How To Use White Balance On Dx1g Camera Underwater

Knowing how to accommodate white rest in post-processing is a disquisitional editing tool

ByJoseph Tepper

At that place are lots of reasons to shoot in RAW format: High quality, dramatic dynamic range, and non-destructive editing are just a few. But for underwater photographers, perhaps the greatest reward of shooting in RAW is the ability to customize white balance during mail-processing.

White Balance Makes a Difference

Ideally, white remainder achieves realistic color temperatures for your images so that subjects and the groundwork announced natural. All the same, shooting underwater presents a number of challenges because of the mode water absorbs light—besides often we meet images that have an unnatural blue or green hue caused by improper white residual.

Your photographic camera has a number of white balance settings, depending on the model. Still, these are the most mutual: Motorcar White Balance, Custom, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Daylight, Flash, Cloudy, and Shade. Each of these situational white balances has a corresponding Kelvin temperature value that determines the hues in the image, ranging from 1000K to 9000K. Typically, underwater photographers keep the camera ready to Automobile White Balance or Shade, because the latter tends to reproduce colors more accurately when reviewing images underwater.

Regardless of your in-camerawhite rest setting, as long as you're shooting in RAW, the coloration can exist altered afterwards the fact. While you tin can customize your white remainder underwater, perhaps the nearly efficient fashion to reproduce realistic colour temperatures is to set the white balance in post-processing.

What a departure white residual makes. Four different white residual settings in Lightroom (left to correct): Auto, Cloudy, Tungsten, and Custom

What Is the White Balance Tool?

The primary goal of proper white balance is to brand the neutral colors of an prototype accurate, which is where the chemical element "white" of the term comes from. It is of import to annotation that grayness tones are likewise valid every bit a determining point when setting white residuum.

The about ubiquitous Adobe paradigm-editing software (Photographic camera RAW, Lightroom, and Photoshop) offers a uncomplicated-to-use white remainder tool. By using this tool, you can rapidly adjust the white balance and remove undesired color casts in your image.

The white residue tool is denoted by an "eye dropper" icon in Lightroom (left) and Camera RAW (right)

Using the White Balance Tool

You tin can find the white remainder tool in Adobe Photographic camera RAW every bit an eye-dropper icon. The shortcut for the white balance tool in Camera RAW is "I" on your keyboard. In Lightroom, the shortcut for the white balance tool is "Due west" and tin be accessed via the "Edit Tools" tab. In Lightroom, selecting the white balance tool zooms into the highlighted section at a pixel level for accurateness in selecting points. In Camera RAW, y'all can zoom in on the image to accomplish the aforementioned effect.

The goal is to use a neutral white or greyness area to determine the proper coloration of the epitome. By clicking this neutral expanse, the program will remove whatever unwanted bluish or yellow tints in that section—and in doing so will adjust the rest of the colors in the image.

The neutral color of the hammerhead shark's underside serves every bit a suitable white residual selection indicate

Of course, finding the correct neutral indicate is disquisitional in this process and differs from image to prototype. For broad-angle underwater images, there are a few frequently photographed subjects that tin serve as the perfect white balance point. The kickoff go-to is the gray surface area of a scuba tank or some other neutral color on a diver's trunk (fins, weight chugalug, or mask). You can also use white sand (every bit long as information technology'southward non overexposed) every bit a starting point. For macro critters, effort looking for some neutral gray or white around the eyes.

One affair to consider is the altitude between the camera and the point in your image where you're takingyour white balance. Ideally, y'all should select a white balance indicate that is at least partially lit by strobes, as this will take their output temperature into consideration. Regardless of whether you are using strobes or relying but on natural lite, it is of import to choose a white rest point that is either in the foreground or mid-distance in the image. Otherwise, you could end up with likewise much of a carmine tint when selecting a neutral spot too far in the background.

On macro critters, expect for white or neutral colour markings or the white of the heart

Because of their natural gray color, scuba tanks are ideal pick points for determining the proper white balance

Fine-Tuning White Residuum

In a perfect world, y'all would be able to set the proper white balance with a single click. Still, sometimes what the editing software finds as the "right" coloration might appear slightly off. Often, the workflow involves using the white residuum tool and then fine-tuning the results with the Temperature and Tint settings.

Temperature adjusts the color temperature from warmer to colder. If you select a white balance spot and the prototype looks too warm—reddish hues in the foreground—you lot can bring down the temperature. This over-warmth oftentimes happens when including human being peel in the prototype. Alternatively, y'all can increase warmth of the temperature if at that place's still too much blue hue subsequently setting the white balance.

The Tint setting adjusts the dark-green to magenta scale, which is helpful for creating blue backgrounds that "pop." If the mid-water blues appear slow or non rich enough, endeavour sliding the Tint setting towards the magenta side. Ultimately, setting white rest is somewhat dependent on personal taste—and these fine adjustments will come in handy.

The white balance tool comes close with the coloration (in a higher place), only increasing the temperature and tint manually makes the blues richer and colour in the foreground "popular"

Final Thoughts

For many underwater photographers, setting the white balance is the start become-to aligning in post-processing. The calorie-free-absorbing properties of water pose challenges when trying to accurately reproduce colors. Fortunately, the malleability of RAW files makes it possible to change the white balance to sense of taste. Don't be afraid to go by the one-click simplicity of the white residuum tool and make small adjustments with the Temperature and Tint settings.

Source: https://www.divephotoguide.com/underwater-photography-techniques/article/white-balance-editing-underwater-photos/

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