No Strobe - Settings for Custom White Balance?

[ozziworld]

I was wondering if Custom White Balance can be set off of a white or grey card at depth. Would this add in the reds as the camera tries to balance the white? Seems logical to me but I doubt it would be that simple.

Any advise would be most helpful. I did not want the hassle of dealing with strobes so I was hoping to find a decent way to get natural light photos.

 

[Riger]

Unfortunately not. At depth part of the light spectrum is physically missing. A WB calibration assumes that all the light is there and adjusts accordingly.

If you do use the gray card, and you set that as the white reference point later, the colours get a close as you could get with the available light but your pictures will look anaemic.

Best Regards
Richard

Best Regards
Richard

 

[scottfiji]

hey Ozzi,

Custom white balance with a white or grey card is a great way to take natural light photos, without a strobe. It works quite well, especially in clear sunny water with the sun behind you.

However, to get reds you must be very shallow due to the color absorption of water. Red is the wavelength absorbed first, and like Richard mentioned, custom white balance can only help adjust the colors that are not fully absorbed.

Scott

 

[ozziworld]

Are the red filters worth messing with? Seems if there just simply is no red available at depth then the only true solution are the strobes.

How do the photoshop tricks work if there are no reds in the RAW file? Buy I think this if for another thread.

 

[vladimir]

Are the red filters worth messing with? Seems if there just simply is no red available at depth then the only true solution are the strobes.

Correct. Strobes are the "true" solution. But we could have a philosophical "tree falls in the forest" discussion about whether something that would never be naturally exposed to the red end of the spectrum actually "is" that warm reddish hue we get when we blast it with our strobes. If your goal is to capture how that coral or fish appears naturally to the human eye, then the red imbued by the strobes is painting a false picture.

 

[JackConnick]

Red filters work in shallower depths, as the other poster stated with the sun behind you.

Filters are 'subtractive", they filter the blue out leaving more red, they don't add the red. You set a manual white balance with them.

I've had luck on/off with this technique, but it really depends on the clarity of the water, the height of the sun and working on getting it behind you when you shoot.

BTW, you can do your manual white balance off of sand or even you hand. If you can shoot RAW you can white balance later. I do that quite a bit even with strobes. I think all fish should have a white card attached to them ;-).

Jack

 

[divengolf]

Although I usually dive with two Ike strobes, on occasion I set white balance. I carry a "blank" white electrical receptible cover, the one without any outlet holes to use as a reference. They're real cheap-about $0.30 each, plastic and durable. I carry them in my BC pocket and usually drop/loose/break 1-2 a trip. So take a couple extras. Alternately you can attach them to your rig with a spiral/flex. cord if you use them a lot.

But it a very easy way to get a true white reference UW.

 

[elbicho]

Using software like Paint Shop, do you add in the missing colors or what?
And to what degree?

 

[elbicho]

So if your at 90ft you have lost
Red - 15ft, orange - 25ft, Yellow - 35-45ft, Green - 70-75ft
What do you do?

 

[M_Bipartitus]

So if your at 90ft you have lost
Red - 15ft, orange - 25ft, Yellow - 35-45ft, Green - 70-75ft
What do you do?

Use a strobe.

Seriously, if you only have blue portions of the spectrum, then all you can capture on the sensor is blue. Keep in mind the numbers above are only guidelines. If the water is exceptionally clear you might get a bit deeper, but could be much less in poor visibility. Moreover, it should be noted that at given depth the specific colors are not really gone, but just weak compared to other portions of the spectrum. The actual amount of a give color at depth would be given by a decreasing exponential function.