What Is This Thing Called WHITE BALANCE?

When it comes to learning photography, I can see why some photographers get baffled and misled by the term White Balance, often written as WB. It can be very confusing. White balance has more to do with exposure issues—getting whites white. I wish digital photography manufacturers would have used “CC” for color correction, or “TC” for temperature correction.

Before digital, the concept of “light temperature” was a common discussion. Without getting too technical, the sun’s temperature is said to be about 5,500 degrees Kelvin (or 9,440 degrees Fahrenheit)— now, that’s hot! It is that temperature that gives us natural-looking colors; colors we are used to seeing. However, regular light bulbs, often described as incandescent or tungsten lighting, are obviously not the same temperature as the sun, and neither are florescent tubes. And that is where the problem begins, with both film and digital cameras. Colors shift when we photograph interior scenes lit by light bulbs or fluorescent tubes, when we shoot with daylight film or have our digital cameras set for “daylight.” Before digital, we would simply attach a color correction filter (not white balance filter) to correct the yellowish colors of incandescent lighting or the greenish colors of fluorescent lighting.

Today, most photographers shoot with a digital camera. Enter the term White Balance, which is designed to correct for that ugly color shift--we don’t need filters anymore for that. Instead of color-correction filters, we simply change our White Balance to either Incandescent (or the light bulb icon) or Florescent (the funny-looking fluorescent bulb icon), depending on the lighting situation. We do this to get more natural-looking colors, not just whites.

Below is a Before & After comparison. The scene is the beautiful and luxurious lobby of the Boulderado Hotel in Boulder, Colorado, which is lit by incandescent lighting. The first example was shot with my camera WB setting on “Direct Sunlight.”  The second example was shot with my camera WB setting on “Incandescent” lighting. Notice the big difference between the two!

I think you will be pleased with your future photos when making incandescent or fluorescent adjustments. But, don’t forget to re-set your WB to ‘direct sunlight” or “daylight” when shooting outdoors!

Example #1: Incandescent lighting, with “daylight” WB setting. Notice that, although whites look reasonably white, there is a strong yellowish tint to the overall image.

 Example #2: Incandescent lighting with “Incandescent” WB setting. Notice the more natural colors, like the brown leather upholstery, the marble pillars, the wood accents throughout the hotel lobby, etc.

  

EXPOSURE COMPENSATION BUTTON

You might say, "What in the world is that?" Have you ever tried taking photos in the snow, or of a subject that is very bright and they turn out too dark? More than likely, the problem was with your built-in light meter. I spend a lot of time in my classes talking about exposure meter problems and such. But, for this blog, let me just say that the exposure compensation button is a quick-fix solution. 

I call this little button "a life saver." If your photos come out too dark, you can use the exposure compensation button to lighten up the photo. If your photos come out too light/bright, you can use this same button to darken them. Sounds too good to be true? Well, it's true. And, you can often find it in your basic point-&-shoot cameras and
sometimes on cell or "smart" phones. Read your camera/phone manual--you might surprise yourself.

You can find the exposure compensation button either on your camera body or in your menu settings. It allows you to adjust your exposure, or how much light your film or sensor
receives.On the camera bodies, the button or icon will look like this +/-  The exposure compensation scale looks something like this:  +..............0...............-  The zero is the 
starting point. If the photo is too dark, you simply move/toggle from the zero to the + direction (more light) to lighten the photo. If the photo is too light, you simply move/toggle to the - direction (less light) to darken the photo. Then, with your chosen setting, you just re-take the photo. If it's better, but still too dark, go back and move the setting one or two more "clicks" or steps and re-take it. Your manuals will give you more details as to how many increments your camera setting will give you. There is no magic to this. Simply keep moving the setting left or right until you get what you most like. Some cameras have the + on the right side of the scale, but it will work the same way, just the opposite direction. Another term for this, which you might have heard, is "bracketing."  

Here is an example. I saw this "Townie" (that's what they call them in Crested Butte, Colorado) half buried in the snow. With this much snow in the scene, I knew I was going to get a darkened photo, unless I adjusted my exposure to the + side. For this particular image, I compensated + .67 or 2/3. In other words, I gave the original setting almost 70% more light! If I didn't have the bicycle and part of the brown wooden building in the photograph, I probably would have had to make a  + 1 or 1 1/3 adjustment.

So, while winter is still with us, go "play" in the snow and try this "life-saving" technique and have fun with it. How much compensation you decide to make is strictly a personal choice.  

If you're like many of my former students who have learned this quick fix solution, you're going to say OMG!!

"Townie Deep In Snow" 

  

BE AN ARTIST FIRST, PHOTOGRAPHER SECOND

I made a presentation to the Boulder Colorado Nature Camera Club on January 24, 2013, with this title.

I majored in art for three years at Texas Tech University. Although I did not get a degree, those three years served, and continue to serve, as the artistic foundation for my photography today. I always start my photographic process from an artist’s mindset, which forces me to quickly get into my right brain and ask myself questions like “What do I want this to look like?” “What do I feel?” “Why did I stop?” “What will my composition be?” “How do I want to interpret this?” Only after I have entertained those questions do I begin asking myself the dry, mechanical, and technical questions, like, “What f/stop will I need to achieve that?” “What shutter speed should I use?” “What exposure do I want to apply to get me what I see with my imagination?”

I don’t see with my eyes. I see with my imagination. My camera features and lenses are only the tools I use to achieve what I want. They are the means to an end, not the end. I use my right brain to create what I imagine, and then my right brain shakes hands with my left brain and says, “I have an idea. Now I need your help to help me achieve that.” The two work hand in hand. You cannot have one without the other, but it is the right brain that controls, directs, and gives my photo art life. In this particular slide show, I began with four Before-and-After images. I show what the average eyes see, then I show what my imagination created from that scenario. Here are a couple of examples:

                            BEFORE                                                AFTER

 

                 

Both of the “after” images are on my website. I use them to stress that if we only see with our eyes, we will miss a lot of great opportunities. We typically walk around waiting for something, whatever that “something” is, to hit us between the eyes and yell, “Here I am!” We have to see, not what our eyes see, as the little flowers and the lake on the left represent, but see what our imaginations can create. I prefer to see and create my artistic images in-camera, as opposed to using photo editing software. I always tell my students, create your images in camera. Use your photo editing software to fine-tune your images, not create them. But that is my style and it has served me well all these years.

After I showed fifty images to the Boulder Club, I received a lot of positive comments and several questions. One of the most common questions asked was, “If you don’t use HDR, what do you use? My answer has always been the same. I begin with determining my composition, then my depth of field, and then I use the entire range of exposure metering modes, not just matrix or evaluative metering. My favorite metering mode to create really dramatic images is spot metering, which is what I used for the image below.

So, go out there and have fun taking your artistic eye for a test drive! Visit my website for more examples, and e-mail me with any questions.

                          

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS THE "CORRECT EXPOSURE"

I go into a lot of detail and show examples in my classes on the subject of "exposure." For me, the "correct" exposure is my desired exposure. I always ask myself, "What do I want this to look like?" The answer to that question determines what I decide to do with my exposure to get the desired result.

Such was the case when I saw these great colorful tulips on a nice afternoon on Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, Colorado. It was late afternoon. Some of the tulips, the ones in the background, were already in the shadows of surrounding buildings. The tulips in the foreground were still receiving nice sunlight and thus brilliant in color. I knew from experience that the light range between the tulips in the shadows and the ones in sunlight was too great and could cause exposure issues. In this type of lighting, it is very easy to either have the foreground terribly over exposed or have the background virtually disappear into darkness.

When I applied my artistic approach to the scenario, I could imagine the front tulips being nicely and colorfully exposed and the background tulips as subtle backdrops.

So, what to do? I chose to spot meter on the tulips in the foreground, then used my exposure compensation dial to fine-tune the image. And this is the result I got. During one of my slide presentations, one of my guests made the comment, "It looks like you photographed some tulips, with a mural of tulips on a wall in the background." 

Next time you see this lighting condition, try this easy technique. Have fun with it!

    

How To Create Blurred Backgrounds

HOW DO YOU GET THOSE NICE BLURRED BACKGROUNDS?

This is just one of many techniques I teach in my "Beginning Digital Photography" class at Arapahoe Community College in the Denver area. Here are some key steps to get blurred results like in the image below of a friend's saxophone.

First, there are three factors that will determine the final effects of your blurred backgrounds.
A) The f/stop you choose-- an f/2.8-f/5.6 range works best.
B) The distance from your subject--the closer you are, the more blurred the background.
C) The distance of the nearest object behind your subject. If it is too close to  your subject, 

blurring it becomes a bit of a challenge, but f/2.8 or f/3.5 might still work. If it doesn't, then 
some careful "selective focusing" might do the trick. E-mail me if you need more information on that really cool technique!

 So, given the above information, here are the steps to get those nice blurred backgrounds.

 (for best results, use a tripod and set your focusing to manual focusing)

 1) Determine your composition
 2) Check your exposure--take some test shots
 3) Decide on your focusing point--usually, not always, right on your main/nearest subject

 4) Set desired f/stop. Take a test shot--adjust your f/stop and/or focusing point if necessary

 5) Re-take your shot

 6) And there you have it! Fun, huh?

I have several images with blurred backgrounds in my Abstracts/Close-ups page on my site.

In the image below, you can almost see where my focusing point was (approximately 1/3-1/2 from the top of my viewfinder), using a very shallow f/stop of f/2.8 in order to get really dramatic effects.

Happy Holidays From Eli

Happy Holidays From Eli

CREATING SHAPES & COLOR THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHY

I consider myself an artist with a camera. One of my favorite creative outlets through my photography is to create abstracts. And, one of my favorite ways of doing this is by making the common uncommon. Here is an example I'd like to share with you.

I was with a student recently on a 1-day photo field trip. We took a break for brunch in a quaint cafe in the Colorado mountains. Before we went inside, I stopped outside on the deck and told my student that I would show her how to create total abstracts. I pointed at a collection of colorful glass-blown decorations sitting on a ledge. They all had cornucopia-type designs to them, with lots of colors and soft designs.
 

So here is how I did it. Step 1: I first decided on a piece that had a lot of natural light behind it, to bring out the colors. Step 2: I then tightened up on it, i.e., zoomed in until I pretty much filled my frame with the piece. Step 3: I changed my focusing to manual so I could have total control of my focusing points. Step 4) I focused back and forth, while at the same time changing my f/stops to create different "feels" to it. Step 5) I used my depth of field preview button to see exactly what the outcome would look like. My shutter speed was irrelevant, as I had my camera on a tripod.
 

Of the three different images I created, I liked this one the best. Try it--it's fun!