Using White Balance to Achieve Different Photographic Effects

Submitted by Keith Bridgman

White Balance as it relates to a digital photograph can often be a bit confusing to a novice or beginner photographer...and quite possibly even those who are relatively experienced. However, using White Balance (WB) in creative ways can generate some amazing results. While this article is not intended to be an in depth overview of the nature of White Balance, let's take a quick look.

First of all, what is White Balance? Simply stated, WB is the temperature of the light. Not all sources of light are created equal. What might appear as white light to the eye will not necessarily appear white to a digital camera. For instance, noon day sunlight is considered normal light, while incandescent light is quite warm in nature and florescent light is quite cool in appearance. Same applies to cloudy skies and sunsets. Different types and sources of light carry difference ranges of Kelvin Temperatures, from about 1000 to 10000 degrees in range. Oddly enough, the lower the number, the warmer the light. Here is a common scale often employed.

A digital camera must be able to discern the correct WB in order to capture an image correctly. Most cameras use a preset scale something like this one. For most situations AUTO WB works quite well, however understanding the effects generated by using the other kinds of WB presets can help you render some amazing results.

• Auto (A) – Default WB setting and what I use all the time when I shoot RAW. The camera automatically guesses the WB depending on ambient light and use of flash. Some cameras have more than one auto setting for different environments / lighting situations.
• Incandenscent (Light Bulb) – Use it strictly under tungsten light bulbs or the image will look very blue.
• Fluorescent (Glowing Tube) – Use if photos look too green or when under fluorescent lights. Since there are many different types of fluorescent bulbs, some cameras provide several different selections for this setting.
• Direct Sunlight (Sun) – Used when shooting outdoors with the sun shining on the subject.
• Flash (Lightning Bolt) – Used when utilizing on-camera flash.
• Cloudy (Cloud) – Used in cloudy days or in shades. Will yield warmer images than sunlight.
• Shade (House with a Shadow) – Warmer than cloudy, adding orange colors to the photograph. Good for sunsets and shades.
• Choose Color Temperature (K) – Lets you manually change the Kelvin value (typically from 2,500 to 10,000).
• Preset (PRE) – Used for color matching with a white balance card.

Take for instance this photograph. The day was quite cold with a solid layer of ice and snow covering the ground. Taken near sundown, using AUTO or Daylight White Balance would render a more typical golden sunset sky causing the image to retain a warmer feel to it. While this is very acceptable and beautiful in its own right, I wanted to capture the chilled atmosphere of the moment, so I switched the WB to Tungsten causing the camera to shift the color temperature toward a more seasonably responsive bluish tint which captured the moment as it was felt physically and emotionally.

So, the idea here is to think outside the camera for a moment and don't be afraid to experiment with the tools your camera provides to you. You don't always have to accept or settle for what the camera wants to give you. You can control the outcome and effect of your images. Capture what you feel, express the emotion of the moment, share the energy of your outing by simply playing with the White Balance.

The Athletic Body Photo Shoot

Submitted by Keith Bridgman 

The human body is by far the most fascinating subject for a photographer. There are so many expressive ways the body can be captured it is almost like possessing a never ending array of opportunities. Capturing the athletic body can be one of the most expressive and challenging techniques for a photographer. Recently, myself and Jason were given an opportunity to photograph two extremely fit athletes inside of a gym location. Here's my take on how I pulled it off.

We used two model talents, Toy, a lovely young lady who competes in Strong Man contests, and Terrell, a former athlete who still maintains a superb fitness level. The goal was to capture their physiques using dramatic lighting in such a way as to accent their form and athleticism.  

The gym was poorly lit with harsh florescent lighting. To offset this, I set up a simple black background, a black bed sheet hung between two light stands. Four Godox speed lights were employed. The first light was a bare light on a stand that stood behind the model. This was powered down to about 1/16th power to provide a hint of rim light helping to separate the model from the background. Two homemade striplights were set up to either side of the model allowing about two feet or so of space between each shoulder and the lights. These were powered to about 1/4th power and provided plenty of side light to help define the shape of the body. A fourth light was positioned inside an octobox and hung overhead on a boom shooting pretty much straight down.

 This served to add muscle and depth defining shadows. All lights were fired and controlled remotely from the camera using a remote trigger. 

Neither of the models had done much if any posing, so we had to work with them some to bring out their personalities. 

Because of the harsh florescent lighting, I shot everything in a manual mode setting the base exposure to kill all of the ambient light so the photo taken without the speed lights was completely black. In this case, ISO 100, f/7.1, 1/100 of a second did the trick.

I used my Sony A65 with a Minolta 35 - 105mm lens varying the focal length depending on the shot. 

Once the base exposure was reduced to killing the ambient light, I engaged the speed lights to illuminate each model.

We had a great time as both subjects performed brilliantly. Thanx to Toy and Terrell for helping us out and to Workout Anytime for allowing access to the facilities.

A Tip for Long Exposures

 Submitted by Sheila Reeves

You are standing in front of a beautiful scene with rippling water, moving colorful clouds and a great composition of hills and trees. You think to yourself, “This would make a great long exposure.” You attach an ND filter (maybe a 6 stop or 10 stop) to reduce the light entering your camera. You dial in a low ISO to avoid a noisy image. You think you will need about a 2 minute exposure, so you put your camera on bulb mode and take the picture keeping the shutter open for 2 minutes. Oh no! You calculated the exposure time wrong. The image is way too dark or way to light!

Well here is a tip to determine if you calculation is correct without having to wait those 2 minutes.

Change your ISO by 6 stops. If you are shooting at ISO 100, change it to 6400. That is six stops. If you are shooting at ISO 64, change is to 4000. 

Then substitute seconds for minutes of exposure time: 2 seconds for 2 minutes, 3 seconds for 3 minutes, 4.5 seconds for 4.5 minutes, etc. If that gives you a good exposure, reset your ISO and take the shot for the original exposure time. If it does not, you can adjust the time up or down to get a good exposure without having to wait minutes between attempts.

What I See

Not much activity being posted on the club site as of late. COVID of course is mostly to blame, but neither have I made much of an effort to follow up on photo opportunities either of my own, or from others. As a result I searched thru some of my Beyond the Campfire posts and found this one from 2014. Thought it may be of some interest to the club members. Please, enjoy this slightly re-edited version of "What I See".

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Submitted by Keith Bridgman

Discovering a new way to observe the beauty that surrounds us can be an amazing revelation. Learning how to capture it photographically can be a challenge. Sharing it with others is the reward. This past summer (2014) I rediscovered the night sky and spent a great deal of time and energy learning how to not only observe it, but to capture it. It was a challenge that evolved into something much more than an exercise in technique or skill. It became a revelation of seeing.

I've often written about how photography is mostly about seeing light. But it is more than that really. It's about understanding what it is you see. There was a time I saw mechanically meaning I recognized the intrinsic value of what I was photographing, but failed to see beyond the superficial and cliche. Seeing photographically means to see through the superficial to find the solution.

More than likely previous efforts I placed on photographing the night sky may have seemed a bit over the top to most of my photography friends. A few of them gave it a try and then went on to other things that interested them more...and rightly so for them. I began to wonder why I was so captivated by that exercise. Night after night I would stand in some open field staring up at the night sky painstakingly adjusting the homemade tracking device I used to follow the stars across the field of view. Then later, after downloading the images and searching through the better ones I would spend time bringing out the best of what they were. Most of those images no one other than myself saw them, but that was okay. Because I wasn't taking them for someone else. I was taking them for me. 

What I saw was not just a night sky filled with stars and subtle colors of glowing dust along with nebula's filled with radiant gases. I saw a part of myself. In order to bring out the subtle nature of those glowing nebula's and radiant gases,  a long exposure was required along with patient and attentive tracking. When it all fell into place and that one moving image out of dozens materialized, well, a sense of satisfaction filled my heart. 

As a result I began to understand how that experience revealed a great deal about life. Everyone has subtle light in their lives that requires a long personal exposure along with careful and attentive tracking to see. 

With the right amount of effort and understanding, the light in their lives regardless of how faint, will over time begin to glow with it own unique radiance. When I smile as an image of the night sky begins to form, I am smiling because what I see is so much more than stars floating in the sky . . I see lives beginning to shine.