A majority of the time, I treat white balance subjectively. But, that doesn’t mean I don’t use a white balance target. Targets give you the option of setting white balance objectively. Without them you have to fall back on the SWAG method (Scientific Wild Ass Guess). My favorite white balance target is ExpoImaging’s ExpoDisc. (I use a Flat; while they’re more expensive, they can be used with any and all lenses.) Why do I like the ExpoDisc so much? It performs three functions at once – white balance, dust map, vignetting map. In addition to setting white balance you can use it to precisely map dust on you sensor and vignetting. Once you’ve identified these with a single exposure, you can automatically apply those corrections to all images shot during that session. Automatic retouching? Yes! Dust mapping will save you hours. Often, I’ve felt a resistance to using white balance targets in the field. Because the ExpoDisc offers so much more and is so easy to use, I use it consistently.
I demonstrate these kinds of techniques in all of my field workshops.
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Charity Marek
15.07.2008 at 15:22John Paul,
Can you dust map with the round disks or just the flat?
Thanks,
Charity
johnpaulcaponigro
15.07.2008 at 15:36You can dust map with all of the ExpoDiscs, round or flat. You could dust map with any flat field of color (including a blue sky), but only the ExpoDisc will give you this and white balance.
Glenn Chan
20.07.2008 at 21:50Of possible interest:
If you are working with non-RAW images and want to subjectively alter the color balance in post (e.g. for creative reasons), then you might be interested in doing white balance and also recovering some highlight detail:
http://www.free-photoshop-plugins.com/download-filters/white-balance-plug-in.htm