White balance

I have 2 shots taken under a shaded place (not underwater) with same camera setting except the white balance, one is auto and the other is cloudy.

With the WB set to cloudy, the picture has more red shades and looks "warmer".

I wonder if it will be the same underwater... anybody ever tried this before?

What Camera Do you have? I you can shoot in RAW do it and adjust the Whitebalance by hand afterward.

In my Experience all the Standard WB are not the best for UW. If you can't shoot raw i think the WB option with the highest Color Temperature would be the best (Zhere should be something about it in your Manual.

Simon

Thx Simon, I am using CP5000, normally I don't shoot RAW, it's too slow.

I prefer to have the warm colour in the picture without editing it.

Guess I should read the manual again...

Simon, do you have any underwater sample picture with the warmest WB option?

I actually don't know which is the warmest because I shoot raw and do it by hand.. sorry.

Bye Simon

"Cloudy" or "Shade" normally offer the highest color temp settings but they are fixed. "Auto" will vary the setting for each shot. What works best will vary among cameras and possibly dive conditions. RAW is best in any event.

The filtering effects of water not only raise color temp but also cause whites to drift. Because of this, it turns out "flourescent" would actually be best if it were not for its relatively low color temp. No white balance setting intended for land is very well suited for underwater.

Here's something from Sport Diver's April 2003 issue

White Balance

 

 

How to achieve neutral whites and sharp colors

By Jack and Sue Drafahl

 

Video and digital still cameras incorporate a valuable technology called white balance. It helps analyze the image as it is being taken and shifts any color cast so you achieve neutral whites.

 

Sounds great, huh? Well, it doesn't solve all your underwater color balance problems, but it sure can help. But, you really need to understand how it works. First step: read the instruction manual.

 

Auto function or manual adjustments? On most cameras, the default is Auto. This means that the camera will analyze the overall color balance of a scene and use its own camera sense to determine the correct color balance. Generally, this works well, but if you know the light source in the scene, you might want to manually choose that setting to insure a correct color balance.

 

Why white balance in the first place? So what good are white balance controls to an underwater photographer?

 

Well, you need to understand what color shift each setting corrects in order to see its purpose underwater. The sunlight setting is for normal color that need no alteration, the flash setting corrects a slight blue cast, the cloudy modifies a stronger blue cast, the incadescent or tungsten corrects a red warm hue and the fluorescent corrects the tinge of green.

 

When you are shooting available-light pictures in tropical waters, cloudy is often a good setting to use. It brings some of the colors back and helps keep the photos from being overpowered by the shades of blue. The tungsten setting will not be used mych underwater as red is the first color to be lost. The fluorescent setting is often handy in the dark deeper water or the greener waters of the Northwest and Northeast (they are referring to North America in this comment). It doesn't get rid of all the green hue, but does return some natural color. We have found this to be a handy setting when diving at Stingray City in Grand Cayman (which is about 12ft/4m deep and crystal clear!!).

 

Having a go When you have a handle on the basic settings, it's time to give the custom white balance setting a try. You simly point the camera at a white object, such as sand, rocks or coral, and take a reading. You can even keep a white write on slate in you BC for just this purpose. Remember that your settings will change as you dive deeper.

 

On your next digital dive, give the white balance function a try. Use each of the different settings on the same subject to see how they react. Be prepared when you need to venture beyond Auto.

Here's something from Sport Diver's April 2003 issue

 

White Balance

 

 

How to achieve neutral whites and sharp colors

By Jack and Sue Drafahl

 

Video and digital still cameras incorporate a valuable technology called white balance. It helps analyze the image as it is being taken and shifts any color cast so you achieve neutral whites.

 

Sounds great, huh? Well, it doesn't solve all your underwater color balance problems, but it sure can help. But, you really need to understand how it works. First step: read the instruction manual.

 

Auto function or manual adjustments? On most cameras, the default is Auto. This means that the camera will analyze the overall color balance of a scene and use its own camera sense to determine the correct color balance. Generally, this works well, but if you know the light source in the scene, you might want to manually choose that setting to insure a correct color balance.

 

Why white balance in the first place? So what good are white balance controls to an underwater photographer?

 

Well, you need to understand what color shift each setting corrects in order to see its purpose underwater. The sunlight setting is for normal color that need no alteration, the flash setting corrects a slight blue cast, the cloudy modifies a stronger blue cast, the incadescent or tungsten corrects a red warm hue and the fluorescent corrects the tinge of green.

 

When you are shooting available-light pictures in tropical waters, cloudy is often a good setting to use. It brings some of the colors back and helps keep the photos from being overpowered by the shades of blue. The tungsten setting will not be used mych underwater as red is the first color to be lost. The fluorescent setting is often handy in the dark deeper water or the greener waters of the Northwest and Northeast (they are referring to North America in this comment). It doesn't get rid of all the green hue, but does return some natural color. We have found this to be a handy setting when diving at Stingray City in Grand Cayman (which is about 12ft/4m deep and crystal clear!!).

 

Having a go When you have a handle on the basic settings, it's time to give the custom white balance setting a try. You simly point the camera at a white object, such as sand, rocks or coral, and take a reading. You can even keep a white write on slate in you BC for just this purpose. Remember that your settings will change as you dive deeper.

 

On your next digital dive, give the white balance function a try. Use each of the different settings on the same subject to see how they react. Be prepared when you need to venture beyond Auto.

Just remember that if you shoot RAW, you bypass all this. Videographers know that combining these techniques with filters can be very powerful.