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how can i get rid of yellow?


pippa_zc

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i have an eos300D and have recently purcheased a 5D which i have not started to use yet

because my 24-70 lens has not arrived yet. should do next week. i do not like to use flash

and i try to use available light. the problem is that when it is cloudy and not enough light

comes in through a window or there is NO window at all, and beacause most indoor lights are

yellowish, the result is a yellowish photo. is there anyone out there that can tell me what to

do to get a more natural looking photo?

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Hello Pippa, as the others said, RAW will give you the ability to change the white balance on your computer. It will give you a lot more data to play with than shooting jpg.

 

You should also be able to change the white balance in-camera too. On the 20D, you just flip through the options untill the lightbulb icon is visible, and that will give you a bllue-ish tint that will counteract the yellow of tungsten light.

 

Hope this helps.

 

P

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Didn't Photoshop Elements 2 come with the 300D? If not, download Canon's Digital Photo Professional 2.0 here: http://consumer.usa.canon.com/ir/controller?act=DownloadIndexAct

 

or here:

http://alpha03.c-wss.com/inc/ApplServlet?SV=WWUCA900

 

This program does killer RAW conversions and is pretty powerfull when adjusting JPEGs. It has a tool that adjusts white balance by clicking on something either white or black in the picture and wala, everything is no longer yellow!

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>>most indoor lights are yellowish, the result is a yellowish photo.<<

 

This is not different than film. Have you ever used daylight film with indoor, *tungsten* lights? It will produce the same results.

 

Every light source (from the Sun to your common household light bulbs) has a *color temperature* which is indicated in degrees Kelvin. As a rule of thumb:

 

Daylight = 5400K

Tungsten = 3200K

 

Where *K* means Kelvin.

 

In the past, when sooting film, you'd have two *basic* choices: DAYLIGHT film or TUNGSTEN film. You would then use CC filters to adjust as needed.

 

With digital you can manually set your camera to various factory pre-sets (outdoor, indoor, flash, etc...). Some DSRL (like your 5D) also allow to MANUALLY set the actually K VALUE (the numner). This will give you moire precise control over the final look of the image. Sometimes, a warmer or cooler look my be more desirable than a neutrally balanced color.

 

I suggest a book on photography in general and color in particular.

 

But, if you want to go the fast route search GOOGLE for Color Temperature Chart. Donwload and PRINT the chart and then, hang it somwhere in your house where you can see it often. You'll have the various temperatures memorized in no time at all. It iwll also give an understanding of what the numbers mean (and how they work) in relation to each light source.

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<<$5,000+ worth of equipment and white balance is news to you?>>

 

I don't see the connection between retail value of a camera and understanding the fundamentals of photography.

 

All you need to purchase a 5D is money. You don't need to be a professional, you don't need to prove yourself a competant photographer, all you need is money. There is no law, no "cred" no "paying of dues" needed in order to buy a camera.

 

And while it may gall you (and other people in this thread) that someone who doesn't understand WB can afford a 5D, there is zero connection between the two.

 

If you're this upset by a single 5D purchase, what must it be like to be near you when you see something like a Ferrari drive by? I expect foaming at the mouth isn't out of the question...

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If you haven't been shooting RAW, you could try adding some blue to your existing photos to try and reduce the yellowish cast as well. But it's still better to shoot RAW in the first place.

 

Even if you're going to shoot jpg you can still do some pretty good correcting if you have a piece of white paper in one of the frames, or better yet something neutral like a WhiBal or a grey card. If you have Photoshop, you can then use the neutral eyedropper in the Levels command, click on the white/gray object, and SAVE the resulting correction. Then, when you load the next picture shot in the same light without the grey/white object in it, you can go back to Levels and LOAD the curve you just saved, and the same correction will be applied to that image.

 

Shooting RAW isn't an absolute requirement, but it is more flexible than jpg for correcting colour casts.

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It doesn't gall me at all but it doesn't hurt to make a subtle connection between a pricey camera and zero knowlege of the tool. I am not a politically correct person and aspire to never achieve that mellow yellow, hippy dippy balance. In the same regard I'd rather be yelled at by someone with ten times my knowledge than mothered gently along in learning something. A sharp crack to the skull educates someone much quicker than a hand-holding exercise.
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<<but it doesn't hurt to make a subtle connection between a pricey camera and zero knowlege of the tool.>> There is absolutely no connection. Your holier-than-thou response and over-developed sense of superiority may want there to be, but there isn't. What tools you buy and what you can do with those tools are completely independent from each other. <<A sharp crack to the skull educates someone much quicker than a hand-holding exercise.>> Provide proof of that statement. Any peer-reviewed educational study would be fine. No one asked for hand-holding.
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