My Best Attempt At Explaining WHITE BALANCE!

White balance is a tricky thing. I have learned a LOT about photography in the past two years, but one of the things that I am *still* always unsure of is white balance, or color. The perfect white balance in a photograph represents what you truly see when you are right there, in the moment, taking that photo.

There are a few ways you can play with getting the correct white balance. The first way, is to choose the white balance setting on your camera that most closely matches the condition in which you are shooting. Most cameras give you the following options:

Auto (Your camera makes it's best guess for you)

Tungsten (Typical, in-home, lamp light)

Florescent (Typical in-school or building lighting)

Flash

Sunny

Shade

Cloudy

So, technically, if I am shooting on a cloudy day, I could throw my camera in cloudy white balance mode and go on shooting.... but do I do this? No.

Why?

First of all, I typically shoot with fill-flash (a low setting flash to fill in some of the shadows, especially on my clients' faces). So where is my white balance setting that allows me to set my white balance to cloudy with fill-flash? It doesn't exist.

My very best option technically speaking would be to go ahead an create a custom white balance, which is fairly easy to do. Basically, you take a photo of something 100% white in the lighting in which you will be shooting and then you tell your camera, "Yes, camera. THIS is the lighting I am going to be shooting in. Give me my best color!" Do I usually set a custom white balance? No.

Why?

Typically speaking, I do not shoot in a studio (or in any space) where the lighting is constant. In fact, usually, my lighting is constantly changing. So if I were to set a custom white balance when there were clouds over head, and then two minutes later, the sun poked out, my white balance would be off yet again. Frustrating.

So here's where we get to the best solution for this type of shooting. A grey card. A grey card is an awesome tool to achieve correct white balance (when you remember to use it!). Our human eyes are able to see white in any lighting situation. Our cameras cannot. Our cameras see the color of light reflected in the white. For example, a white in tungsten light looks orangish to a camera (so if you set your camera to tungsten light white balance, your camera would produce a bluish tint to compensate for the orange it sees under your house lamps).

BUT guess what? Your camera CAN read neutral grey in any light.


WARNING: PHOTOGRAPHY MUMBO-JUMBO AHEAD: (Skip if you are an amateur or hobbyist or just don't care).
(Quick note: there is some misconception about whether neutral grey is 18% grey or 12% grey. I always refer to it as 18% grey because that's what I was taught and because that's what most photographers go by, however, deep into the educational world of photography, one will learn that the 18% grey actually comes from the print world, while cameras actually meter at 12% grey (one half-stop lighter than 18% grey). However, these two percentages are really so close that it would take the most seasoned and trained eye to spot the difference.)

You can buy what is called a 'grey card' at any camera shop. If you snap two photos right after the other and in one of them, you insert a grey card, you can pull them both into Adobe Camera Raw (or even just in Photoshop if you shoot jpeg), select the white balance tool, and click on that neutral grey and voila! Your white balance is spot-on; exactly the colors you saw in real life when you took the photo. You can see the color temperature that your grey card assigns to your photo (with the grey card present in it) and apply those same numbers to the photo that does not have the grey card in it. As long as it is in the same light; it works!

This option just makes me most sense for me, but as I said, the trick to using a grey card, is REMEMBERING to use it! So what setting to I put my camera to before shooting? Auto white balance. I take a long my grey card, try to remember to use it, and fix the color later.


Here is a photo I took in auto white balance:

This is my camera's 'best guess' for color. Not great.

The very next photo I snapped, I asked the little guy to hold my target grey card:


As soon as I pulled this image into Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) I selected my white balance tool and clicked right in the center of the grey and voila! Beautiful true-to-life color.

(I also want to add that you also see a black and a white section on my 'grey card'. This is because this is a target exposure setting card. Not only can I use this to set my white balance, but I can also use it to ensure correct exposure, but that's for another post!).

I actually selected both the original photo and the grey card photo at the same time so when I clicked on the grey card in the second photo, it automatically fixed the white balance in the first photo. Here is the final photo that I will show to my clients:

(Keep in mind, the internet also alters the colors a little, but you should be able to get the gist!)

Newborn Photography

I thought it was pretty important to educate my clients, potential clients, and the population in general about newborn sessions. That last month of pregnancy is so hectic and physically demanding that the last thing you want to think about it scheduling your newborn's photo session and learning all that comes with it. I thought I would create a post that I could reference to potential clients in the future who may be thinking about having their newborn's photos taken. There really is a lot to it.

First things first: contacting your photographer. You should contact me as soon as you know that you are going to want newborn photos done. I will want to know your expected due date and if you've tended to go early/late in other pregnancies just so I have an idea of when to keep my schedule open. When your baby is born, I should be on your phone tree. (No, I am not joking). The sooner I know your baby has arrived, the sooner I can clear a whole afternoon for you.

Yes, you heard me correctly; a whole afternoon. A newborn session can last anywhere from two hours to five hours. We are on no one's schedule, but your baby's. We love to get those sleepy, curled up, cute baby poses that you always see in magazines (and on every Etsy hat shop there ever was). If the stars align, your baby will sleep through most of the session, allowing us to curl him/her right up and put cute little props and hats around and on him or her. I have had ONE newborn session that actually goes that way. Chances are your baby will poop a few times (likely on me), pee a few times (I do bring a change of clothes), need to eat a few times, cry a lot and guess what? That's TOTALLY OKAY! As I said, we are on your baby's schedule-- and together with Mom (& sometimes Dad) we are at your baby's beck and call.

OK, so when do you need to actually book your newborn session? I recommend booking your session within the first ten days of your newbie's life. They are most sleepy, moldable, cute, cuddly, and without baby acne in those first ten days. Even though I prefer to shoot in the first ten days, I do go up to fourteen days if we absolutely cannot make it work in the first ten. After two weeks, though, they lose much of that newborn look that we try so hard to capture. After two weeks, I really no longer consider it a newborn session (because they've already lost so much of that 'newborn-ness') and actually do need to charge more because it's almost double the work--- those cute babes get even more spunkiness-- and would you believe it? They actually begin to fight me back.

If you do end up booking a session with me after your baby is two weeks old, be prepared for slightly different photos. It will be harder to get the sleepy, curly, poses and it will probably take even longer to get them!  Many of them will be with their eyes open (which I actually don't prefer much--- since their eyes can't focus on much yet, baby photos with eyes open tend to look a little bit different as your baby appears to be gazing into space). 

Also, you should note that because newborn sessions last longer, have more involved, and are in general, much more work, my session fee is a bit higher. As always, all my prices are on my website.

What do YOU need to do? Nothing. Well, almost nothing. The only time we really need you is to feed your baby. Being a huge breastfeeding advocate myself, I definitely encourage feeding your baby on-demand as much as your baby needs (and as long as your baby needs). Other than that, leave it to us. I have an assistant with me always when I shoot newborns. It's a big job for one person! We work as a team to make sure you have the best keepsakes of your baby possible.

Who's that scrub? Yeah, that's me. Because it's typically the longest type of session that I offer, I may wear yoga pants or something else comfortable while photographing your newbie. I will be on the floor, leaning this way and that way... in a way, it kind of is like yoga! Please, pay no mind to my attire. It has it's purpose and I promise I'm not scrubbing out because I don't take my job seriously!

What will your baby wear? Well, of course if there are special outfits you were imagining, we can incorporate those into our session, but my style of shooting newborns consists of mostly naked babies. I am always tasteful when photographing nude babies. If that makes you uncomfortable, we can use a diaper or swaddle them. There are lots of options for posing and creative ways to cover parts.

The most important thing to know about a newborn session is that it can be stressful if you let it be. You have to expect that things might not go as planned. Your baby might not want to play our game! He/she may cry, need to be held, fed, etc. and that's OKAY! We don't need to be stressed out over it; it is what it is and we will do whatever your baby needs. We want this to be a fun experience for everyone so please let us know what you have in mind. Sure, I have my own style, but that doesn't mean I'm not open to trying some of your ideas!

One last note: As a mother myself, I know that after you've had a baby, you may feel slightly less than sexy, but to me, there is something so beautiful about a woman's body who that has just birthed a baby. Please, feel free to be as involved in the photos as you want. Skin to skin photographs are beautiful (for both mom and dad). Some moms prefer black and white photos of themselves because they tend to be a bit more forgiving. Also (as mentioned above) I am a huge breastfeeding advocate and think that tastefully shot breastfeeding photos are a beautiful way to showcase and remember that special bond that you share with your baby.  I'm open to anything you have in mind. I am comfortable photographing as much skin as you'd prefer to show; or none at all. The choice is 100% yours.

Also, I am not a licensed lactation consultant,but I breastfed my son for about a year and a half.  It was NOT easy.  We struggled.  If you'd like me to share my breastfeeding trials and tribulations with you, I'd be more than happy to-- and be even more happy if I can help you and your baby make breastfeeding more of the beautiful, natural process it should be, rather than the painful and stressful experience (unfortunately) many moms experience.

Contact me for your baby's newborn session today!