Using a Custom White Balance (CWB)

When I was a film photographer, I shot both print film and slide film made by different manufacturers with different ASA ratings.  The difference among all these films is something that they also shared in common. Each rendered light differently, in a consistent manner.  This allowed the photographer to select the right film for the job.

In the world of 35mm digital photography the camera’s sensor is not user changeable.  This means that the quality and color captured in our images is limited by how the sensor records light. There are various methods of defining this and I won’t be discussing them at this time.

Professional Photographers, enthusiasts and serious amateurs all want to capture the best possible image. The best way to start that process is to set a custom white balance before a photo session and to set a new custom white balance each time the light changes. This can be a subtle as clouds developing in a cloud free sky to a change of location such as outdoors to indoors.  When you are indoors, the light you are photographing under makes a difference in your custom white balance so it is necessary to recognize the type of lighting and set your custom white balance accordingly.

Some of you may be thinking to yourself, “why would I want to do that? I can adjust my white balance during post processing?”   This is true, but adds a step to processing that you shouldn’t have to deal with. In fact, setting a custom white balance ensures that you have a consistent starting point for post processing your photos. This becomes even more important if you like to use actions and presets for processing.  You cannot get a consistent output without having a consistent input.

The correct way to set a custom white balance is to follow the instructions in your user manual, but my manual (Canon) tells me to shoot a white piece of paper and set the CWB using that image.  It is simple to do, but fails to take into consideration that white paper is seldom pure white.  Most often it has brighteners that impart a color cast. This is where a calibrated custom white balance tool, such as a WhiBal or Ed Pierce’s Digital Calibration target, provide a consistently accurate white balance. If you are going to set a custom white balance, why not make sure it is accurate?

Earlier I mentioned that the quality and color captured in our images is limited by how the sensor records light.  This raises another question. Why bother setting a custom white balance if no two brands and models of digital cameras record the light identically?   The answer to this lays in a product produced by X-Rite, the X-Rite Passport Colorchecker.  This handy tool allows you to build a custom camera calibration profile for each lighting and camera body/lens combination you encounter. A camera calibration profile adjusts the colors your camera’s sensor recorded to exactly match the calibrated colors of the passport colorchecker.  It’s fairly simple to use, you just have to remember to use it.  First you set a custom white balance using the white balance tool of your choice, then you take a photo of the passport colorchecker.  It’s that simple. Each time your change your CWB, take another photo of the passport colorchecker. 

Once your shoot is over and you’ve downloaded the images for processing, it’s time to create a camera calibration profile.  If you’re using Lightroom, you select the image of the passport colorchecker and then go to “File – Export with Preset – X-Rite Presets – Colorchecker Passport.  When the Lightroom plug-in is done, it will ask you to name the calibration profile.  If it tells you that it cannot create a profile, don’t worry, all is not lost.  You just have to take a few more steps. Export the file as a DNG file and launch the standalone Colorchecker Passport software. Follow the software instructions.  Once the software is through processing, give the profile a suitable name, such as 1DmkIV HS Gym, 1DsmkIII 85 1.2L my studio, etc.

No matter how you post process your photos, you will now be starting from the same point each time, allowing you to use your actions and presets with consistent results.

Understanding Sekonic L-758DR Camera Exposure Profiles

I’ve owned a Sekonic L-758DR for the past three years, and until recently, had not successfully created a camera exposure profile for any of my camera bodies.  I’d like to say that I tried and tried to no avail, but that was not the case.  I tried a couple times using the eleven stop method and just never managed to get it right. 

Recently I watched a Sekonic webinar, hosted by Joe Brady, that covered how to get better exposures on landscape photos using a Sekonic lightmeter.  During the webinar Joe mentioned exposure profiles for the L-758DR and how to use custom functions with the L-758DR to take advantage of the information provided by the profile. This spurred me to review Sekonic’s latest software release and try again.

Sekonic’s latest software release, DTS 3.0 is simpler to use and can create a profile from three images taken three stops apart, provided you have the Sekonic Exposure Profile Target II.

Here’s where it gets interesting.   I created exposure profiles for a Canon 1Ds mk II, 1D mk IV, and 1Ds mk III.  For each profile the dynamic range shown by the DTS 3 software was between 5.9 and 6.1 EV (stops), while the max dynamic range reported by DXOmark for these camera sensors varies from 11.3 EV for the 1DsmkII to 12 EV for both the 1DsmkIII and the 1DmkIV. 

I tested some of the information that Joe presented during the webinar and found it to work well with the L-758DR.  I also emailed Sekonic and asked about the discrepancy in the dynamic range reported by their DTS 3 program and the data published by DXOmark.  I’m still waiting to hear from Sekonic and I’m not holding my breath while I do so.

We can only hope that Sekonic will step up and explain the profile created by their software.

To Preset or not to Preset…

Earlier this morning I was reading a thread on popular photo forum and noted that the OP stated the images were “VSCO-less”. A search of the forum did not return any further info on “VSCO”, so off to Google I went.

I located a site, http://visualsupply.co/, that has Film presets for both Lightroom and ACR. The interesting thing about these presets is that they start by modifying the camera raw file at the camera calibration level.

My normal process is to shoot raw using a custom white balance and then to apply a custom camera calibration utilizing the X-Rite passport color checker. This ensures that all the colors I have captured are rendered exactly as they should be and not just as close as the camera sensor/software can render.

Camera calibration is what intrigues me the most in the offerings from VSCO. One of the reasons we used to utilize different types of B&W and color films was to get a specific look. Starting the process of recreating a film look by having the sensor data mapped to output the desired look in a custom camera calibration profile , before finalizing it with the ACR settings, should make this a fantastic product.

There is more information regarding the supported bodies and film types here, Studio-01. There are two less complete versions of this product that cost less, but this one will support both Canon and Nikon bodies (listed on the site).

This page shows the other products, http://visualsupply.co/film/, but you can see the differences on the previous link.

If you have a client that wants a particular look, this may offer a way to do so quickly, with repeatability, particularly with files from a studio shoot where you know what you are starting off with. Apply a preset to all the files at once, either in ACR or Lightroom during import, and just review, crop and polish... perhaps saving lots of time off your current workflow.

A similar product, MCP Actions, is also available but I’m not sure of how similar or different it really is.  MCP Actions has a "free" preset available if you are interested in checking them out.

Ken

Shooting on location.

As a professional photographer without a brick & mortar studio, I do all my shooting “on location”.    Location shooting is not without it’s challenges.  A short list of factors you must be able to work with and around if necessary include, weather, sunshine, wind, environment and accessibility.  You must also consider the welfare of your model or client(s).

There are several ways to bring what is outside into the studio, but often, shooting on location will offer creative opportunities not available in the studio and will provide a memorable experience for the client.  Remind me I said that when it’s 100F in the shade at dusk and a client schedules a location photo shoot.

You can go light on equipment you carry with you and concentrate on taking advantage of the location layout, bring a production crew, or stop somewhere in between.  Most of us, myself included, stop somewhere in between.

In order to master your creativity, you must be completely comfortable with your equipment.  This doesn’t mean you need to memorize the manual, but you should be able to quickly and easily change settings on your equipment as necessary.  Being able to do this will prevent a fun photo shoot from turning into a stressful situation.  It will also help prevent you from missing “the shot”.

When shooting on location, I like to use an off camera flash mounted in a 15x15” softbox with on camera flash modified by a bounce card.  Both flash units are mounted on a pocket wizard FlexTT5 and configured in master/slave modes with A:B ratios.   This setup is excellent for outdoor portraiture and can be enhanced by using a scrim to remove harsh sun from your subject and a reflector to add light without carrying an additional flash.  The FlexTT5’s ensure that my remote slaves work without having to worry about whether their sensor is pointed at the master flash or even covered up.

Not all location shooting is done outdoors.  I often take studio lighting with me to shoot indoors at large events.  For me, the major difference in shooting indoor event photography and studio shooting is how you have to set your equipment up.  When shooting a client or model, location shooting indoors is very similar to location shooting outdoors.  When shooting an event, you may need to locate power, run extension cords, and set up a backdrop, lights, table, computer, printer, etc., depending on the nature of the event.

A Review: Eye-Fi Pro X2 8GB + Wi-Fi

During the past year I was exposed to Eye-Fi advertising that looked worthy of further investigation. Like some many other ads I plan on looking into, this one went to end of my priority list until I was suddenly faced with a need to connect a camera wirelessly to my laptop at an event.  I learned in the two months prior, that other event photographers had successfully incorporated the Eye-Fi cards into their workflow.  Armed with that knowledge I purchased an Eye-Fi Pro X2 8GB+Wi-Fi   card from Amazon.  

The Eye-Fi Pro X2 8GB+Wi-Fi card arrived yesterday in a package about the same size as a DVD.  The box contained an almost useless paper manual (software installation instructions) and the Eye-fi card pre-inserted into a sdhc to usb adapter. 

Installation software for the Eye-Fi card came loaded on the Eye-Fi card.  Installing the software went smoothly and requires an internet connection to configure the Wi-Fi to your network.  This is one thing I would like to see change.  Any program that can be run via the internet to update the settings on the Eye-Fi card should also be able to run locally.

When the software was through configuring the Eye-Fi card for my home network, it instructed me to remove the card from the laptop, put it in the camera and take a picture.  The picture is supposed to show up in Eye-Fi Central, the software that Eye-Fi uses to let you upload photos and video quickly and easily to social networking sites. 

Here was where I encountered my first problem.  I loaded the Eye-Fi card into my 1DsmkII and took a photo…,   a RAW photo.   The images transferred to my laptop without any trouble, but that final window in the configuration software where I was supposed to be able to see my photo seemed to hang..,   of course it seemed to hang, the RAW file I took was over 17mb’s in size…  and I have a DSL connection to the internet.   When it appeared I was never going to see the image in the Eye-Fi Central, I closed it and moved on.

Next, I walked around the house with camera in hand and took a series of jpeg images. When I returned to the laptop,  all the images had transferred.  Okay, this test was successful, but I was connecting to my home networks wireless router and my goal was to connect to connect directly to my laptop in ad-hoc mode. 

Initially I though I couldn’t do it from the main network screen in Eye-Fi Central and ended up trying to configure the Eye-Fi card to look for my laptop that same way it would look for a Wi-Fi hotspot.  After going through the software settings several times and changing my laptop to ad-hoc mode, I was I able to achieve a connection.   Unfortunately after power cycling the laptop and the sdhc card, I was unable to connect again.

Ultimately, I did figure my connections out, although I didn’t know it because Zone Alarm was blocking the incoming signal from the Eye-Fi card. Once I closed Zone Alarm I was able to confirm my settings and restart Zone Alarm.  

I have re-booted the laptop several times and also moved the card from the 1DsmkII to the 1DmkIII.  Each time I turn the camera on and take a photo the image transfers to the laptop without a hitch.    A raw file from the mkIII takes 38 seconds to transfer from the time the shutter is pressed.  Jpeg’s are much quicker, with a M2 jpeg taking approximately four seconds.

The first time I ever tethered a camera to a computer I used Canons software. I also used Canons software at the first event I offered photos printed on location. In addition to that, I used Lightroom, which can be set to auto import files from a watched folder.  LR3 offers the ability to tether a camera now, but with the Eye-Fi available, you can skip the tether and transfer your images.

According to Eye-Fi, only the Pro version is capable of ad-hoc connections and transferring RAW files. You can compare the X2 models here.

Next Get together

Looking at the 24th for a meet up, coffee, or whatever on the Riverwalk early in the morning before it gets too hot. Meet at either the Starbucks in River Center Mall, or in front of the Alamo, and then head down onto the River. I am going to make it a one lens day for me, probably the D700 and 50mm lens. How about 0800 hours. I will post on TPF as well.

Murph

Codecs, What are they and why do we need them?

Technorati Tags: Adobe,Windows,32-bit,64-bit,raw codecs,fastpictureviewer

The word “codec” refers to compression/decompression program or device used for video, music and images.  When they are available on your computer system and working properly, using them is transparent to the end user.  Unfortunately, codecs for all uses are not always included with special use programs (such as photoshop) or operating systems (windows XX or X versions, 32 and 64-bit).    Most video editing programs come with their own proprietary codecs, but do not include codecs for all video formats.

From a photography perspective, this results in not be able to see thumbnails of raw images forcing you to open a proprietary program in order to see thumbnails of raw files.   If this fits into your workflow, then you may not need nor desire the ability to see raw image thumbnails in Windows explore, view raw files in windows file viewer or view raw files in windows media center.

Some photo editing tasks benefit from the ability to view raw thumbnails. For example, Photomatix Pro will open a dialogue box asking you what you want to do with a set of images when you drag them from windows explorer and drop them in the Photomatix window.  You can also drag from Adobe Bridge which also lets you view thumbnails of raw images. If you always work from Bridge, perhaps you don’t need a better solution. If you like to see your files, no matter what window you are in, there is an easy way to do so.

Axel Rietschin Software Developments  has produced a codec pack  that allows you to see thumbnails for CR2, CRW, NEF, NRW, PEF, ORF and Adobe DNG files in 64-bit and 32-bit versions of Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP SP3.  The company also produces FastPictureViewer Professional which includes their codec pack and provides a way to quickly scan through your images and determine which ones you will keep.  Their website has a number of video tutorials on how to effectively use FastPictureViewer Professional and they offer 32-bit and 64-bit free trial downloads of their program. 

FastPictureViewer Professional also offers tethered shooting capability.  Video tutorials are available on their website.

Get together

Officially it is now on the 26th, and we meet at the Japanese Gardens at 0830. See you all there!

Phones

Ok, now that I have entered the 21st Century with a Blackberry 9700 (blueberry 9700 to the girls), I can now start looking at what is out there photographically. Thanks to Ken for steering me in this direction. She Who Must Be Obeyed got an iPhone 3Gs and is happy with it (as are the kids).

i7-920 now lives here!

The release of Lightroom 3 turned out to be  good timing.  I was assembling an i-7 920 processor based system to provide support for CS5 and now I get to migrate Lightroom 2.7 to  Lightroom 3 at the same time.  I have already installed the trial versions for both programs and will license them both before the 30 day trial period ends. Already loaded EDD Pro, thanks to Sergio and Jerry previously learning that a 64-bit Sentinel driver is available for the usb dongle (anti-piracy).

I still need to load Lumapix Fotofusion, Photomatix, neat image, Qimage, Epson 7900 drivers, Intuous 3 Wacom tablet drivers and take a look at the mogrify plug-in (for Lightroom) by Timothy Armes, but with the changes and additions that have been made to Lightroom  3, it’s highly unlikely that I will need to “mogrify” my files when converting to jpeg.

I'm having to reconfigure my KVM a bit. I need another DVI to VGA adaptor for the old system so I can run both the old and the new as switch between them as necessary.  I also discovered that either I have a faulty ps/2 to usb adaptor or the motherboard is sensitive to such things.

One item I overlooked is whether or not there is a 64-bit driver available for my color calibration equipment.  I’m hoping it is, as I’d prefer not to be in the market for  new color calibration software and equipment.
I’ll share more, including pics as I have the time to direct my attention along those lines.