photography help

Black_Sheep · Dec 6, 2009

I was trying to get some decent pictures, they looked good in the camera viewfinder but when I uploaded the shots to the computer the white background becomes yellow. I think the problem is due to the type of lighting because adjusting the camera settings will improve the pictures but the yellow cast won't go away. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Attached are a couple of examples to illustrate what I'm talking about...

Bob R · Dec 7, 2009

What kind of lights are you using for illumination. I would go along with your assessment, it is the lighting.

bob

pps · Dec 7, 2009

You can adjust color cast in photoshop. Or you can adjust the color temperature within your camera closer to incandescent lights (2800K). I'm assuming yoou either used indoor lighting or had some indoor light bleed into your picture. Just don't forget to put the color temp back to 5800K before you shoot in daylight or your pics will turn blue.

enfield · Dec 7, 2009

I like to take my gun pictures out on the deck on a white table top - never have a problem with hue.

pjsjr · Dec 7, 2009

I've found that using a neutral(greyish) background will allow the camera to adjust on its own. HTH, Preston

kennyb · Dec 7, 2009

tungsten light causes the yellow hue...there is a corrective filter that removes it...or simply use outdoor lighting or if inside a flash

loutent · Dec 7, 2009

I think that you have a couple of issues - White Balance and exposure. As some others pointed out, tungsten light is around 2800K - maybe your camera has a tungsten setting (usually it looks like a light bulb) or you may be able to set the color temp manually. Auto WB usually does not work effectively with tungsten light IMO. The other issue is exposing for a blued/black gun to show detail. If you use a white background an the camera is set to "auto" it will under-expose the dark gun because there is so much white in the background. You can either use a more neutral background or expose manually until you get the detail in the dark areas then stick with that exposure. As an example, here's a shot of my Keltec PF9 shot under tungsten light against a white background:

oldRoger · Dec 7, 2009

For complete diagnosis we need to know what camera model and what lights you are using.
More than likely those who have responded have already hit upon the solution. Basically your camera treats everything as though it was outdoors and slightly overcast unless you tell it not to do so. Some cameras cannot be adjusted to compensate. But you can always change the lighting or go outside.

tom turner · Dec 7, 2009

Hi,

The biggest challenge back "in the day" was shooting slide film, for no compensation after you tripped the shutter was possible.

The human brain sees something white and tells itself subconsciously that the object is white. NOT SO when we see a recorded image, such as the photos we post.

A wedding photographer's nightmare is a bride wanting a photo of herself in a flowing, pure white dress in a field of grass on a clear blue day. The resulting image shows the white dress as light blue on the top . . . changing to light green as the gown gets near the ground!

Many, if not most new digital cameras have "white balance" adjustments on them as others have mentioned. The goal of these gadgets is to convert a white image back to white!

In the case of your photos, they indeed look like uncorrected white balance inside under tungsten (incandescent) lightbulbs. Back in the day of slide film the only solution was to use an "80A" screw-on filter over the lens. The 80A filter is a deep blue color that corrects for the orange cast of tungsten lights . . . turning "white" back into white again!

Hope this helps,

Tom

BTW: Someone mentioned taking shots outside on their deck. The color rendition will be a "cool" blue on a clear day with a deep blue sky. It is best to shoot outdoors on a very overcast day with almost no shadows. The grey sky will be thus pretty neutral.

tom turner · Dec 7, 2009

Hi again,

Revisiting your second photograph, and trying to color correct it, it appears to me like you actually shot it under different TYPES of lighting (incandescent mixed with something else too).

This will make it difficult to correct the shadows to the pure white spectrum, since some shadows have a different hue to them than others one shadow overlaps with another color light.

It is always best to avoid shooting under different types (color temperatures) of mixed lighting (i.e.: a florescent overhead tube-type light with incandescent lamps nearby but also with one of the incandescent lamps switched out to a newfangled florescent light bulb.

Heck, even various florescent light tubes come in different color temperatures (cool white, kitchen, the deadly "shop" light, bath, "warm white," etc.).

If you used mixed color temperature lights, it really can't be completely fixed . . . at least by me. Stick with one type of lighting and you'll be much happier with the results . . . and your camera will also be able to do a better job with "White Balance" for you too.

Hope this helps,

Tom

cmort666 · Dec 7, 2009

It's almost certainly a white balance issue. I've experienced exactly the same thing.

You can either switch to the right white balance setting in the camera, or if you shoot raw files, you can easily change the white balance when you convert to tiffs or jpegs. The free software that came with my Canon Digital Rebel Xt does this effortlessly.

roundgunner · Dec 7, 2009

tom turner said:
Hi,

BTW: Someone mentioned taking shots outside on their deck. The color rendition will be a "cool" blue on a clear day with a deep blue sky. It is best to shoot outdoors on a very overcast day with almost no shadows. The grey sky will be thus pretty neutral.

I agree with Tom and would just add that for years I have done "copy work" (photos of photos) outdoors in the bright shade. My porch is white so color balance is normal. I use a gray card (Ritz Camera $5) to set exposure and go. I'm always in a hurry and hate to wait for a overcast day.

Starshine Photographics - Home

pps · Dec 7, 2009

tom turner said:
Hi,

The biggest challenge back "in the day" was shooting slide film, for no compensation after you tripped the shutter was possible.

The human brain sees something white and tells itself subconsciously that the object is white. NOT SO when we see a recorded image, such as the photos we post.

A wedding photographer's nightmare is a bride wanting a photo of herself in a flowing, pure white dress in a field of grass on a clear blue day. The resulting image shows the white dress as light blue on the top . . . changing to light green as the gown gets near the ground!

Many, if not most new digital cameras have "white balance" adjustments on them as others have mentioned. The goal of these gadgets is to convert a white image back to white!

In the case of your photos, they indeed look like uncorrected white balance inside under tungsten (incandescent) lightbulbs. Back in the day of slide film the only solution was to use an "80A" screw-on filter over the lens. The 80A filter is a deep blue color that corrects for the orange cast of tungsten lights . . . turning "white" back into white again!

Hope this helps,

Tom

BTW: Someone mentioned taking shots outside on their deck. The color rendition will be a "cool" blue on a clear day with a deep blue sky. It is best to shoot outdoors on a very overcast day with almost no shadows. The grey sky will be thus pretty neutral.

With the 80a filter you forgot to mention the 2 stop loss of light on already slow film. With architecture photos and a lf camera on a tripod, no big deal, you just have to account for reciprocity failure if the exposure gets to be longer than a few seconds.

The wedding picture nightmare is where a neutral print film comes in to play. for this the Portra line is fantastic, overexpose by a stop and the printer can do wonders with balancing, be the printing on a traditional enlarger or from a high res scan.

tom turner · Dec 8, 2009

Ditto on what roundgunner said about the gray card. Camera light meters don't have brains and set exposure based on an "average" image having a certain amount of difference between light and dark areas.

Forgetting color for a moment, since we are talking luminance and not chroma (color) anyway, that certain amount of luminance is considered a shade of gray which is called 18% gray.

The gray card IS that 18% gray color, so if you hold this in front of your camera and zoom only so the gray card is seen, the camera's exposure will be correct.

Note that exposure's aperture and shutter speed and write it down, then set your camera for manual exposure for those numbers.

NOW . . . your deep blue gun on a dark background will be correctly exposed, since you've already set the correct exposure for the 18% gray luminance you need! Forget if your camera's meter tells you this exposure number is wrong . . . for the camera is wanting to correct for the dark photo and make things too light. Ditto of a silver gun on a white background or visa versa.

Cameras are "programmed to make the same mistake every time, when they are setting exposure on objects that are not in the "average" light + dark range normally seen.

Folks, get a gray card . . . and you'll take better photos!

ALSO . . . get a WHITE card too! (Many 18% gray cards ARE pure white on their other side for the reason I'm about to tell you). Again . . . zoom your camera onto the white card ONLY . . . and then set your camera's white balance so that the card finally looks as pure white as you can get it. This will be VERY obvious!

Then, take a photo of that card as a reference when making fine color balance corrections on that batch of photos you take!

Two tips that will help you take much better photos of your guns and whatever.

T.

Black_Sheep · Dec 8, 2009

Thanks for the pointers folks! I switched the background color to a pale blue/gray and experimented with the camera settings and the shots are a little better, although more experimentation is in order. I think a home built light box or better lighting will be the next step.

tom turner · Dec 8, 2009

Hi,

What make and model camera are you using? We might be able to help you even more.

T.

Black_Sheep · Dec 8, 2009

tom turner said:
Hi,

What make and model camera are you using? We might be able to help you even more.

T.

It's a SONY 5.1 megapixel "cybershot", I know it's not the best camera for what I'm trying to do but that's all I have to work with...

pjsjr · Dec 9, 2009

Here's a link that might help with that light box BladeForums.com
Preston

Black_Sheep · Dec 9, 2009

Thank you for the link Preston

epj · Dec 9, 2009

My first thought is that if you are using a flash, don't.

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