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Adjust white balance in camera or in post?


5 years 4 weeks ago #636265 by Adam Cuffin
Hey guys.  All things considered does it make sense to fuss over white balance in the camera when your top slider in Lightroom or Camera Raw makes adjusting this super easy?

I should reword this - what circumstances will you worry about fine adjustments to white balance in camera?
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5 years 4 weeks ago - 5 years 4 weeks ago #636300 by garyrhook
Short answer: yes.

See the thread on interior architecture ballroom (Photo Galleries / Landscape, City and Architecture)  shots for what can happen when you rely on only one thing.

Get a gray card, and shoot it. Using the auto WB is fine if the light isn't changing (and even if it is) but that doesn't mean the camera gets it right. And learn how to adjust in post, because.

At least, that was my take away.  I just need to be better about using my gray card.
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5 years 4 weeks ago - 5 years 4 weeks ago #636330 by Nikon Shooter
Hi Adam,

since RAW files have no colour space, the WB is the less
critical of all the parameters prior to SR.

That being said, one will need a reference in the captured
scene, that point is crucial for no pain PP. That reference
may be present in the scene itself or recorded via a grey
card on a frame representing the shooting conditions of
the shoot.

Personally, I set WB1 to Auto with all my cameras and, to
be on the safer side, use the grey card when needed.
Light is free… capturing it is not!
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5 years 4 weeks ago #636431 by Adam Cuffin
You both are awesome.  Thank you for taking the time to help me out.  I do have one further question: in terms of nailing while balance to the 'T', how do the meters in a camera compare to a dedicated light meter? Generally speaking.
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5 years 4 weeks ago #636464 by Troponin
Yep, it’s all about workflow. My lighting changes constantly, but I would calibrate for a shoot in consistent lighting. 

 All of the little details add up All of the details add up quickly and can make PP much more time consuming 
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4 years 10 months ago #646035 by jrickards
Jumping in on this topic/question rather than create a new topic.

I don't know where I "learned" it from but I read somewhere that I should set my camera's WB to a fixed value (6000K was suggested, that's what I'm using) and in darktable (the RAW development software I use) also set it to the same (in my case, 6000K). I've been using that for a few months and I've been happy with the results but in reading another discussion, I've been wondering if this was good advice or whether or not I've just been lucky. Most of my colour photography has been outdoors and most of my indoor photography has been black and white.

I edit from RAW.

Also, I've shot at different times of the day with different light: blue light during blue hour, warm or sometimes magenta light at sunrise, warm light at sunset, cold light in snow scenes and all of these have come out nicely with regard to colour. I'm still an amateur so I'll make mistakes with focus and exposure and composition but when I do get exposure right, I've had no qualms with white balance using the 6000K setting. If I had set WB to auto, given that RAW is unaffected by WB, what difference would it have made?

Again, have I been lucky and am I missing something critical?

Thanks,

Jules
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4 years 10 months ago #646037 by garyrhook
It made no difference whatsoever.

6000K is a tiny bit warm, but not too much. Nominally, "daylight" is 5100 - 5500.

So your approach is just fine. If you don't want to compensate for whatever color the light currently is, using a fixed WB value is the way to go.

However, you might consider: shooting with auto-WB means that camera can make the effort to decide what good skin tones should look like, and save a reading that you might want at some point. You can always change the WB in post back to 6000 and no tint. That gives you both options, should you want them.

N.B. the WB value can affect your B&W toning options. Experiment to see what I mean.
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4 years 10 months ago - 4 years 10 months ago #646042 by Nikon Shooter

jrickards wrote: If I had set WB to auto, given that RAW is unaffected by WB, what difference would it have made? 


To say it is unaffected is dead wrong. The recorded data will show
differences in all channels. Luckily, colour recording is very flexible
and the data interpretation may go far in a direction or an other.

Setting to Auto WB will allow recordings that will be closer to what
was seen, restricting the range of the recordings. This is very cool in
PP as what is on screen will always look better — closer to a correct
Kelvin temperature — than if recorded at any chosen fixed value.
Light is free… capturing it is not!
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The following user(s) said Thank You: jrickards
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4 years 10 months ago #646136 by Roy Wilson
I always just adjust in the post.  Saves time and I can adjust based on what I feel looks best for that particular shot. 
Canon 5D Mark II, 30D, 40D, 50 1.2L, 16-35 2.8L Mark II, 24-105 4L IS, 24-70 2.8L, 70-200 2.8L IS, 85 1.8, 4 x 580 EX(II)
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The following user(s) said Thank You: jrickards
,
4 years 10 months ago - 4 years 10 months ago #646741 by Happy Hour
It's one of the first items I adjust in Lightroom.  I will usually keep my camera in 'Cloud' setting as I tend to like warmer tones.  
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4 years 10 months ago #646759 by GaryA
In 'General' ... get into the habit to do as much as 'in-camera' as possible. The ol' 'get it right in the camera'.  Always relying on post, not only for WB, but horizons, framing, exposures, et al will make you lazy and over time you'll end up with less keepers and more computer time. Good photography is a collection of details.  Always working/thinking of the details will make you a better photographer. 
There are photographs everywhere. It is the call of photographers to see and capture those images.
www: garyayala.com
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