Is the following normal for an image?

[sanjay_chugh1]

Not sure if this is correct forum but anyway.

We just returned from our vacation in Mexico a couple of weeks ago.

I took a lot of snaps with my 40D and 17-55 when we were just lounging around

etc at the resort.

At night I used the flash (580EX-II) a lot in Av mode for fill flash (I finally

understand this concept). I used auto white balance.

In the background the lighting was I believe tungsten.

In the image the subjects are showing nicely with the correct skin tone and

clothing colors etc.

However in the background, the lighting is showing up all yellow and the walls

which should be white are yellowish (because of the tungsten lighting I assume).

 

I have raw versions of the image, is there a way to fix this issue in DPP or

photoshop or something?

 

Is there some other in camera settings I should be using when taking pictures in

this type of scenario?

 

Thanks,

 

-- Sanjay

[miguel_tapadas]

In that type of situation you could gel your flash with CTO filter, and change white balance for tungsten. This way, both the main light as the background lights would have the same color balance.

Though, in many situations that is not necessarily a problem, and, in fact, scenic tungsten lighting often creates a warm feeling to the shot. It really depends on your creative choices.

[ken_schuster]

You have a light-source crossover. It's a common problem that has bugged cinematographers and photographers since the dawn of color film. As Miguel suggested, you need to keep the color temperature of all light sources the same, or at least close, to avoid it. In the movie and TV industry, when they're shooting on-site indoors, they put sheets of colored plastic ("gels") over daylight sources like windows, skylights, etc., in order to balance the light to their tungsten lights. Sometimes they'll go the opposite way and gel their lights to match the daylight, but it's usually not as successful, especially with skin tones.

 

Obviously, it's not always possible to anticipate it. Using Photoshop, I've been successful with selecting the "off-color" area with the "lasso" or "magnetic lasso," then copying it onto a new layer above the full image. Then I make color adjustments to that layer to make it more appropriate.

[beauh44]

And/or make 'em B&Ws. ;-)

[JDMvW]

Or embrace the color as it is and live with the fact that there were, in actual life, different colored light sources.

[mark u]

I think it is time Canon included a set of flash gels/filters and a means to mount them as standard on their better flashes. Nikon provide fluorescent and tungsten correction as standard with both the SB600 and SB800, and an additional kit allows more corrections as well as special effects colours useful for painting backgrounds with light in a multi flash setup.

[baivab]

Try ordering for a Rosco Swatchbook... in their website or get it from B&H for about a $1.00.... it might NOT fit your whole 580 EX-II (I don't know if it would) but gives you a good idea... of how to gel the light.

[steveg]

Depending on the image (and your Photoshop skills) you could make two raw conversions - one with the correct white balance for the forground flash the other for the background tungsten and then combine them - masking from one to the other as necessary in Photoshop.

[photo_dark]

I was going to suggest merging two differnent white balance adjusted images... but Steve beat me too it. So I second what he said.

[dave404]

I frequently use a photo-filter adjustment layer to knock down the yellowness in the background in this situation. Usually you do not want to neutralize the yellow entirely or the image will look fake. If there is a white object in the background you sample it is the color of the photo-filter and when the color picker dialog box pops up, you invert the A and B components in the LAB box. So if the a component was -10 make it +10 etc. By inverting A-B you create the exact color necessary to neutralize the cast. You can then paint at a low opacity with a soft edge brush and paint it away. You can scrub it out then lower the layer opacity or the strength of the photo-filter layer to adjust it. I don't mind this as much since I have a Wacom tablet.

 

If you're thinking ahead certainly try to use the CTO gell to cover your flash. Make sure the lights are not compact florescent. A large sheet of CTO gell only costs about $7 at B&H. Put some velcro on it to hold it to the strobe and there will be much less work later on.

[sanjay_chugh1]

Thanks for all the replies.

This clears up a lot of things for me and gave me some information with which to search further.

I wasn't aware of these gels and will look into them further and check if a local camera store carries them.

I will try the photoshop suggestions for my current pictures but I may also just print some pictures in B&W to make it easier. I like B&W anyway.

 

Thanks again.

 

-- Sanjay