AboutJoe Appel Expertise I can answer questions related to many areas of photography, but most specifically relating to photojournalism. I can also offer advice on using digital and 35mm cameras, Adobe Photoshop, and digital photography in general. Once upon a time I was pretty good in a darkroom too.
Experience I have been a staff photographer for a major metropolitan newspaper group (over 100,000 circulation) for 12 years. Concurrently, I have maintained a freelance photography business.
Organizations belong to National Press Photographers Association
Publications Rolling Stone, USA Today, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Palm Beach Post, New York Daily News, Philadelphia Inquirer, Super Street Bike, Motorcyclist, Sport Rider, Cycle World, Roadracing World, T.W.O. (Two Wheels Only), the ABA Journal.
Expert: Joe Appel Date: 4/28/2007 Subject: white balance
Question Hi - I have a DSLR: Canon Rebel XT. My question regards white balance. I have a number of insect eggs and plan on getting photos of them while they are hatching. Their egg cases were laid on a fence post right outside my window. The fence post is brown, the egg cases are brown and so are the insects when they first come out. I am taking a hot pink poster board and putting it in back of the fence post where they hatch so that I can easily use photo shop to erase all the pink and then paste in a more attractive backround. The problem is that nothing in the photo is white at all or gray. I have a plan and would like to know if it would work to achieve an effective white balance - I plan to put an %18 grey card on the poster board in the backround - could I do that and just set the camera's white balance to automatic and acheive a good white balance since the grey card will be in there? OR Do I have to custom set the whole thing with a grey card each time I take a photo (since the eggs hatch at differnt times and in different lightings). Thankyou for your advice - any way you could help me would be appreciated...........Pete
Answer Pete,
I think you're on the right track. What I'd do is set the camera's white balance each time you get ready to take pictures. You'll need a piece of paper or white cardboard. While I'm not familiar with your particular camera's functions, most modern SLR's allow you to make a preset white balance based on reading a white card.
If yours doesn't have this functionality, then there's probably a way to take a white balance reading quickly before each shot and hold that reading while you make your shot.
An 18 gray card is for exposure metering purposes and not for white balance. To get a white balance you've got to use a white card.
