OK, I'm going to try to post a new assignment every 2 weeks now. Homework assignments will be something you're supposed to learn, or demonstrate that you know how it works. The goal here is to improve everyone's knowledge of photography in general, and their specific camera.

This assignment is to use a custom white balance. You can do this for whatever reasons you like, but typically it's to make white things appear white in weird light. I picked this topic because ALL digital camera have a custom setting, and it's something we should all know how to do because it's very useful. This is most useful when shooting JPEGs as they're worthless in weird lighting w/o a CWB, but if you shoot RAWs, that's fine, just try to use the CWB to set the WB and try not to adjust WB when you convert.

Guidelines (just to keep us all on track)

* Photo(s) must relate to the Theme in some way. Creative relation to the theme is certainly allowed (and encouraged). Anything that is related in some way is legal.
* Assignment is open from August 15th to August 31st.
* Only photos that have been shot within the assignment date range are allowed.
* No signup is required, participation is encouraged regardless of skill or equipment level (after all, its not the camera, it’s the photographer,)…we’re here to have fun.
* Photo size limit: 800px on the longest side
* Basically, photograph however you like and normally do…whatever photography is to you. As many (or few) bodies/lenses/formats/Post-processing as you’d like. Sticking to basic PP is encouraged, tho’.
* If you’d like, post brief but relevant photo information and note PP (if any) is done. Maintain EXIF data if possible.
* Keep comments on topic, constructive, and considerate.
* learn something, or prove you already know this concept!
* Have fun!

Since NO ONE posted a reply, I'll continue it for the rest of the month.

use custom WB basically anytime you're under non natural light. IE inside with lamps...

You're shooting a canon, so you shoot something white/gray (a piece of paper from your printer works well). Then go into the menu and select "set custom WB". That will bring up you images on the card, scroll to the shot of the white/gray object (should be the first shot that comes up if you just shot it). Then change you WB setting to the one that's 2 triangles pointed in towards each other however you set the WB on your camera.

which body do you have though Marisa? I'll find specific directions for you body if you want them.

1. take the picture of something white/gray
2. press the WB button on the back (bottom of the 4 way controller)
3. pick the bottom right option ( |\□/| )
4. press the center (set) button
5. it should then ask you for an image to set the custom WB with
6. your white image should come up on the screen (if it's something else, scroll to find it)
7. press set again
8. now shoot away, that white/gray item should look white/gray now, now yellow/red/green

As for your baseball shots, it's tough to say. They look pretty good but I don't know what they looked like out of the camera. If you had to change their colors a lot, then yes, CWB would have helped. Where I find CWB very helpful is when I'm shooting inside after dark. The camera wants to make everything very yellowish, but a CWB will make whites white. Canon's are notorious for not having good AWB inside. Even if you shoot RAW, the CWB will work there too so when you open the image it will have that WB already loaded.

Hope that helps.

Ooh ooh! I actually learned how to use this function from NSoP a while back. So even though I know how to do it, I still wanted to do the homework.

Before:


After:

It totally is!

Seems really happy, almost like he is high on something.

I really need to sleep now :P

Originally Posted by SubieBoobie

So it will help my indoor photos not look so yellowish indoors? And a normal piece of copy paper will work to set it?

yes and yes.

I shot mine in JPEG to make sure I wasn't tempted to alter the WB in PP. This was a good exercise b/c when I got the 5D, I learned how to do it so I'd know, and it was a PITA. Just now, for this assignment, I had to figure out how to do it again, because I'd forgotten. So now, I know again!

Nice Mark. How close is that red to our kitchen?

Well, since it's a custom WB, what you see is pretty close to accurate... so you be the judge!

looks close, but you've seen both, in person....

It's probably pretty close, judging from the photos (and my memory).