# White Balance



## andyh (9 Jan 2011)

Ok, I moved this from my Lounge tank journal as i feel its more relevant here;

Here is the original pic






Quote George:


> Hi Andy,
> 
> The 'scape is developing very nicely indeed. Congrats!
> May I ask what White Balance setting you're using, please? On my computer the images seem very blue/green.
> I hope you don't mind, but I've adjusted one image in Photoshop CS3. Does it look much different to you?








I said:


> Thanks for your comments.
> I dont mind at all, this pic was taken using AWB, however it may of been the fact that the camera was is "fish mode" yes my camera has a fish mode. It seems to have a "green enhance" which sometimes looks good and others does not. Your pic defo looks more natural tones. I will have a play and see what i can come up with. But please be aware you may get a PM asking more questions



So this set me on a journey playing with settings and trying to get better more relastic pictures. Please be aware i dont have a full on slr camera, i have a whats classed as bridge camera, lots of mannuals settings but a fixed lens, so don't go getting all super techy on me  

So i took a load of pics to see the difference, these are all at f2.8, iso 200 i just changed the White balance and then later on played with the Exposure Value (EV) using EV Bracketing.

Here is some of the pics, which looks better?

Sunlight mode





Flo Tube HO





Bulb





Auto White Balance





I personally think that this looks the best:
Which is Flo tube, at -1EV 





Is there any pointers anyone can give?  

cheers   

Andyh


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## Burnleygaz (10 Jan 2011)

i think the last one aswell, but it looks a touch dark to me , might be worth upping the iso to 400.


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## Kosh42-EFG (10 Jan 2011)

Is it a Fuji camera? If so, the "fish mode" is likely the underwater mode for use in a housing. This does alter the WB a lot as the water filters out a lot of the sunlight. In our shallow tanks, it's not needed though and just makes them look odd.

I usually use auto WB for the tank, and then autocorrect the contract and saturation in Picasa (using the "I fell lucky" correction button).

The under water mode works at 8m down, though:


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## Tony Swinney (15 Jan 2011)

Hi Andy

Youre probably right with your choice of shots - the original is a bit cool, and Georges a bit yellow overall for me.  Try to find something in the picture that should be neutral and use that as a guide.  In this instance the black tank backing - try to not let it have a colour cast.

The camera will struggle with the Solar 1 as a light source, as it is so intense that the shadow to highlight range is very large, also the NA Green bulb throws the colour balance out - I suspect thats why the original shot is blue, as the camera is over compensating for the yellow in the NA green spectrum.

If the camera will, shoot in RAW format so you get the widest range of shadow to highlight detail in the capture then tweak it in the software (lightroom, photoshop etc)

Hope that helps a bit.

Tony


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## NeilW (15 Jan 2011)

Im surprised your having issues as your other shots for your kitchen tank and nano were nice.  Then again, I think Tony's got it with the NA Green bulbs throwing the camera which you didn't use in your other tanks. 

Maybe worth doing an 'experiment' with different tubes like you did for your nano if you wanted the 'perfect' competition shot or even raiding someones full-on DSLR? If its for the sake of showing your images on the forum then I wouldn't worry as we can all see the content of the image is there with a stunning tank!  

On my computer the best image is the last one with the exposure compensation as the highlights aren't 'blown' if thats helpful at all.


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## andyh (16 Jan 2011)

Burnleygaz said:
			
		

> i think the last one aswell, but it looks a touch dark to me , might be worth upping the iso to 400.


I am with you, i will play with the iso and see what the does



			
				Kosh42-EFG said:
			
		

> Is it a Fuji camera? If so, the "fish mode" is likely the underwater mode for use in a housing. This does alter the WB a lot as the water filters out a lot of the sunlight. In our shallow tanks, it's not needed though and just makes them look odd.
> I usually use auto WB for the tank, and then autocorrect the contract and saturation in Picasa (using the "I fell lucky" correction button).
> The under water mode works at 8m down, though:


Its a canon and its not an underwater mode its an actual taking photos of you aquarium mode  , albeit my other canon has underwater mode and I used it when diving in mauritius, it was awesome! Cracking pic by the way!


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## andyh (16 Jan 2011)

Tony Swinney said:
			
		

> Hi Andy
> 
> Youre probably right with your choice of shots - the original is a bit cool, and Georges a bit yellow overall for me.  Try to find something in the picture that should be neutral and use that as a guide.  In this instance the black tank backing - try to not let it have a colour cast.
> 
> ...



Cheers Tony, good tip with using the black background.

I do find it much harder to shoot photos with the MH and i think your bang on with the NA Green effecting the white balance. The light is stunning at highlighting greens in the tank, but to date i haven't taken a photo which i believe shows how good it looks.

My camera can shoot RAW i will have a go, although i aint that clever in the area of photoshop etc
Thanks for the advice dude!

Andyh



			
				NeilW said:
			
		

> Im surprised your having issues as your other shots for your kitchen tank and nano were nice.  Then again, I think Tony's got it with the NA Green bulbs throwing the camera which you didn't use in your other tanks.
> 
> Maybe worth doing an 'experiment' with different tubes like you did for your nano if you wanted the 'perfect' competition shot or even raiding someones full-on DSLR? If its for the sake of showing your images on the forum then I wouldn't worry as we can all see the content of the image is there with a stunning tank!
> 
> On my computer the best image is the last one with the exposure compensation as the highlights aren't 'blown' if thats helpful at all.



Hey Neil,

 Thanks for you comments the kitchen tank photos were much easier to take and i had loads of light above a small tank. The MH is quite a challenge to shoot. I may beg Mark Evans/Tonser etc to come and take some pics and see if they can work there magic!   

I will just have to keep practicing!

Thanks all  

Andyh


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