White Balance in mixed lighting

I mostly shoot weddings and the pic in the banquet hall I shoot with slow shooter 1/15 or

slower.

I like the effect but the light between my flash and tungsten really gives me a hard time to

color correct.

Yes I did tray to costume white balance with very little success.

So my question is this is there a way to put filter on my flash so it will give light more

towards the tungsten temperature and then balance the hole thing.

I use Canon 1D mk 2n, 580ex, 24-70 and a gary fong light sphere.

Wow, are you shooting in JPEG? Because if you are shooting in RAW, the white balance isn't an issue. I suppose you could put filters on to correct, but why when you can always color correct in Photoshop later? It seems to be the general concensus that color filters aren't really needed with digital photography. I'm pretty sure the 1D mk2n has white balance correction (which can also be bracketed). Look for it in the menu. You can set Blue/Amber and/or Magenta/Green bias to get just the white balance you like. If you want more "tungsten" looking colors just set go towards the amber side.

I guess you figured out there is no WB setting that will make mixed lighting look natural.

The trouble with the flash fiter idea is you'll immediately find yourself shooting under

fluorescence lights! This situation used to drive me nuts but I found an easy workaround. I

shoot RAW and convert one file with WB set for flash or daylight. I them process another

file with WB set for tungsten. I open both converstions in PS in layers and use the mask,

easer and blend tools to merge the two files into one natural photo. That is, the subject's

WB is flash whereas the background uses tungsten or fluorescence WB. Looks natural, just

like the human eye sees it. Once you get the hang of it, it only takes a few minutes of PS

work per image.

What Puppy Face said.

There is no perfect way to do it, and I would just accept that there will be a difference. I

would adjust the white balance for nice skin tone, and let the room look tungsteny. The

difference in white balance will look less extreme if you use a faster shutter speed, like

1/30th or 1/60th (less ambient light will come through). Custom white balance won't

work because the two light sources are so different. Sometimes angling the flash away

from the subject, even backwards, will cause the flash to light up more of the room,

causing the flash's output to affect more of the color in the room. Puppy Face's solution

works great when you can spend the time to do it that way. You can also try the Sto-fen

#OC-EYGL GOLD Omni-Bounce Diffuser for Canon 580EX Flash. It works like a filter on

your flash. This Sto-fen will make your flash output almost match the tungsten light. But

it gives a very gold/amber effect, so you need to shoot raw to be able to adjust it back

towards white/daylight if it's too much.

There certainly is a way to match the colour balance of your flash to the ambient lighting. Gels. You can cut them to size, and then tape them over the flash, adding and removing them quickly and easily as needed. While Puppy Face's idea probably works very well, I'd hate to sit and do it for a hundred photos. In other words, it's very time consuming, even if it is effective. Gels would be fast and simple.

 

Unfortunately, I don't know the correct gels to use to correct for tungsten light, and fluorescent light as I've never done much of that type of shooting. I know there are people on Photo.net who would know, and hopefully they'll see this thread and let you know. If not, try posting the question in the Lighting Forum.

Mixed lighting is trouble.

 

Shooting RAW will not help, as the required WB will VARY ACROSS THE FRAME.

 

What you need is this: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=397164&is=REG&addedTroughType=search

 

and

 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=397165&is=REG&addedTroughType=search

Ok, here's a long answer....copied from the web page:

 

http://markhancock.blogspot.com/2004/12/balance-light.html

 

.

 

Tungsten

 

Tungsten light is the light emitted from most household light bulbs and photofloods. The light is created when an electronically charged filament (wire) is heated and glows. It is a constant light source (as opposed to pulse). It measures around 3200K degrees on a black body light chart. To film and filtration, it's reddish orange.

 

Tungsten corrections

In all cases where tungsten light is the prominent light source, it's best to gel flash and strobes to match available light. With flash, Rosco suggests its Cinegel #3411: Roscosun 3/4 CTO. It converts 5500K daylight sources to 3200K to somewhat match ambient light.

 

Although household light bulbs are about 2500K, the gel correction leaves a touch of warmth in the room once color corrected. It's enough red to give the background a "home" feel without making it look like a furnace or disco.

 

There are both positive (chrome, slide) and negative tungsten-balanced films. Using available tungsten light, shoot as normal with T-type film.

 

With digital cameras, set the color balance for tungsten and shoot as normal with available light.

 

With standard negative film, shoot as normal for available light. Color needs to be corrected in Photoshop.

 

With standard positive film (chrome, slide) consider sacrificing two stops of light and use an 80A filter. It filters 3200K to 5500K.

 

Fluorescent

 

If you noticed, fluorescent light doesn't appear on the chart above. It isn't part of the black body light spectrum. Instead, fluorescent lamps create light by electronically charging phosphors within a vacuum-sealed tube. Each fluorescent tube transmits a different range of colors depending on the age and composition of the tube. Generally, it transmits light in the yellowish green range.

 

Furthermore, it's a pulsating light source. It's regulated by alternating current (60 cycles per second in the U.S.). This means any shutter exposure faster than 1/50th is still unpredictable after all other variables are removed.

 

Fluorescent corrections

Most PJs start banging their head on the counter when asked how to correct for this light. There really isn't a sure-fire correction for fluorescent light. As stated above, each tube is different and unpredictable.

 

However, we must still do what we can to make it look somewhat "normal."

 

The best way is to custom white balance the light with a digital camera. Next would be to shoot with available light on negative film (try adding an FL-Day filter to the lens as well) and color correct in Photoshop. Then, it gets harder.

 

With flash, Rosco suggests its Cinegel #3304: Tough Plusgreen/Windowgreen gel. This gel "adds green to natural and artificial daylight sources to balance with U.S. Cool White or daylight type fluorescents. To be used with overall correction at the lens or in the lab."

 

Frequently, the gelled flash appears more cyan than the background. By the time it's corrected, the background shifts slightly toward red, which is good in moderation.

 

With positive (chrome, slide) or negative film, PJs can gel the flash and try to counter filter the color with a FL-Day correction filter on the lens. It frequently doesn't work, but it's still better than bug green.

 

 

The page on Roscos site for the filters suggested above are:

 

http://www.rosco.com/us/filters/cinegel.asp#Daylight

 

 

scroll down until you see the number of the correction filters suggested above.

and here's a short answer from the lighting forum by Brooks Short

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00DNvG&tag=

>>t the light between my flash and tungsten really gives me a hard time to color correc<<

 

Get a Stofen "GOLD" diffuser and you are set. It will balance your flash with the existing tungsten lights. If you don't like the Stofen then, get a ROSCO gel pacl.

My bane is fluorescent lights in church wedding reception halls. Given that most have relatively low, white ceilings, I tend to point the 550EX bounce flash mostly up, and just blast away (uses a lot of flash battery, though -- have spares on hand, and another set in the 30 minute charger).

 

It tends to overpower the normally weaker fluourescent lighting. Sometimes you'll see a greenish cast in the background, but it's usually pretty effective.

There have been several posts in the Wedding and Event forum about this topic. Do a search with the words, "flash, gel, wedding". Here is one.

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00CO4h&tag=

 

You can get a sample pack of gels from B&H for one cent. They happen to fit over a shoemount flash's reflector. Just tape one to the reflector inside whatever modifier you are using, including the Lightsphere. I carry 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 CTO gels with me, as well as the green ones for fluorescents.

 

Dave, if your event is lit by fluorescents and you don't have any other light sources, such as daylight coming in through a window, etc., you can successfully gel for fluorescents. I've had that happen only once--a reception in an interior room in a hotel. Most other places have a mixture of light sources, so gelling is problematic.

Simple!

 

Convert those shots to B&W or Sepia, and sell it as a FEATURE.

 

C Painter

if anyone knows the search terms to find a $0.01 gel sample pack at B&H's website, it's a 3000 mile trip to the counter there...

Here's the link:

 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=45184&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

 

As for key words, try "Rosco Swatchbook".