White Balance with Strobe Flash - Photo Critique

I'm having an impossible time adjusting the white balance on my camera. I've

literally gone up and down the custom Kelvin settings and not one setting seems

correct. The closest I've gotten is in the posted photo. Can anyone offer any

advice on the setting white balance with studio flash?

 

Also, any critiques in general of the photo I would appreciate. These photos

are for web postings, so they are supposed to be product shots.

 

Thanks in advance.

What about just shooting raw, taking a few shots with a White Balance card, getting the setting and then using that setting on all the images during post processing?

 

Since you are shooting in a studio all the images and white balance settings should be the same from frame to frame.

 

My guess anyways...

The color looks pretty good to me. I used ordinary daylight film with strobes, and my digital camera has an electronic flash setting. WB problems show up as a color cast over the whole shot. Everything is shifted too much to red or green. Your shot doesn't show that problem. It shows another problem instead. Parts of the shiny surface of the table look too blue, but I think your backdrop has a blueish cast to it.

 

There is a lot of light bouncing off the backdrop across the subject back toward the camera. This reflected glare is so strong it's drowing out the table. I think the table is too close to the sheeting behind it. Allow more room behind the subject for the backdrop. Try five or six feet. If you feel that the backdrop is too dark after this light it separately.

 

Some might advise you to treat the table with something to make it less shiny to cut the glare down. The risk this advice asks you to take is that you might accidentally damage it to get a matte surface. If the piece belongs to someone else, or has value as an heirloom or antique, I would be very reluctant myself to attempt any kind of coating.

 

Another approach for solving the same problem in sunlight is to use a polarizing filter to cut the glare. Strobes are instantaneous in duration, some producing light that lasts only 1/5000 sec. I can think of no way to see through the filter to adjust its effect with a strobe before you attach it to your camera. If you decide to give this a try, use trial and error to adjust the filter by turning it various amounts for a series of shots. Pick the best one you find.

I agree with Albert that the background is throwing back too much light onto the product. Also, it is possible that the background is causing the overall image to be slightly underexposed.

 

I would move the background further away. Maybe put the product on a plinth, which would disguise any gap between the floor and the background.

 

Also consider a backlight to bring out the patina of the wood. You can still use 2 lights by replacing one of the front ones with a reflector.

Hi Doug, Just a few thoughts: If you're using a softbox sometimes the white diffuser, over time, can yellow a bit. This can happen when exposed to a lot of sun, cigarette smoke, etc. You may not even be using a softbox, but if you are and the diffuser does start to turn yellow, it makes setting the WB a real bit** sometimes.

 

Is it possible your flash bulbs are old and are in need of replacing?

 

Your lights should have a kelvin temperature rating - usually around 5500K - if they are rated as such, try that setting in camera.

 

Shoot RAW and using ACR use the color temperature slider to select what looks best. Theoretically it should be right at the color temp at which your lights are rated but don't be afraid to move it around to see what looks best.

 

Lastly, according to Lee Varis (author of "Skin" - a very good book on obtaining good skin tones with digital cameras and Photoshop) Kodak Gray Cards are "not spectrally neutral" and instead he recommends a Robin Myer Digital Gray Card from http://www.rmimaging.com Assuming you buy one, you'd take a reference shot with it in the picture, making sure it's lit well and evenly. Pull up Curves (or Levels; but I prefer curves), select the middle (gray) eyedropper and click on the gray card in the photo. That should correct any color cast. You can then save that curve (give it a meaningful name) and apply it to the rest of your shots by using the "Load" command in Curves and selecting the previously made curve, thus applying it to the next image. You could also write an action to automate that. Good luck!

Doug,

 

Some of the above advise re: moving the product farther in front of the bkgd and lighting the bkgd. separately is good. You can eliminate the glare on the top surface of the table caused by the bkgd by hanging a black cloth in front of the background, just above the table, and then stripping the table out of the background.

 

Another more basic suggestion is to show all 4 legs of the table. Rotate the table counter-clockwise so the legs are all visible and attractively spaced. A longer lens would help minimize the perspective distortion and what distortion is still present can be removed in Photoshop. The legs of the table should be parallel.

 

The image that you've posted is blue and under exposed. You should shoot raw and then you could use a MacBeth color checker and do a grey balance on it or you could try a grey balance on the white background itself.

 

Here's quick attempt at fixing the exposure, color and distortion.<div></div>

You main problem is underexposure not white balance. Get your exposure correct and then you will find it easier to accurately white balance.

 

Steps used: first I adjusted the histogram, second I did a white point balance for white between the legs (assuming the background was white), on my monitor it looked slightly warm so I added the smallest amount of cyan and blue and then did a very small adjustment in levels to enrich the color of the wood.<div></div>

After seeing it on the white background I made another attempt without the blue/cyan adjustment and without the levels adjustment.

 

Less then five seconds: Adjust histogram, do white point between the legs.<div></div>

You all are great. I really appreciate the feedback. Yesterday was the first day with new 800 w/s studio strobes with softboxes. I've also experimented with different backdrops. My initial issue was that the entire photo would either have a blue or red overcast to it. I couldn't get it "clear" or "white" like I could previously with my hot lights. And I don't currently have a light meter. What I want is minimal work post-photo: a. Is this overcast issue common with strobe? Is a grey card really the way that most of you more experienced photogs would approach the solution apart from other suggestions already made?

 

Regarding underexposure, I'm a little lost. I think the strobe heads are too powerful for this small of an item. I felt like the picture would jump from severely overexposed to underexposed. I just couldn't get it right. I enjoy the challenge, but this is really a lot more complex than I ever imagined it would be. I can't sleep at night.

Not a grey card, a white balancing device of some sort. I use the <a href="http://www.rawworkflow.com/products/whibal/index.html">Whibal</a>, but there are lots of things that work as well. Gord has a good suggestion for workflow and of course Brooks has taken years off your learning curve. Pay attention when he talks about shooting furniture... t

Thanks Tom. That Whibal grey card system looks pretty cool.

It looks a shade under exposed to me, so in Photoshop I adjusted the levels first and then simply clicked on the white balance eye drop. Seems to be too much of a hot spot on the top of the table.<div></div>

All of the suggestions are really good. In RAW I usually set the flash to 5200 to 5300, but your exposure needs to be dead on. No room for error, therefore we just love photoshop! By the way, nothing has really changed from the old film days to digital. Ansel Adams was known to spend 8 hours in the darkroom working on one image before he got it right, so even with a meter, shooting in RAW doesn't always totally work.

There appears to be a color cast coming off the backdrop, making automatic color balance impossible. The backdrop has overly strong illumination that creates glare off the upper surfaces: beyond dialing down the background light, you might consider a polarizing filter. My results with manual color balancing, plus "curves" adjustment:

<p align=center>

<img src=http://patternassociates.com/rico/photo/misc/table1.jpg>

</p>

Using a the Whibal or Expodisc is the way to go. Excellent neutral color balance. You can do it in camera with custom white balance or afterward when you shoot raw. But ones you know the K-temp of you strobes, you won't be needing it anymore for this type of shots.

I have neutralized the image and get rid of the magenta cast.