exif information
Coffee filter white balance trick
Some of you already know this, (Coffee filter white balance) but for those of you that don’t, I am about to make your day.
You can buy a tool such as an expodisc for about $100, and carry it in your camera bag, or for a few cents, and the ability to wad it up in your pocket, you can use a standard coffee filter (the white ones). You could also place a gray card in the scene, but sometimes you can’t such as stage performances, big parties, weddings etc.
Hey, I shoot raw, why does this matter?
Answer: It really doesn’t, but it is much easier to start out with the correct color, than "eyeball it" later. Another important matter I found out this Christmas is shooting video, you can’t easily correct the color in a couple gigs of yellow cast video you shot indoors. Also, if you shoot jpeg, this will be your new trick to fix all the yellow indoor shots as well.
Ok, How do I do it?
Answer: Very easy, most cameras have a custom white balance function that let you sample one of the shots on your card that you just took.
Procedure: You just hold the coffee filter snuggly (or use a rubber band) over your lens, and point your camera at the light source (one of the lamps in the room etc), and shoot one shot. Then you go into your menu, and select that shot as the custom white balance shot (practice first, I know with Canon, you need to set the white balance to custom in addition to, and after choosing your custom shot), and voila, your scene is near color perfect. This is not perfect, but in my tests, it is pretty darn close, and to the naked eye, I can’t really tell much difference.
I have included the before and after shots in full res, and the coffee filter shot as well for your reference.
HERE ARE ALL FOUR RAW FILES
First shot with no correction, right out of the camera:
The coffee filter shot:
The corrected shot after using the coffee filter shot as the custom white balance:
Same shot with a gray card for reference: (gray card was not used for white balance, just placed in the scene for later analysis, and for you to see how close the coffee filter is)
HERE ARE ALL FOUR RAW FILES of the Coffee filter white balance shots. I hope this article on Coffee filter white balance helps someone, have a great day!
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