white balance example pics

[DebsSisterFlo]

I thought this might help show what the differences really are in setting your white balance.
Yes I know they're blurry, just bear with me I was in a hurry. Focus isn't the issue anyways, I'm trying to show lighting and color differences.

Keep in mind that all of these pics were taken under 96w actinic lighting only. Other than to resize I have not digitally altered the pics in any way.

First we have:

Full Auto, Daylight, and Flash (tho no flash was used)

[DebsSisterFlo]

here is: shade, and cloudy

[DebsSisterFlo]

lastly, Tungsten, and fluorescent.

[pledosophy]

If your camera has the ability to do a custom whitebalance you can use a white piece of plastic in the tank to get a true WB for your system. JMO

I am normally lazy so I just shoot in CRW2 and then convert to JPEG adjusting the WB there.

[Fly Guy]

Originally Posted by pledosophy

If your camera has the ability to do a custom whitebalance you can use a white piece of plastic in the tank to get a true WB for your system. JMO

explain this in more detail please

i have nikon d100 i dont know how to use

[Loverotties]

Originally Posted by Fly Guy

explain this in more detail please

i have nikon d100 i dont know how to use

You take somthing white and stick it in your tank,take a pic in each setting and see which pic has that piece that is white closes looking like it's white and that will be your setting for tank pic.

[Fly Guy]

I think he is talking about a custom white balance.....with finer tuning than that isnt he??

[pledosophy]

Yeah, with that Nikon you can do a little better then trial and error.

First off with the Nikon if you know your bulb spectrum you can set the light for that particular temperature, i.e 6700k.

But if you have a mixture of lights you can take that piece of white plastic, take a picture of the white that complete fills the frame, go into custom white balance, select that image, and set that as white. It will work great for pics of your tank. Before you take pictures of something other then your tank you will need to reset the white balance.

Good Luck.

[Fly Guy]

Thanks Pledosophy..........when the lights come on i will play with it....

: )

[Fly Guy]

Thanks!!! This picture i am attaching is the closest thing to real life i have ever taken. It took me some reading in the manual to figure out exactly how to do it and it will be even closer when my wife gets hom and can hold the piece of plastic........LOL. Plastic floats and it took me forever to get it to accept my sample white while i was holding it. It is a touch red .....but again, by far the closetst thing to real life i have ever taken.

Any tips on how to get a control white if you dont have soemone to hold the floating piece of white plastic for you???

Oh, and as far as the bulb spectrum choice.....9600 is as high a setting as the camera has(or at least that i could find).........im running 15k's.

[Matt_b]

Flyguy, did you float the white plastic on top of the water under the bulb?

[Fly Guy]

Originally Posted by Matt_b

Flyguy, did you float the white plastic on top of the water under the bulb?

No, i held it under the water about halfway in the tank at a 45 degree angle under the lights....my camera wouldnt accept it as "good" until i focused it and had the lens facing it straight on....it kept giving me "no good" errors.

However.....i have found out that i need to get a white/grey card that is white with 13% grey to really fine tune it...i used straight white which is why there is a slight red hue i guess.........

It was seriously a PITA and took 10 minutes in a contorted position of trying to take a shot while holding the white plastic in my tank...lol

[Fly Guy]

I havent been able to locate the 13% grey/white board.....found a couple of other expensive methods........BUT...i just figured out something that gives me the best color so far.....

and it was super simple......i focused it in on my sandbed where it piles against the glass looking from the side of the tank. I have white aragonite, but the shadows of the grains give me a small percentage of grey i guess. the camera ccepted it as "Good" on the first try and i am picking up subtle colors i never though possible. : )

[cnidAndy]

Hey Fly Guy, need some sample pix after using the grey card for custom white balance.. Post 'em up

Andy

[Fly Guy]

Originally Posted by cnidAndy

Hey Fly Guy, need some sample pix after using the grey card for custom white balance.. Post 'em up

Andy

I couldnt locate a grey card from anybody, even that place you recommended, but no grey card needed.....my white sand with a slight shadow did the trick(see last post).

Here is a couple......the first pic is of a browned out green w/pink polyps birdsnest just starting to regain its green flesh color. I think its a great example as that touch of green is tough to pick up......the next is of what used to be a huge acro colony....i cut the tipos of of it during my AEFW treatments and this is what remains.......it was completely bleached out white a month ago.....this is its true color at the moment..........then the same pic as already posted in this thread with 95% of that red hue gone. Andy, if you can locate just the simple gey card you were talking about locally like you said, i would LOVE to pay you for it + shipping of course...to play a little bit more.

I will admit its not quite perfect, but i dont want to spend $50(or more) on the options i could find to set it perfect.