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leica.overgaard.dk - Thorsten Overgaard's Leica Pages - WhiteBal greycards for white balancing digital photography and video

 

Well worth a read. I bought the Whi Bal card and set up the M8 & 9 and various Nikons.

 

The custom WB is saved into all the cameras. I have one manual WB each for sun light and one for studio lights.

 

This will get you 90% toward being 100% correct. The last 10, I get in photoshop by setting the white point on all channels to 256 using the WP dropper or going channel by channel. Same is done with black except I use 0,0,0. I can find the points using the threshold function. The BP and WP are time consuming and I only do it for files to be printed large. It is done in the soft proof stage.

 

BP is important because my print house establishes print exposure on their laser printer by looking for the BP in the photo. If you do not have one, add one somewhere or change a near black. Every printer I have used uses the very same procedure. The prints I order are the economy ones so they do not adjust the file at all. I you try to set proper brightness even using a calibrated monitor, then the printer adjusts it for you, all is lost.

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When I was a Canon user, many forum members claimed expodisk was a right tool to setup WB. They claimed it was precise, easy to use and it would even gave you the right exposure.

On the other hand, I never had one so I cannot confirm it.

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Yes direct sunlight. I have a wire hoop rack that was used to dry RC prints for my darkroom.

 

I usually place the Macbeth color checker in the first slot and the large Whi bal in the center bottom covering the middle greys of the color checker. They slant back at about 30 deg. Take care not to place this where base reflections will reflect on the card. Black driveway seems to work. so does glass top patio table. Or get some black cloth.

 

I pick a nice sunny day with large spacing between the clouds. Then I angle things to get as much direct sun on the card as possible , yet leaving space so I will not cast a shadow.

 

To make a custom Whi, bal do the same except move in close enough so as to fill sufficient area of the sensor. If the area is too small, the camera will indicate failure.

 

It can also be done by hand, camera in one , card in another. The card does not need to be in focus, but it does need correct exposure. Again watch for shadow.

 

Ideally make one for each light condition , sun, open shade, cloudy, flash, etc. Nikons will store 4. Leicas I normally only use sun.

 

For candid flash, I use 5260 K on the Nikon & Vivitar 285.

 

For studio, I have Lowell 3200 K lights. When I umbrella bounce in the special heat resistant umbrella or diffuse them, they are no longer 3200 K. Put the

whi bal in one shot. I don`t have a color temp meter. They probably went the way of the dinosaurs.

 

I also have Norman strobes, white umbrellas, silver umbrellas, diffusers, spun aluminum reflectors, white painted large flat reflectors. K value is different for all.

 

When I printed these in my darkroom, I just used a Kodak grey card. I would set up the color analyzer on the clear base between frames.

 

For all the studio work, put the Whi Bal in the first shot and maybe a color checker. Save as a preset WB in ACR or LR for the next time. I have opened 20 pic or more all in ACR and use the select all, synchronize , to convert WB to all at one time. LR is a bit easier, but I prefer PS. LR confuses me. need to practice.

 

Whi Bal gets you 90+ % correct. Some pics need the BP & WP corrected which I do with all important shots. Candids, only sometimes. A landscape I worked on forever, for sure.

 

Levels is my tool of choice. Curves also works. Whatever save as a preset in Photoshop after you do it.

 

Levels and curves have droppers for BP, WP, Grey . For torture, open either and select all the channels individually, RGB, and mark them all individually for BP & WP . This is three times the work, but worth it so you can adjust it later on other pictures.

 

Easier to use the auto droppers on the master RGB file.

 

Find the points to mark with the threshold function and mark them. When you go back to set, you can hit the precise point. Hold down the cap function to mark so it shows in the info panel.

 

After you mark them, erase the threshold layer and the points remain but do not print. I leave then until soft proofing is complete.

Make a levels or curves adjustment layer and it nests with the info pallet in CS6 . Now you can click on either info or level/curves and see your progress easily.

 

Mark the point by holding down the CAP Lock and click.

 

Color balancing the BP and WP will make a big difference with some pics, not so much with others.

 

If you do not have a point you want pure black, or white, add one in an inconspicuous area or add a border with a grey scale. Commercial printers key off the BP. If you do not have one, the print will be too dark because they make the darkest point black or you have to depend on the operator to guess your intentions. Last time I added one, I painted a black in the back of a fireplace. A border accepts a color checker or grey scale. Paste the full frame on an 8x10 and you have a border that can be cut off.

 

I order economy prints from AIProLab or Advanced Imaging. The are local to me. They do not adjust files for economy prints. Or you can order adjusted ones.

 

Neil is the very best printer I have ever used. FTP the files and pick up or they will mail back.

 

Advanced Imaging

 

I bought a bunch of cheap Tiffin pola filters for the Nikons and they impart a sick green blue cast to all pics. The use the above procedure to fix the files. A B+W or Leica pola is a nice neutral grey. You get what you pay for.

 

If you have some old files that need color correcting because you did them by eye, do them over by correcting the BP & WP with levels. There will be a big improvement.

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