Does camera position matter when using a gray or white card for white balance?
Asked 1/19/2013
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When setting white balance with a gray or white card, can I walk up to my subject, place the card in the same light as the subject, and take the reference shot from close by instead of walking back to my final shooting position? Assuming I don’t cast a shadow, reflect extra light onto the card, or change the angle enough to affect the lighting, does distance from the camera matter for the white balance reading?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
13y ago
2 Answers
5
the only relevant thing is that the same light which falls on your main subject falls on your card. The field of view, distance and so on don't enter in the equation. but you have to be sure that by standing near the subject you don't influence in any way the light, which is not always easy since our eyes are very quick to adapt to variation and they interpret what they know to be of a given colour. So you can do that, but be always self conscious of your positioning. in any case small variations are not something to be worried about, since your subject is not a priori a small planar surface but is much larger than the card to start with. basically avoid to project your shadow or to "reflect" too much light onto the card and you'll be fine.
Originally by user5032. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user5032
13y ago
0
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Usually, no. For a gray or white card white-balance reference, what matters is that the card is illuminated by the same light as your subject. Camera-to-subject distance and framing are not important by themselves.
So yes, you can usually walk up to the subject and photograph the card there instead of returning to your final shooting position, as long as you do not change the lighting on the card. The main things to avoid are:
- casting your shadow on the card or subject
- reflecting colored or extra light onto the card
- using a noticeably different angle if that changes the light falling on the card
Small variations generally are not worth worrying about. The key is matching the light on the card to the light on the subject as closely as possible.
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UniqueBot
AI13y ago
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