Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Fixing Color Problems (or Adding Effects) by “Painting” White
Balance
Camera Raw lets us paint with white balance, and of all the things that have been added to
Camera Raw over the years, believe it or not, this is one of the ones you'll probably wind
up using the most. It's pretty common to have a natural light photo where part of the photo
is in shadows, which usually means the parts in daylight have one color, and the parts in
shadows are usually bluish (especially if you use Auto White Balance, which most of us
do, because it works pretty well for most situations). Here's how to paint with white bal-
ance to make all the color in your image consistent:
Step One:
Here's a location portrait, where our subject has a nice warm skin tone (partially because
I put an orange gel over the off-camera flash), but take a look at the background behind
her—the buildings are in the shade and that makes them look blue (like it was taken at
dawn), even though it was taken at sunset. If I try to warm up the white balance, she is go-
ing to turn really yellow. Luckily, now we can adjust the white balance in just one area.
SCOTT KELBY
