a great asset to JEPG and RAW shooter alike. Nailing an accurate white balance in the camera is one of the biggest time savers that I have noticed. The camera’s presets come close to accurate colors but many times they still require additional fine-tuning in order to get the most accurate colors. Auto white balance is fine for a snapshot but the white balance values are all over the place from shot to shot and good luck color correcting those JPEGS! In this article, I plan on going over how to obtain the best color directly in-camera and the tools which work for me.

Color correction was always a nightmare for me. This was my primary reason for shooting RAW for the longest time. My previous gray card targets like the Whibal and so on were ‘close’ but I always had too much magenta or something that looked just plain off. The RAW file has a lot more leverage when it comes to obtaining the best white balance and exposure correction. Now I don’t know about you but the perfectionist in me always questioned my white balance. I have purchased my share of gray cards and color checkers but even the most expensive one is no use when you forget to take it out of your camera bag!

Well, color correction issues became a figment of my imagination once I discovered the BRNO BaLens. The BaLens replaces your lens cap and comes in a variety of sizes so it is likely to fit any of your lenses. Its design is simple; a white translucent dome, which is about the size of a quarter, sits in the center of the cap and can be swapped out with a warmer portrait dome for warmer skin times if need be. The BaLens comes with a neutral and warm dome. The neutral one is ideal for any situation where the warmer one is most beneficial for skin tones and portraits. I prefer to just keep the neutral one on and simply dial in a little warmth to skin tones in post-production if need be.

It is very easy to switch out the different domes but I could just slide the Kelvin slider a couple hundred degrees and that seems to always to the trick for me. The BaLens did require some more steps to follow. It relies on using your test image to be stored as a white balance preset in the camera while gray cards can be captured and worked with in post-production. The steps require me to take the test shot using program mode, manual focus and auto white balance. I use Program mode only for this purpose simply because it takes care of the exposure for me without me having to fidget with my exposure. My camera is set up so it doesn’t take a picture unless focus is acquired so putting my lens into manual focus bypasses this. Because of the BaLens’ design, they recommend taking the test image using auto white balance. It’s quite straightforward from there. I have the BaLens lens cap on and take a photo of the main light source (or in between the two light sources if there are different casts to acquire an average balance). The last step is for me to use that image as the white balance preset value. Refer to your camera’s user manual for instructions on how to set the white balance preset. It sounds like a hassle but I can pull all this off in half a minute tops. Yeah the first couple tries seemed like I was all thumbs but the more you do it, the faster you get. For weddings or portraits, I just make sure to spark up a conversation or have my second shooter take them for a few images while I go through the white balance settings to make the shoot flow seamlessly.

You’re probably wondering what the results are like. Let’s take a look at the differences between my old means of white balance calibration and the new. If your computer monitor isn’t calibrated then don’t expect to really see any color accuracy since your monitor’s color is probably off in some way. I would recommend picking up a monitor calibration device if that is the case.

Image 1: Auto White Balance *WAY too cool.

Image 2: Whibal card: 3050K / -4 *better than auto but it isn’t quite there.

Image 3: BaLens Neutral: 3300K / -13 *notice how that -13 value is what fixes the magenta issue I complained about earlier.

Image 4: BaLens Warm: 3350K / -11 *notice the slight variation in temperature readings. This one wins it for me.

*NOTE: Check out these images for better examples of what the BaLens can do: http://www.michaelalanphoto.net/?p=137

Image 5: Lightroom WB Dropper Tool: 3100K / -2 * Close, but still too much magenta.

There definitely wasn’t much of a difference is the Kelvin temperature but look at the differences in the tint. As mentioned a couple times before, I always noticed that my images had too much of a magenta cast to them after using my other white balance correction methods. This was always bothersome to me and caused me to always be “pixel peeping”. The BaLens did an amazing job of taking care of this for me automatically. FINALLY!

So long story short, the BaLens out performs all my other white balance targets. Are there better white balance targets out there? Probably. Are they as easy to use and convenient as the BaLens? Probably not.

I hope this article was useful to you. As always feel free to get in touch with me by commenting below or register with the inLIGHTin Forum and we can chat about all things photography there. Thanks for reading and take care!

You can purchase the BRNO BaLens at the following locations:
www.balens.ca
http://amplis.com
or at any of these other fine retailers:
HERE

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I just got another article published on ePHOTOzine.com.

This one is all about “Showing What You Want To Sell” and how to make more money even in this crummy economy.

http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Tips-on-how-to-make-more-money-10847

Comment and let me know what you think!

Thanks!

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I just helped write another article for UK’s ePHOTOzine so be sure to check it out and comment to let me know what you think:

http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Male-and-female-portriture

Thanks!

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