White balancing advice please! at DVinfo.net

Mark McCarthy · July 19th, 2006, 03:57 AM

Hello all.
I am currently doing a lot of shooting a golf events. I shoot using a DSr 450 WSLP.
Please correct me if I am wrong. Is it best for me to perform a white balance under the shade (probably producing a white balacing reading of 7200) and use this setting for the whole day? Does this mean that shots taken out under the sun will look warmer and it will avoid the chance of any of my shots looking a little blue'ish?
I was shooting in the States recently and I manually adjusted the white balance everytime the conditions changed. This is a bit of a pain. 90% of the footage looked fantastic, and the other 10& didn't look quite right. This isn't too bad for 10 hours worth of footage though.
On sunny days do you white balance in the shade? It seems a safe way to play it (reducing the risk of any footage looking blue).If you do a white balance in the sun and then have to grab a shot in the shade, it will look blue and you don't always have the time to get out your card and adjust it.
Is the shade balance the way forward? Are there any drawbacks?

I would appreciate your input. Many thanks
Sparky

A. J. deLange · July 19th, 2006, 01:41 PM

You white balance to the light that is striking the thing you wish to photograph unless you want the images to show the change in light quality (e.g. if you white balance in the shade sunlit shots will look warm; conversely if you balance in sunlight shade shots will look bluish). The easiest way to do this, in my personal opinion, is to aim the camera at the light source with the lens covered with a neutral, translucent filter made for the purpose, adjust the exposure and press the balance button. Each time the light source changes, you repeat the process. If you are filming activity going on in the sun aim at the sun but be sure the filter is in place first! If the subjects move into the shade then aim at the portion of the sky illuminating the subjects (most easily done by taking the camera to the subject and pointing away from it towards the major light source). Second easiest it to place a gray card on the subject aimed towards the camera and white balance while zoomed in on the card to the point that the view finder is filled with the card image.

July 19th, 2006, 03:57 AM	#1
Mark McCarthy Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Westcliff-On-Sea, Essex, England Posts: 154	White balancing advice please! Hello all. I am currently doing a lot of shooting a golf events. I shoot using a DSr 450 WSLP. Please correct me if I am wrong. Is it best for me to perform a white balance under the shade (probably producing a white balacing reading of 7200) and use this setting for the whole day? Does this mean that shots taken out under the sun will look warmer and it will avoid the chance of any of my shots looking a little blue'ish? I was shooting in the States recently and I manually adjusted the white balance everytime the conditions changed. This is a bit of a pain. 90% of the footage looked fantastic, and the other 10& didn't look quite right. This isn't too bad for 10 hours worth of footage though. On sunny days do you white balance in the shade? It seems a safe way to play it (reducing the risk of any footage looking blue).If you do a white balance in the sun and then have to grab a shot in the shade, it will look blue and you don't always have the time to get out your card and adjust it. Is the shade balance the way forward? Are there any drawbacks? I would appreciate your input. Many thanks Sparky

July 19th, 2006, 01:41 PM	#2
A. J. deLange Major Player Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: McLean, VA United States Posts: 749	You white balance to the light that is striking the thing you wish to photograph unless you want the images to show the change in light quality (e.g. if you white balance in the shade sunlit shots will look warm; conversely if you balance in sunlight shade shots will look bluish). The easiest way to do this, in my personal opinion, is to aim the camera at the light source with the lens covered with a neutral, translucent filter made for the purpose, adjust the exposure and press the balance button. Each time the light source changes, you repeat the process. If you are filming activity going on in the sun aim at the sun but be sure the filter is in place first! If the subjects move into the shade then aim at the portion of the sky illuminating the subjects (most easily done by taking the camera to the subject and pointing away from it towards the major light source). Second easiest it to place a gray card on the subject aimed towards the camera and white balance while zoomed in on the card to the point that the view finder is filled with the card image.