I've written these two articles to give you some basic and intermediate tips to correctly color balance your photos during a wedding. As I stated in the other article, a wedding has many light sources and these light sources compete to be the main light in your photos. The problem is, if these light sources have very different color temperatures, your images will have an incorrect white balance.
Imagine taking a picture where the room is lit by fluorescent overhead lighting, but in the corner of the room there is a set of candles in front of a white wall. These two very different light sources will give you an incorrect white balance. To keep this from happening, you will need to be aware of light sources during a wedding. I discussed this in the first article, as well as how to use your flash without a colored gel in daylight, or where the main light source is daylight. In this article I will give you tips on how to properly gel your flash in different lighting circumstances.
Indoors you will normally be faced with one of three main light sources. These are: daylight, florescent, and tungsten. When you enter a room you will need to be able to identify the main source of light, then match it. I talked about daylight in the previous article. If your light source is florescent, they you will need to put a florescent gel on your flash and set the white balance on your camera to florescent lighting. Nowadays there are many different types of florescent lighting with different color temperatures. This means you will need to carry a few different florescent gels with you. Likewise, you will need a few different CTO gels to match different types of tungsten lighting. These tungsten gels are: full CTO, 1/2 CTO, and 1/4 CTO. As before, put a CTO gel on your flash and set the white balance on your camera to tungsten. With either a florescent gel or CTO gel, try different ones out and see what matches best the main light in the room.
When going into a room, if you see more than one source of light with different color temperature, you will need to try to fix the situation. Think about the opening scenario of a room lit by fluorescent lighting as well as candle light. In this case you can either switch off the fluorescent light, or blow out the candles if you want to be able to achieve correct white balance. Your best case scenario would be the candles would not be in frame, or are not throwing out enough light to affect your white balance. Likewise, if I were to go into a room with tungsten lighting I know I cannot just use my bare flash since it has a different white balance than the tungsten lighting. Therefore I would have to but on a CTO gel to match this tungsten light source.
Another important thing to remember is that you will need a CTO gel for sunrise and sunset. Sunrise and Sunset are not normal daylight hours. If you were to use your flash without a gel your photos would have a bluish cast to your subjects. Because this sunrise/sunset light is so warm, a CTO gel is needed. Try different CTO gels to find one that best matches the natural light of where you are on the globe, and the time of year you are shooting.
Imagine taking a picture where the room is lit by fluorescent overhead lighting, but in the corner of the room there is a set of candles in front of a white wall. These two very different light sources will give you an incorrect white balance. To keep this from happening, you will need to be aware of light sources during a wedding. I discussed this in the first article, as well as how to use your flash without a colored gel in daylight, or where the main light source is daylight. In this article I will give you tips on how to properly gel your flash in different lighting circumstances.
Indoors you will normally be faced with one of three main light sources. These are: daylight, florescent, and tungsten. When you enter a room you will need to be able to identify the main source of light, then match it. I talked about daylight in the previous article. If your light source is florescent, they you will need to put a florescent gel on your flash and set the white balance on your camera to florescent lighting. Nowadays there are many different types of florescent lighting with different color temperatures. This means you will need to carry a few different florescent gels with you. Likewise, you will need a few different CTO gels to match different types of tungsten lighting. These tungsten gels are: full CTO, 1/2 CTO, and 1/4 CTO. As before, put a CTO gel on your flash and set the white balance on your camera to tungsten. With either a florescent gel or CTO gel, try different ones out and see what matches best the main light in the room.
When going into a room, if you see more than one source of light with different color temperature, you will need to try to fix the situation. Think about the opening scenario of a room lit by fluorescent lighting as well as candle light. In this case you can either switch off the fluorescent light, or blow out the candles if you want to be able to achieve correct white balance. Your best case scenario would be the candles would not be in frame, or are not throwing out enough light to affect your white balance. Likewise, if I were to go into a room with tungsten lighting I know I cannot just use my bare flash since it has a different white balance than the tungsten lighting. Therefore I would have to but on a CTO gel to match this tungsten light source.
Another important thing to remember is that you will need a CTO gel for sunrise and sunset. Sunrise and Sunset are not normal daylight hours. If you were to use your flash without a gel your photos would have a bluish cast to your subjects. Because this sunrise/sunset light is so warm, a CTO gel is needed. Try different CTO gels to find one that best matches the natural light of where you are on the globe, and the time of year you are shooting.
About the Author:
Kevin Heslin is one of the leading Wedding and Commercial photographers in Costa Rica. To see more of his photography tips click on his blog Costa Rica Wedding Photographer Or to see destination wedding photos from Costa Rica, or travel and cultural portraits from Central America click on his website Photography in Costa Rica. Also published at How to Maintain Proper White Balance in Your Images - Wedding Photo Techniques for Beginners.
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