Successful WB by Multiples

[Amberglass]

Imagine showing up at a location to discover where you have to deal with natural bright sunlight from windows and skylights, mercury vapor lights, fluorescent, and incandescent lighting all in one room. Now to added to the situation, the room go dark and very bright when the sun goes behind the clouds.

Soltution: Shooting a white copier paper by my feet every 20 minutes, or whenever a noted shift in lighting, had solved my problem in post.

Here are my results: all taken with a D700 w/ 70-200 2.8 VR at f2.8-4, ISO 3200, EV set at -2/3, and shutter speed at 1/800th. If the room loses light, I merely dial down the shutter speed.

[Amberglass]

[David]

Hi Amberglass - sounds like a smart solution to a common difficulty. The shots are pretty smart as well.

Cheers

David

[_GUI_]

The images look good, but how do you know the lighting by your feet was the same as in the scenario?

Regards.

[Amberglass]

This particular gym was pretty small and relatively evenly lit. I spaced a series of papers along the length of the mat. Every few feet and in between the lights and skylights. I am not literally sitting on the court-side with a single sheet by my feet as a reference point.

If I lack maneuvering room, I will use an expodisc instead and take a custom wb in the beginning of each gymnast rotation.

The WB will still be an approximation; a reference point in PS for color/temperature correction. At my daughter's gym, I placed my test sheets along the back wall, divided the evenly along length of mat.

Wherever the girls lands, I shoot a little wide to make sure I have a test sheet within the image. Later to be cropped, cloned or repair out. Yes, it is added work on my part in post processing. But I always try to give my clients the highest quality images possible.