ESFotoClix Blog

When it comes to getting the White Balance (WB) “right,” most suggest you apply adjustments in post-processing. I’ve done this and do it often enough to believe in it, but I also see a practical use for getting WB right on-site if you’re going for realism. Will you remember what the colors in a particular scene actually looked like days later when you post-process a set of images? For those cases where getting colors right at the time of shooting is crucial, the well-tested method of setting WB based on a white or gray card reading is the way to go. Similar solutions, such as White Balance lens caps are also available.

However, what if you’re shooting a band concert and the bouncer is not going to let you place a white card on the lead singer’s forehead?

Solution: If you have a D90 or like-camera with Liveview, switch it to Liveview and the WB to K, and adjust the WB temperature until the colors look like the scene before you.

Note that for this quickie method, you are assuming your camera’s LCD is color-accurate. In my experience, it’s close enough. In addition, keep in mind that Picture Controls affect color rendition. Either use the Neutral Picture Control (boring, contrastless), or use D2XMODE1… oh, wait, you can’t do that in the D90. But as luck would have it, someone’s put together an emulation of this mode for the D90 which you can download from a Custom Picture Controls page.