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White Balance Hands On – Apple Blossoms

Posted on March 25, 2012 // Leave a Comment

I thought I’d show you all exactly how I use the Color Checker Passport in my workflow to attain a correct white balance this time around.

Have a look at the small sized color swatches in the first photo and note the top half. Pay particular attention to the third row with little icons that look like mountains and sunlight; this is the group of swatches that will be used to color correct landscape photographs. The center is neutral, the two leftmost add a touch of coolness, and the two rightmost will add a bit of warmth to your color palette.

To color correct your scene, you must shoot your photograph under the same lighting conditions and incident angles as your reference shot. Also, the same exposure values must be used; any shift, and your colors won’t be true. So, in order to do this accurately, move your camera dial to manual mode and get a proper meter reading for 18% grey.

Now that we have the proper exposure dialed in, take your reference shot and forget about it till you move to post.

Once you get your images into the software editing suite of your choice, find the little white balance eye dropper and click the neutral white target for landscape that I mentioned earlier. Take note of the white balance temperature and tint, or simply lift the adjustment and stamp your remaining photos. That’s it. You’re done!

I show the Color Checker Passport on location and explain how to use it.

Apple Blossoms

I am back to the same location I created Weeping Dream, but only this time the seasons have changed. Apple Blossoms and Cherry Blossoms are in bloom and those same bare trees are filled with beautiful color; we have overcast skies again so color saturation is at its best.

An Apple Blossom tree flower close up.

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