How do you white balance with LEDs?

[Spideybry]

So the purpose of this thread, is to figure out how to get the best true to life shot of a reef under blue LEDs. Are there any tips/tricks you recommend to get the best look?

I have tried various white balance settings with the camera, but seem to come up short when shooting under the solid blue lights. I have seem some crazy shots and I am just wondering if they are completely post processing done.


These are some shots I found.

This is what most blue shots look like.

 

[redfishbluefish]

DISCLAIMER: I don’t know what I’m doing when it comes to photography (and other things).


First off, I have a little Cannon SD630 Point-n-shoot camera….nothing fancy. I take a piece of white paper or a white Starboard cutting board and hold it at a 45 degree under one of my lights. I set the camera to adjust white balance while pointing the camera at this white screen.

NOTE that this picture shows how I hold the white screen to adjust white balance and was taken before white balance was adjusted….so you can see all that blue.

Here’s a picture of my Trachyphyllia radiata (aka Wellsophyllia), the first picture without white balance, the second with white balance.

 

[iTzJu]

I take a white disposable plate (not the paper kind) and place it in the tank. I then focus my camera onto that plate and adjust my camera accordingly.

 

[Spideybry]

For purposes of white balancing regular daylight shots, doing a custom white balance works. What I am referring to is the shots of the tank that are under full blue/no white LEDs. Where white is pretty much solid blue. I have tried white balancing under those lights, but the result is more of a pink color than what I am looking for.

 

[9supratt4]

What type of camera are you using? Can you shoot in RAW?

 

[Spideybry]

What type of camera are you using? Can you shoot in RAW?

I do shoot raw. Canon T3i

 

[redfishbluefish]

The above picture was with 20K LEDs….which is about as blue as you can get in a fixture.


However, in about an hour and a half the whites (reds and greens) turn off, and I’ll retake a picture of that Trach with the camera white balanced to just blue lights on. I’ve never done that and am a little curious myself.

 

[Spideybry]

The above picture was with 20K LEDs….which is about as blue as you can get in a fixture.


However, in about an hour and a half the whites (reds and greens) turn off, and I’ll retake a picture of that Trach with the camera white balanced to just blue lights on. I’ve never done that and am a little curious myself.

After you do that, take one with a new white balance of pure blue. Don't think it will work since the white board will look completely blue.

I think my best bet is to just shoot raw with a awb and then mess with settings.

 

[redfishbluefish]

So Blues came on….but I’m going to repost everything so you can compare.


20K LED Fixture – Whites and Blues (and Reds and Greens) ON

FULL SPECTRUM - NO WHITE BALANCE

FULL SPECTRUM - WHITE BALANCE

BLUES ONLY - NO WHITE BALANCE

BLUES ONLY - WHITE BALANCE

Wow! The yellow really comes out under blue only - white balanced. Now is that my crappy camera or is that normal? I’ve learned something!

 

[Spideybry]

So Blues came on….but I’m going to repost everything so you can compare.


20K LED Fixture – Whites and Blues (and Reds and Greens) ON

FULL SPECTRUM - NO WHITE BALANCE

FULL SPECTRUM - WHITE BALANCE

BLUES ONLY - NO WHITE BALANCE

BLUES ONLY - WHITE BALANCE

Wow! The yellow really comes out under blue only - white balanced. Now is that my crappy camera or is that normal? I’ve learned something!

That is normal because of the white balance set for the older setting. You should try to add some blue into that image to see if it produces the wanted results.

 

[redfishbluefish]

I’ve got two more photos to throw at you……under moonlights.

I have two 4 foot IceCap LED moonlights.


So here is Moonlights – No White Balance

Moonlights – White Balanced

Still too yellow….and low light.



Conclusion: With my crappy camera it’s best to take pictures with all lights on, white balanced.

 

[9supratt4]

Do you use Adobe Lightroom? It may be easier to white balance in Lightroom when shooting RAW. If not, you can email me a pic and I can see if that is true.

 

[Spideybry]

Do you use Adobe Lightroom? It may be easier to white balance in Lightroom when shooting RAW. If not, you can email me a pic and I can see if that is true.

I don't have any RAW pics on me at the moment. I just use the RAW prompt in photoshop when I shoot.

 

[JRWOHLER]

Where is Phyl when you need her....she was the best, Brian was really good too. They took pictures at my house and I was like hey those are nice corals where are they from? Now that I bought a new camera I am pretty lost too.

 

[JRWOHLER]

Sorry my point is it can be done.

 

[Spideybry]

Where is Phyl when you need her....she was the best, Brian was really good too. They took pictures at my house and I was like hey those are nice corals where are they from? Now that I bought a new camera I am pretty lost too.

Sorry my point is it can be done.

So they shot under full blue LEDs and it looked true to what what you would see in person?

 

[JRWOHLER]

I think so but I unfortunately when Phyl was giving the camera tutorials I didn't have a camera.....maybe someone did take the workshop.
Bummer that we don't see them anymore I guess is part of what I was saying.

 

[TanksNStuff]

This is about the best advice I can give you (camera "lessons" from an experienced photographer who also has a reef tank):

http://www.ximinasphotography.com/lessons/index.html

I recommend reading the entire list if you have the time, but if you want to go right to your blue LED concerns, I'd say go right to the "Lighting" sections and the "Techniques" sections.

 

[Spideybry]

This is about the best advice I can give you (camera "lessons" from an experienced photographer who also has a reef tank):

http://www.ximinasphotography.com/lessons/index.html

I recommend reading the entire list if you have the time, but if you want to go right to your blue LED concerns, I'd say go right to the "Lighting" sections and the "Techniques" sections.

Good resource, thanks. Will look through it to see if it has anything that is relevant.