There is a recurring discussion I have with student photographers/friends, and I haven’t discussed it here or on any of my videos in depth. It goes something like this:
Student “Michael, what do you use to set your Custom White Balance? Do you use an Expo Disk (or some other gadget)?”
Me “I’m typically shooting mostly in RAW these days.”
Student “Yes, but shouldn’t you always set your Custom White Balance when shooting in RAW? That’s what my other photographer friend told me to do.”
Me “If I understand you correctly, you are setting Custom White Balance every time you move to a new lighting position when shooting in RAW?”
Student “Ya…you don’t?”
Me “No of course not….not for RAW.”
Student now laughing at me “You don’t do that? Don’t you know you are supposed to?”
Me “Ummm, no….I don’t and no I didn’t.”
At this point my friend or student will then pull out his or her camera and start taking pictures, they almost always take a picture in AWB and then Custom WB with their Custom WB device of choice. They then show me the differences between the two images on the back of the camera.
Student “Look…look Michael. Can’t you see the difference? Doesn’t that look so much better when the custom white balance is set correctly?”
Me “Those definitely look different, and yes that image looks better, but these images we are looking at have very little to do with the RAW files.”
Why?
I know. I know…LOL because the image you are seeing on the preview is a jpeg rendering of what the camera thinks of the data.
I never use customer white balance either with raw files. So much easier to make the adjustments in post production.
Im confused! Does this mean Custom WB only really matters to Jpegs??
So you are going to explain more, right?
I am just starting to feel like I’m grasping exposure now you toss this out there? In RAW it doesn’t retain the Custom White balance of the image as when taken?
I am kind of going along with the view finder image is jpeg, that makes sense. I switched to RAW recently so only understand the basics of RAW is a negative of the image. Isn’t it best to get it SOOC to the best of your ability?
Just when I think I have a clue, it gets taken away!
Very good James! Thats right, the preview on the back of the camera is a JPEG preview only. Yes Reggie, Custom WB really only helps for JPEG (and Video occasionally)- Ill try to post more on this tomorrow for you Christine.
Can’t wait. Thanks!
This is WONDERFUL!!!
I learned this when I shot a newborn. I shot the same pose in RAW in each of the Monotones to make a collage later. Opening the photos in Bridge, I noticed that none of my RAW Monotone photos were there…
Where did they go??? The mother of the baby saw them when we reviewed the images in the rear screen, so I knew they were there… What I did have was about 9 of the same pose all in color.
It just gives me another reason to shoot in .jpg and not rely on RAW as a crutch. Glad you thought to cover this 🙂