I've been out of the game for about 2 or so years now and I'm starting to get the itch again. I've learned an insane amount from Jason and I cannot thank him enough. It's amazing to see #1 how much weight you lost and kept it off, kudos to you, brother. #2 this man manages to adjust white balance and shoot the video with only 6% battery on the camera lol #3 This guy fell with his entire legs and saved his gear set up one handed. Damn bro. #4 The clear and to the point explanation of what you are doing. 5. Still creating new looks after all these years. There's a reason Jason is the G.O.A.T. I hope to one day be honored to meet and maybe even shoot with him in the future. Thank you for years and years of your time!
With all the crap you can do artificially in post... it's really nice to see the effort made to get great in camera results. Bravo. Old School photography.
Jason, great video of how to use a grey card on a real location, your on camera bug torment to Sophia and Alyssa was devilishly amusing too. best to you all and a happy end to the US "tour"
I remember as a kid chasing my little cousin around with one of those bug sheddings. He was lost his mind. He was screaming and running and I thought it was so hilarious.
Just to be precise (forgive my Virgo-ness -:) Ha! ) - a Grey card is specifically used for ensuring 18% average *exposure* value - For white balance the *white balance* pure-neutral-white card is appropriate - a plain grey card may or not be actually grey-neutral but may have a tint… well.. at least so it was decades ago, especially after a few years of using what usually was a simple cardboard- grey-card - now, for sure, today, more likely than not, grey cards are manufactured with being actually not only 18% grey, but also truly neutral grey as well - just like the colour-checker cards and patches - so, yes, with todays grey cards one can of course use a grey card also for white balance !
Great to get that info from the World Wide Web huh? :). Gray cards are there for good use when you really need them. They are handy and if you really want to be precise with how your shots come out. It's really a great tool to have .... :) ... Color checkers are also a good tool when doing photoshop and or editing... :)
I think people forget what the term "white balance" actually means. Grey is equal parts RGB so a properly neutral grey card has the proper *balance* of color which corrects any color shift, leaving you with a proper white *balance* so like you said, today you can absolutely use grey. In fact it's better because pure white is easier to catch a color cast from the environment and give you a wrong reading. White is also used for exposure by setting pure white to some level using scopes in video, for example. Ironically, sometimes a camera will not pick up a white card when you try to set the WB in camera the way he did here, because there is not enough contrast for the camera to tell if it's in focus or not, which is necessary
@@evocati6523 well, yes,… but also one would use a pure white card for white-balance exactly *because* it can pick up colour casts from the environment-tal lighting - then, the editing software will read and display that colour cast, but one would tell the image software that the card *should be* pure white to adjust the white balance … like clicking on the white patch of a colour checker card - as well, there are white balance gadgets that are like a frosted white translucent plastic to be placed in front of the lens - more common before the days of colour checker cards - no focusing possible, but just set the camera to manual exposure/exposure without focus, point the camera toward the light source to take the white balance reference picture - by the way, with that method, pay attention, too, to whether one takes a white balance image by pointing the camera toward the subject to be photographed or towards the actual light source - the former can give the environmental light influence, which can change image to image depending on situation and location - the latter gives the tint/ colour temperature of the light source itself - the latter is good to use in a controlled studio when the lighting set up doesn’t change for a whole series of images -
Good question, this is what Wiki says: "To establish the exposure for a photograph Kodak recommends placing the grey card as close to the subject as possible and "aiming the surface of the grey card toward a point one third of the compound angle between the camera and the main light. For example, if the main light is located 30 degrees to the side and 45 degrees up from the camera-to subject axis, aim the card 10 degrees to the side and 15 degrees up." The card should be metered from approximately six inches away."
If you're using flash then that is the source lighting up the skin, so that's the light you want to make as accurate as possible. Think about it, you could set your white balance to some extreme to purposefully make things look orange or blue, then used gel to make the flash neutral, so naturally you can see how the light that is shining on your subject is the most important to get good skin tones. I aim the card towards where the lens will be to get as close to what the lens will see as possible
Wouldn't the white balance be off in the background when you use flash since the flash light doesn't illuminate the background? Glad you didn't hurt when falling.
For the past three years I’ve been thinking that the auto white balance was plenty. Good on my camera getting accurate colors. Today I did 40 preschool kids class portraits and after I got my three lights set up I had the one teacher hold the gray card and I set my white balance to it. And wow what a difference in the editing process. Sometimes I get picky and sometimes I like photos on the warmer side, and sometimes on the cooler side. But now, since it’s set just right, I really don’t even touch the temperature in the editing process. And now doing a batch of photos that are all color graded. The same is a breeze. I even reset the color balance because I was there for four hours and the sun start coming in around the one side of the building and it changed the white balance a hair so I redid it and I love the results. This might take a little getting used to resetting the white balance every location but it’s definitely well worth it. Thanks again. Love the channel. Love your work.
Too funny with in insect you & the model. I thought she was going to hurt you. It was nice that the model tried to help you out of the missing plank. Great shots Jason.
Fast and easy no requirement for a compare image. Use the Gary Fong Grey Dome for light from the sides not flat grey really fast. But for correct exposure level whites and darks use the Datacolor SpyderCube yes requires a compare image in Lr, put on a selfie stick and hold out in front of camera. One thing to consider is with a grey card or whatever is the light is coming from behind you vs the light in front of the camera like the sunset is in front not in back. The Datacolor SpyderCube takes a little work but your light exposure level whites will be spot on and darks so you do not need to play with darks and shadows with your image. With a grey card sometimes your light from say inside or even at sunset aiming at the light source the temp will be out of bounds of the camera's temp range. You can use the Datacolor SpyderCube also on a selfie stick to get the camera color temp range setting. All this will take the guessing and remembering of colors you saw!
Thanks Jason, I have a studio shoot so whats the best way to ensure your images are colour matched to the actual fabric ? is this the way with using WB ?
Absolutely. In fact you’ll find it easier to change the WB if your shoot RAW because all of the original information is still available. Just take a picture with the model holding the grey card in the exact lighting situation. In post, depending on the program, there is a way to click on the grey card and set the white balance and copy that to all the other pictures with that lighting. Keep in mind you have to shoot the grey card on the day and in the same lighting conditions
If you're using Lightroom or equivalent software, I guess you are opening raw files. Raw files record the unadulterated sensor output and some metadata such as the white balance settings. So as long as the white balance is done correctly, using the grey card in the same time, position and conditions as the actual shots it doesn't matter if you use the grey card to adjust while shooting or if you just take a picture of it and do the WB later in Lightroom.