Home · Register · Join Upload & Sell

Moderated by: Fred Miranda
Username  

  New fredmiranda.com Mobile Site
  New Feature: SMS Notification alert
  New Feature: Buy & Sell Watchlist
  

FM Forums | Post-processing & Printing | Join Upload & Sell

  

Archive 2015 · Matching WB setting across pictures in LR

  
 
ajamils
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: On
p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Matching WB setting across pictures in LR


I'm mostly shoot raw and then PP pictures in LR5 and for outdoor shots everything (mostly) works fine but I'm having a really hard time with indoor pictures specially with flash. In lightroom when I select Flash as the WB setting, everything becomes warmer, which is as expected but if I set same WB (either reconfigured or custom) the results are not the same. Even on same (Flash WB) setting one picture could be overly orange (warm) while other has a strange tint or has cool cast.

I'm guessing that this issue is due to varying light in the hall but I thought that if I put all pictures on same WB (in LR), they should give me same results. But since that's not the case how do I make sure that all pictures have similar WB (or at least very close) because right now if I do a slideshow for the family the pictures look very weird with different colors.



Apr 06, 2015 at 08:49 PM
rick2906
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Matching WB setting across pictures in LR


If your pictures consist of different lights source(thungsten, daylight,fluorescent) it will ba impossible to get a correct wb! you also have to use gel on your flash to match the ambient light


Apr 06, 2015 at 08:56 PM
ajamils
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: On
p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Matching WB setting across pictures in LR


rick2906 wrote:
If your pictures consist of different lights source(thungsten, daylight,fluorescent) it will ba impossible to get a correct wb! you also have to use gel on your flash to match the ambient light


It's not about matching the ambient light, I'm having trouble matching WB across different pictures at the same location. For example let say I set WB values at 4050 with -14 Tint for a picture and looks as close as the the scene I remember and if I apply the same values to other pictures taken at same location, they do not result in the WB results that I had in the original picture.



Apr 06, 2015 at 09:03 PM
Paul Mo
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Matching WB setting across pictures in LR


It's a tricky one because light varies. Do you only have Lightroom - not Photoshop? You may have to eyeball it while playing in the Develop module.


Apr 06, 2015 at 09:19 PM
ajamils
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: On
p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Matching WB setting across pictures in LR


Paul Mo wrote:
It's a tricky one because light varies. Do you only have Lightroom - not Photoshop? You may have to eyeball it while playing in the Develop module.


No, I do not have PS right now. Ya, that's how I have been setting up WB but it gets really cumbersome. I'm sure there must be a easier way to do it as I cannot imagine a wedding photog sitting through 100s of raw files and setting WB individually.



Apr 06, 2015 at 09:47 PM
Ian.Dobinson
Offline
• • • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Matching WB setting across pictures in LR


OK you mention the same location and the word 'hall' . what sort of lights are in the 'hall' ?
could the WB differences be due to the cycle of of the lights ?

in LR if you have a known white (or grey) in the frame you can use the WB picker on the image and you should get the same or at least close result even if the WB settings end up different .

Maybe you have a chance at the start of that location to shoot multiple grey card shots which would give you the range of WB settings you will require .



Apr 07, 2015 at 02:03 AM
John Caldwell
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: On
p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Matching WB setting across pictures in LR


Ian's comments match my thoughts neatly. You are not only dealing with mixed light - meaning your flash, ambient available and ambient man-made - but your man-made ambient likely cycles through different temperatures in accordance with the 60-cycle power supply.

No one WB-fits-all is going to work here, other than monochrome conversion.

Been there,

John Caldwell

Edited on Apr 10, 2015 at 11:31 AM · View previous versions



Apr 07, 2015 at 07:36 PM
roosteresque
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Matching WB setting across pictures in LR


rick2906 wrote:
If your pictures consist of different lights source(thungsten, daylight,fluorescent) it will ba impossible to get a correct wb! you also have to use gel on your flash to match the ambient light


If the room or environment is absolutely illuminated by only your flash for every shot then you could set WB and sync it across all images. If there was an incandescent lamp or florescent lights overhead those would shift WB and you'll have to eyeball it. And depending on how close you and your subjects were to other light sources will determine how much influence it will have on WB making the WB and Tint settings different for multiple images.



Apr 09, 2015 at 08:47 AM
roosteresque
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Matching WB setting across pictures in LR


I'm sure there must be a easier way to do it as I cannot imagine a wedding photog sitting through 100s of raw files and setting WB individually.

Measure the color temperature of the lights in the room, add gels to strobes so they match. It adds a few minutes to setting up but saves a ton of time in post. One of Sekonic's cheapest light meters will straighten out white balance.



Apr 09, 2015 at 08:55 AM
dmacmillan
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: On
p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Matching WB setting across pictures in LR


I suggest you use a LR feature to get more consistent results. I select the first photo in the series and make the necessary adjustments. I then copy those settings, select the rest of the photos in the series and paste the settings. Here's how to do it, straight from Adobe help:

You can copy and paste individual Develop settings from the current photo to another photo in Library and Develop modules. To paste settings to multiple photos, you must be in the Library module.

1.To copy the current photo’s Develop settings, do one of the following:

•In the Develop module, click the Copy button to the left of the toolbar, choose Edit > Copy, or choose Settings > Copy Settings. Select the settings you want and click Copy.

•In the Library module, choose Photo > Develop Settings > Copy Settings. Select the settings you want and click Copy.

Note:

(Mac OS) The Edit > Copy command in the Library module copies text and metadata. The Edit > Copy command in the Develop module copies selected text in a panel or copies the Develop settings of a selected photo.

2.To paste the copied Develop settings to one other photo, select that photo in the Filmstrip in the Library or Develop module and do one of the following:

•In the Develop module, click the Paste button, choose Edit > Paste, or choose Settings > Paste Settings.

•In the Library module, choose Photo > Develop Settings > Paste Settings.

Note:

(Mac OS) The Edit > Paste command in the Library module pastes copied text and metadata.

3.To paste the copied Develop settings to multiple photos, select the photos in the Grid view or the Filmstrip of the Library module and choose Photo > Develop Settings > Paste Settings.

Note:

(Mac OS) The Edit > Paste command in the Library module pastes copied text and metadata

Note: You will probably need to still make slight adjustments to each image. If you photos are still inconsistent, it is the changing light in the venue that is causing the problem.



Apr 09, 2015 at 09:30 AM
ajamils
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: On
p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Matching WB setting across pictures in LR


Thanks for the detailed reply. I have been using "Copy Settings" and that's where I noticed that WB between different pictures do not match.

Based on the comments here, I went back and looked at the pictures and come to the conclusion that WB difference is due to pictures taken at different parts of the party hall and since there were multiple lights (tungsten and florescent) camera recorded different values and because of that they produce different color even with the same numeric values for WB.



Apr 09, 2015 at 12:55 PM
Bearmann
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Matching WB setting across pictures in LR


You might want to try shooting at the X-sync speed of you camera so that you get the highest ratio of flash versus ambient light. You could also underexpose the ambient by about a stop or so. Of course, if you are bouncing your flash off different colored surfaces or changing the mix of the surfaces (e.g. 40% colored wall/60% white ceiling versus 60% colored wall/40% white ceiling) that will also change your final result.


Apr 09, 2015 at 05:16 PM
OntheRez
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: On
p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Matching WB setting across pictures in LR


Related but not an exact response to your question. I shoot sports for the local paper. The winter sports are all in the same gym. The lighting - to be technically precise - sux One would think since the light pods are all theoretically the same (though I suspect replacement bulbs may very), that the WB would be consistent. It's not and it's not even close.

I get a wide yellow - blue spectrum shift depending on where I shoot (from the bleachers with the gym floor as the background is different than from the floor shooting back at the bleachers). Also the lights "pool" and thus the intensity of light drops off as the player moves in and or out of a brighter area. Just to keep it completely interesting one of the main pods is totally out creating a dark corner.

I do work hard in Lr to get as similar as possible WB in photos for submission but have found (1) It has to be done manually and (2) I never get an exact match.

My working theory is that unless an interior area is lit everywhere and evenly with the exact same lighting source(s) it is near impossible to get WB the same. I certainly haven't been able to come up with a way to copy correction from one photo to the other because the are wildly different.

Robert

Note: I'm banned from using flash indoors so I don't know if I could use it what it's effect on WB would be.



Apr 10, 2015 at 11:33 AM





FM Forums | Post-processing & Printing | Join Upload & Sell

    
 

You are not logged in. Login or Register

Username       Or Reset password



This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.