Digital SLR Photography Tips
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Get the most out of your DSLR using digital slr photography tips
Artificial Lighting
Although DSLRs have more sophisticated and reliable WB than compact digital cameras,
their Auto WB performance is usually less effective indoors. Compared with natural
light, artificial lighting is usually dimmer, its colour temperature varies widely
depending on the light source, and some types flicker, resulting in photos with
inconsistent brightness or colour temperature.
Use Presets with Fine-Tuning
If Auto WB does not give good results, the first option you have is to use WB fine-
tuning, possibly with a camera preset. Sometimes, all you need is to fine-tune the
Auto WB in the right direction. Otherwise, you may have to choose a preset such
as Incandescent/Tungsten or Fluorescent, and fine-tune or bracket WB from the basic
setting. Even the Sunny/Daylight setting suits some artificial lighting. When you
hit on a good WB, you can set custom WB using that image.
Mixed Lighting
Another challenge you’ll face when shooting in artificial light is that the scene
might be illuminated by daylight as well as artificial light, or by more than one
type of artificial lighting. This makes it difficult to maintain a consistent colour
temperature. For instance, one side of a person’s face might be lit differently
than the other. However, there are steps you can take to improve the situation.
Remove Secondary Sources - You might be able to change the lighting by simply
drawing the blinds or curtains or by changing position and shooting from another
direction. If you’re photographing people, you can get your subjects to move away
from sources of unwanted light.
Set WB for Dominant Source - If most of your subject is under just one kind
of lighting, you can set WB for the dominant light source. If you are setting custom
WB, face your card toward the main light only. The results of this technique will
be somewhat unpredictable, since you’re not accounting for secondary light sources.
You’ll have to judge for yourself whether the WB you get is acceptable.
Tip: Taking a reference shot on location, using an object of known colour
such as a piece of white card, enables you to be more precise when making corrections
on your computer.
Set WB to Average - If the lighting mix from the different sources is even,
you can set WB to average the effects of the combined lighting. There could be two
or more secondary colour casts on the edges of your subject or scene, but they will
not be so apparent. To set custom WB, place your card so that it is evenly lit by
the different sources. If you are using a flexible card, you could try curving the
card so that it gets better exposure from different angles.
Use Flash - You can overpower artificial lighting if your flash is strong
enough. At distances up to a few yards, the camera’s built-in flash should suffice,
but at greater distances you’ll need an external unit. Set WB to Auto or Flash,
because you are now using flash as your main light source. Do not use slow-sync
flash mode for this purpose.
Here at Digital SLR Photography Tips we hope you’ve enjoyed this article on photography
lighting. Why not try one of our other Photography Tips article. Check the menu
down the left of this page.