sds4kst8 wrote:
This coffee filter thread is good for some good laughs but, from what I've tried, the method seems to work. So, heading out to shoot a couple of basketball games last night I put not one, but two coffee filters in my camera bag.
I get to the gym and get my camera out of the bag and look for the filters and can't find them. I look and look and, lo and belold, they fell out my bag when I was getting the camera out and were sitting on the floor!! And, of course, they didn't fall together like I put them in the bag, they fell and separated so one could clearly see not one, but two coffee filters sitting on the floor!! Geesh, I can't even separate those filters in the morning when I'm trying to make coffee!!
Fortunately, I was actually to the side of the bleachers, so there weren't too many witnesses. I picked them up, held them to the lens, set WB and shot away...thinking about this forum and how it's "helped" so many of us. ...Show more →
So, Scott, how did the images look?
I tried this last night at a basketball game myself...I'll take more time to examine the images this weekend, but at first pass the images looked cold and a little too Cyan to me. It may haev been the generic coffee filters I took from the office though...
NickyD...I was fairly pleased with the results. Not sure what it was, though, I just couldn't seem to get a consistent color when working on them in PS7.
With AutoWB the pics have a strong yellowish tint to them and this got rid of that, for the most part (which is what is supposed to do, right?). However, there were a few pics that I noticed didn't look consistent...some seemed to have a touch of that yellowish tint, while others didn't. Once I started shooting I didn't change any settings, so I don't know what was up. I'm guessing it could be the different angles of photos I shot? I was sitting at the end of the court where the three point line comes to the out-of-bounds line.
You can check out what I've posted here: http://www.pbase.com/sds4kst8/wrhs_vs_hayden These have been run through PS7 and NeatImage (which I think caused the EXIF data to be lost?).
Looks like you have two or three different types of lights in that gym. And, I'm guessing that one of those big round ones is right above the basket. Since the quality of your light is changing, your images are going slightly differ since you have set only one specific White Balance (color temperature). If you are shooting Manual, that would be the most likely culprit, however if you are shooting in Program or Av, once you get those lights into an image, it will throw off your exposure.
Other than shooting in RAW, or letting it Auto and correcting it later, there isn't going to be much you can do.
The coffee filters did a pretty good job though, but I don't know how much better they were than a grey card. (Easier to use though since you can just put the filters over the lens and point it at the light sources.
tried this the other night, and results were so-so. with halogen lighting, WB was much too cool. it's also highly dependent on exactly how you point the filter... i can't point directly at the bulb since i have a "torchiere" style lamp. the results were much too cool for my tastes, almost bluish - i would rather keep a little warmth of the original light source in my pictures. i may need better coffee filters (more bleached), but even then a cooling filter on top of it may be necessary to get a warmer WB.
p.s. i think a method like this combined with a cheap cooling filter might be a way to get a nice warm tonal balance to WB.
NickyD wrote:
Looks like you have two or three different types of lights in that gym. And, I'm guessing that one of those big round ones is right above the basket. Since the quality of your light is changing, your images are going slightly differ since you have set only one specific White Balance (color temperature). If you are shooting Manual, that would be the most likely culprit, however if you are shooting in Program or Av, once you get those lights into an image, it will throw off your exposure.
Other than shooting in RAW, or letting it Auto and correcting it later, there isn't going to be much you can do.
The coffee filters did a pretty good job though, but I don't know how much better they were than a grey card. (Easier to use though since you can just put the filters over the lens and point it at the light sources....Show more →
I really didn't even think about different light types in the gym. Looks like the lights in the background above the bleachers are flourescent?
I've tried RAW and just don't feel comfortable or really understand the processing yet (and I've only got the Canon software for RAW), so I'm shooting the highest JPEG mode. I almost always shoot in manual, especially in these sitautions.
Also, when I shot with the filters, I just took a wide angle shot of the gym. Should I shoot directly into the lights?
A wide angle shot would probably confuse it since the light is not constant throughout the gym. I'd just point it at the same place you would be shooting most of your shots...
I agree with you 100%. I was looking at the coffee filters and comparing the whiteness to the back side of a Kodak Gray card & I say a distinct yellow tinge. That would trnaslate into a clue cast when doing an auto white balance. Fortunately for me I live less than 1 mile from a Home Depot, I'm running there now. Thank you for doing the research.
Home Depot didn't have the filter refills, but I bought a respirator mask. After bringing it home I can confirm that the white is exactly the same brightness and tonality as the kodak white card. Respirator mask material should be 100% accurate for generating white balance. Congratulations, the Hickspodisc is born. Good work.
Has anybody scanned an actual 18% card and a filter then compared them in photoshop? Seems to me it would be the best way to find out for sure, or at least, resonable certainty.
