Lars Pind

internet software, coaching, and entrepreneurship

Lars Pind - internet software, coaching, and entrepreneurship
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Playing with custom white balance

August 10, 2007 · See comments

I’m really glad I applied as a photographer at iStock, and I’m even more thrilled I got rejected. Why? Because the rejection mail included a link to this article on how to do a custom white balance, which I just followed, and I took the photo on the right, which I never would’ve been able to without understanding custom white balance.

And it’s not hard at all, it’s just that I didn’t know what that setting was for. And now I do. Now I know how they take those photos with the very very white background. Easy as pie.

Taking that photo, though, reminded me of something. I once saw a photographer on TV who had his camera on a tripod next to his Mac, and whenever he’d taken a new photo, it would instantly show up on his Mac’s screen, so he could see if all the details were just right, before moving on.

What does such a setup require? I’d really like to have something like that, and I imagine it can’t be that expensive. I think it would make the feedback loop so much faster that I’d learn a lot faster from my failures.

Does anyone here know how to do that?

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Comments ↓

  • 1 Bruno Mattarollo // Aug 13, 2007 at 12:56 AM

    Hey Lars, There's a really _really_ interesting piece of hardware that will help with this ... It's called the ExpoDisc [ http://www.expodisc.com/index.php ]. A friend of mine purchased one and I can safely say that it's very helpful, I just wish I had one a while ago (when you take hundreds of pictures at a wedding, you don't really want to correct the white balance on each single frame). Are you taking your pictures in RAW?

  • 2 Alper // Aug 13, 2007 at 01:24 AM

    It's called tethered shooting and a quick search on Google should reveal any number of methods of setting this up with your preferred processing software. EOS Capture and Capture One seem to be preferred applications to do this. I'm going to set this up myself. It should be fun and indeed useful.

  • 3 Gaven // Aug 14, 2007 at 07:21 PM

    This accessory will do it: "New for the EOS-1Ds Mark II camera is the optional Wireless File Transmitter (WFT-E1A)**. Given the enormous popularity of LAN-based image transmission systems and the demands for higher speed image distribution in the reporting fields, Canon developed this new accessory that allows photographers to transmit images from their cameras directly to a computer over a wired or wireless local area network (LAN). The WFT-E1 transmitter includes a mini antenna, a long and short IEE1394 cable, a case and camera mounting screw. The transmitter will also be compatible with the EOS-1D Mark II and the EOS 20D digital SLR cameras via a firmware upgrade. Pricing for the WFT-E1 has not been finalized, but will be announced prior to initial dealer shipments in November."

  • 4 Alper // Aug 14, 2007 at 10:53 PM

    On second thought, I haven't gotten either of these solutions to work. If you find something that works for you, please share.

  • 5 Alper // Aug 14, 2007 at 10:53 PM

    On second thought, I haven't gotten either of these solutions to work. If you find something that works for you, please share.