Help with CanonD50 yellow/pink undertone to all of my pictures?!

[smr00]

Hi all,

I would really appreciate some help with this problem I am having! I am a newbie so i'm sure i'm doing something wrong here but basically many of my pictures (especially when taken indoors) have this yellow cast. I have a newborn baby who I take many pictures of and her skin often times looks super yellow or pink. How do I get rid of this undertone? What is the problem here? For example the other night I took a picture of the baby against a totally pink backdrop and her skin looked a lot more pink than normal.

We generally use automatic mode and we use different scene modes like neutral, faithful, portrait. We have an external flash and I always focus on her face.

Thanks so much!

[Black Pearl]

Post an example with as much shooting data as possible - but - at a guess you have the White balance set to manual and probably set to daylight. Put it back on auto until you get to grips with how it works.

[Kodiak]

Hi all, I would really appreciate some help with this problem I am having! I am a newbie so i'm sure i'm doing something wrong here but basically many of my pictures (especially when taken indoors) have this yellow cast. I have a newborn baby who I take many pictures of and her skin often times looks super yellow or pink. How do I get rid of this undertone? What is the problem here? For example the other night I took a picture of the baby against a totally pink backdrop and her skin looked a lot more pink than normal.

We generally use automatic mode and we use different scene modes like neutral, faithful, portrait. We have an external flash and I always focus on her face. Thanks so much!

I believe you might have a simple white balance issue. If you refer to your manual,
all the info will be there.

A posted picture could shed some light and we could better advice if needed!

[smr00]

okay i have attached one of them. This is a dramatic example. Normally they are not nearly as bad but this was just one example. The picture after it was a lot better, but I didn't make any adjustments. So weird, I don't know why one pic is so dramatically yellow and with the next click it is less so?

[Geoff F]

What camera? Just as a test. Put the White Balance to AWB and take some shots using the Aperture Priority (Av or something similar depending on the camera) setting. Set an aperture around F 4 to F8 and see if that makes a difference.

[smr00]

[DanK]

It certainly looks like a white balance issue, but if so, it is very extreme.

for us to say anything more definitive, you have to provide more detail, as others have noted. What white balance setting are you using? What is the light source when you get photos like this?

[William W]

I agree that it appears to be a WHITE BALANCE matter.

White Balance is set in the camera and applies to the JPEG File (and LCD review) and applies the preset for the raw file.

Is your camera a: Canon EOS 50D.

*

If you are using a Canon 50D, then my best guess is that you have the White Balance manually set at “Daylight” or “Cloudy” Degrees Kelvin at about 5000°K and I expect that the sample shot was taken inside under household incandescent lighting - this combination would give the orange/yellow that appears in your photo.

*

If you do have a Canon EOS 50D then look in your user manual under “White Balance” (p71) and select ‘AWB’ (Auto White Balance) this selection will render close to accurate white balance for most shooting situations.

Note well: there is also another possibility: You might have “White Balance Correction” set to be excessively ‘A’ (AMBER).

You can check this setting by referencing the user manual on page 74.

WW

[William W]

This is the sample image after it was manually edited through a Blue Filter CC Filter (colour correction filter) rendering about a 2800°K ~ 3000°K shift in the Colour Temperature. Then the Levels were auto-corrected:




For example - If the camera were set at “daylight” (5000°K) and the household lights were about 2000°K this would be a logical explanation for the resultant colour cast.

Also this could explain why the OP gets casts only in some shooting scenarios and not others – I’d guess it is only when inside under electric lighting that there is a problem

*

But Note -

Although in Full Auto Mode (The Green Rectangle), which you state that you use most often - for a Canon EOS 50D, the camera sets the White Balance to AWB and the user cannot override that setting, so you need to confirm what CAMERA MODE that you are using.

I cannot read the EXIF data on the sample image.



WW

[smr00]

Sorry for any confusion. Yes, the camera is a Canon 50D. We use a 430EXII external flash. The lens is a Canon 24-70mm L series. Typically we use the P setting and do set white balance to auto - unless we are using a flash, in which case we use the flash setting, or are in the sun (in which case we will use the sun setting) or in using indoor lighting with no flash (in which case we will use the incandescent setting). We also play around with the picture style (fourth button from left at bottom of screen) and have used standard, portrait, faithful and neutral settings. We have used aperture priority before, and occasionally dabble with the manual mode (although it is hard to judge sometimes from the LCD if the exposure is correct and the built in meter jumps around depending on where you put the red dot). The data on the posted image is:

Program AE
1/80 Tv
2.8 Av
0 Exposure Comp
1250 ISO
Auto ISO ON
54mm focal length
White Balance Mode: Flash

Maybe we had Flash White Balance Mode and the flash did not fire? Would that have caused this? If so, though, we have had a lot of other similar color issues.

[William W]

The data on the posted image is:
Program AE
1/80 Tv
2.8 Av
0 Exposure Comp
1250 ISO
Auto ISO ON
54mm focal length
White Balance Mode: Flash

Maybe we had Flash White Balance Mode and the flash did not fire? Would that have caused this?

Thank you for the updated information.

Firstly, the answer to your specific question is: YES.

The “Flash” setting for “White Balance” on an EOS 50D is 6000°K so if the Flash did not fire and the Subject was illuminated by incandescent household lighting then there would be more than 3000°K difference and the yellow orange cast would be the result.

Also – and by the way - Program AE is NOT what is typically referred to as “Auto” Mode, or “Full Auto Mode” (I think that’s how some Canon Articles reference it) - ‘Auto Mode’ is the Green Rectangle.

*

If so, though, we have had a lot of other similar color issues.

What are these other issues?

Can NOT these other issue be explained by the same circumstance, of the Flash NOT firing?

WW

[smr00]

Here is a more typical example. All of our pictures have this tone to them and its not faithful to the actual colors. What is going on here?

Shooting mode: program AE
Tv: 1/60
Av: 4.0
Exposure compensation: 0
ISO speed: 400
Auto iso speed: on
Focal length: 34 mm
White balance mode: flash

[pnodrog]

Did your flash fire? Looking at the lack of strong shadows it appears not. If it did not fire WB set to flash is very unlikely to be correct. Set WB to AUTO

P.S. Just read young William's post above the photo and see he has already indicated that flash WB is the possible cause.

[Glenn NK]

It certainly looks like a white balance issue, but if so, it is very extreme.

for us to say anything more definitive, you have to provide more detail, as others have noted. What white balance setting are you using? What is the light source when you get photos like this?

+1.

Also some information on whether or not your monitor is calibrated, but the WB is so bad that the main issue isn't the monitor.

I'd also be interested in what colour space is set in the camera and what software is being used to develop the images (or are they JPEGs with no post processing?).

The OP will probably have to let us know how this was processed - either in camera or what software was used if any.

That has got to be a bad WB setting somewhere.

Glenn

[William W]

OK.

I am pursuing ONLY the WB setting matter.

There is a bit of theory to follow through – here are the salient points

1. In Program AE, and at typical Light levels at around EV= 12 ~ EV = 9 a Canon EOS camera will attempt to balance the foreground (Flash) exposure with the background (Ambient) exposure.

2. This is about the light level range under whcih you are shooting

3. Assuming that the two samples were taken in similar AMBIENT lighting conditions AND the Flsh fired on the second sample then, by comparing the EXPOSURES of the two samples we can note that the FLASH exposure is layered about two to three stops over the Ambient Exposure.

4. If assumption 3 is correct, then you are shooting in typical "MIXED LIGHTING" and there would be enough AMBIENT LIGHT EXPOSURE to skew the overall (average) colour temperature of the scene to about K = 4500°K ~ 4800°K which would render the image a little warm if the White Balance were set to “Flash” which is in fact K = 6000°K.

My Theory:


I think that the crux of the matter is you are setting a prescribed value for the White Balance (Colour Temperature). That is to say you are prescribing that ALL the scene will be at 6000°K.

If the room lights were ON when you took that second shot then I think they had an impact on the Colour Balance.

I suggest that “Flash” White Balance setting only be used of the illumination is indeed ONLY (studio) Flash (that’s why Photographic Studios are dark, so the ambient light is at least 5 EV (usually more), below the Flash)

Bottom Line:


If you want the JPEGS to look better and you are shooting under mixed lighting - just try using “AWB” as has been previously suggested: please do that as test in the same shooting situation and report back the results.

WW

[William W]

UPDATE

Here is the second sample image run through a Blue CC Filter where the shift change approximated 1800°K: (also levels were auto adjusted)



WW

[jcuknz]

Hi all, We generally use automatic mode and we use different scene modes like neutral, faithful, portrait. We have an external flash and I always focus on her face. !

I follow a simple rule with white balnce and this is to use AWB 99.9% of the time EXCEPT when shooting by household lights when I change it to 'domestic/household' setting ... a picture of a light bulb. Every camera I have owned, at least a dozen to date , all have fallen down under domestic lighting and given the warm cast you write about.

EDIT I normally am using the built-in flash which probably avoids the chance suggested of the flash not syning with the camera.

[rpcrowe]

I strongly suggest that you forsake shooting JPEG and begin shooting RAW. Set your white balance to auto and include a white balance target such as the Whibal Card in one of the images shot under that light setup...

Then when you open your image in camera RAW, simply choose the image showing the Whibal Card, then "select all images". Use the white balance eyedropper on the Whibal Card in the image and all of the images (shot under the same light setup) will pretty well be balanced. It really doesn't matter if you are using available light, flash, fluorescent or incandescent light...

If you have not been able to include a white balance target in any frame under similar lighting, you can use the neutral gray eyedropper of Camera Raw and select an object in the image which should be neutral gray. This is not as accurate as using a whit Balance target but, will get you within the ballpark....

Your camera doesn't need to do any corrections. All correction is done in post processing.

This works with Photoshop, Photoshop Elements and I believe with Lightroom.

[inkista]

Bottom Line:


If you want the JPEGS to look better and you are shooting under mixed lighting - just try using “AWB” as has been previously suggested: please do that as test in the same shooting situation and report back the results.

WW

Or consider buying the Rosco Strobist gel pack, and gelling your flash with a CTO (color temperature orange) gel, so it matches the ambient lighting, and using the Tungsten WB setting.

Basically, without the flash, the room is orange-ish. The Tungsten/lightbulb WB setting assumes this, and adds a heap of blue to the image to get it to balance "correctly". The flash's light is blueish. The "Flash" WB setting assumes this, and adds some orange to the image to get it balance "correctly." You were getting the extremely orange images because the flash didn't go off, and the camera's adding more orange (Flash WB setting) to an already orange scene.

Mixed light is always problematic for white balancing. You can "gel" the flash (i.e., tape a piece of tinted transparent plastic over the front of it) to change its color so it's closer to the ambient light's color, and then you can white balance the whole scene with a single setting again.

And, as Richard mentioned, shooting RAW will give you more leeway in post for WB correction than shooting JPEG will.

[William W]

Or consider buying the Rosco Strobist gel pack, and gelling your flash with a CTO (color temperature orange) gel, so it matches the ambient lighting, and using the Tungsten WB setting. . . .etc

Agree.

And agree with Richard too about using raw.

For clarity - I more wanted the OP to shoot the same scene inside with the lights on and with flash operative and use AWB and post the result here to confirm that it was the White Balance setting, which was causing the problem.

WW