A dumb question about kelvin and white balance in Lightroom

I keep reading a high kelvin number is cooler and a low number is warmer, but in light room, in the develope module, the lower number ( 3500 ) is blue, and a higher number, (7000) is very yellow. What am I missing?

Lee is essentially correct with his analysis but incorrect with the details. The Kelvin colour temperature scale is between Yellow and Blue, not Red and Blue as stated.
There's a lot of confusion about this, with many digital photographers missing the significance of the difference between cyan and blue, magenta and red etc.
To be fair, the printing industry has added to the confusion by traditionally calling printing inks Blue, Red and Yellow when they really are cyan, magenta and yellow.
Even Adobe can get it wrong. In the initial Lightroom beta release, the temperature scale had the colours Cyan at one end and Yellow at the other. I suggested it be changed to Blue to make it correct and less confusing which thankfully was implemented in the next update.
Despite decades of working with colour both in the darkroom and with Photoshop, I too struggle with the counter-intuitive approach of the colour temperature reading in Lightroom.
Essentially, if you shoot in light that is too blue, then you need to add Yellow. So the Kelvin number displayed in Lightroom isn't the 'Mired' correction or the amount of Yellow added, but a readout of the scene's original colour temperature before the Yellow correction.
This can be really useful. I use several different branded flash units with various reflectors and attachments. I recently ran a test, shooting a Macbeth colour checker with all the different combinations.
I then used the White Balance Selector (dropper) on the neutral 5 patch and wrote down the resulting colour temperature.
From that I could work out what filter corrections I needed to use on each flash and reflector to produce consistent daylight balance.
Most flashes seem to be around 6000ºK but I had variation between 5200ºK & 6400ºK with the combinations.

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Sunrise/Sunset and White Balance

I have a question about overriding Automatic White Balance when photographing sunrises and sunsets. A few days ago, I got my first DSLR, an EOS 5D Mk III. I know the ISO triangle after shooting film on my Canon A-1 that I bought 34 years ago, which still works). However, this white balance thing is a fourth dimension. Films are balanced for daylight and the ISO is also dictated. For photographing a sunrise or sunset, to me, it makes sense to set the white balance to 5200 Kelvin (daylight). I got one response from a camera club member who said his photos were all in the 5000 range. Others have said "Shoot in RAW and fix it in post processing". The second response of "Fix it later" just doesn't ring my bell. What about getting it right the first time? Should I set white balance to daylight or some other setting? I can always experiment with changing white balance; after all, I'm not wasting film. Below are a series of sunrises that I took using Kodak Portra 400, -2/3 stop, on my Canon A-1. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ralphhightower/sets/72157633079358301/ Thanks, Ralph
Solved!
Go to Solution.

It might be helpful to just think of the digital camera's white balance capabilities as a built-in and very complete set of color conversion and color correction filters, such as we used to use with film. Now, for your convenience, all those filters are right there, inside the camera.... much easier to carry around and use!
If shooting during Golden Hours, the camera's Automatic White Balance (AWB) can tend to overcorrect and remove some of the lovely golden nature of the light. One solution is as others have recommended, to shoot RAW and make your adjustments later. This is no different from making the adjustments in-camera, at the time of exposure, and can make for much greater control and precision. It's not really a "fix it later" thing... It is more a matter of doing fine-tuning and optimizing the image (more on this below). RAW simply retains all the data from the original capture and is a good thing to use, anyway.
All digital cameras essentially capture a TIFF image file with a lot of proprietary data attached and an embedded "preview/review" JPEG... that's what the RAW file is. If you make JPEGs in-camera, a lot of data is thrown away, following the directions laid out by the settings in the camera. If, instead, you save the entire RAW file, you can change those directions later in post-processing... or just make a JPEG from the image "as shot", using the exact same set of instructions as were set in the camera at the time of exposure. One of the beauties of RAW is that so long as you store the original image file, you can always go back and re-process it another way, if you wish. This is particularly helpful when new to digital and uncertain about your settings. Something you might want to do is shoot RAW+JPEG initially. That way you have both the full data stored, along with the potential to make changes if you wish, plus the JPEG produced according to your camera settings. The JPEG can serve as a post-processing learning tool, using it as a point of comparison with your own RAW file conversions.... and as feedback about your camera settings. (Don't trust the image display on the camera's LCD screen... it's not calibrated and is too subject to ambient light variations. The histogram display is generally more informative, but even that is subject to the camera's settings, since it's done from the embedded JPEG and not directly from the full RAW file.)
But, I agree, it's also good to "get it right the first time". Or at least come as close as possible.
The most ideal way to do that would be to set a Custom White Balance for every shot. Use a standardized target, bathed in the same light as your subject/scene, and take a shot of it... then tell the camera to use that as reference. However, it's just not practical to do that.
Nor is it a good idea to set one particular color temp and use it for everything (i know photogs who do that and have had to work with their images.... it makes for a lot of extra work!)
Thus there are all the "presets" you can choose among, looking for one that's most appropriate for your particular situation... And there is AWB, which allows the camera to try to choose for you. Outdoors in daylight I've found Canon AWB to be pretty darned good. Shots in the shade can be a little overly cool. And indoor shots with tungsten or other artifical light are when a Custom WB is most likely to be needed.... especially with weird, uncalibrated lighting such as sodium vapor and mercury vapor lamps.
To set an accurate Custom WB, get yourself a gray card or similar (I use Lastolite EZ Balance targets, which are sort of like a foldable/flexible gray card). This also can be helpful arriving at an accurately metered exposures. Something else I use in certain circumstances are Warm Cards... these have slight tints that "fool" the camera into slightly tinting the image.... a light blue/cyan target will cause the camera to render a slightly warm color balance. Warm Cards would be particularly helpful shooting during the Golden Hours, if wanting to retain some of the warmth of the light at those times of day. It's more accurate doing this than simply manually setting a particular color temp, although that's possible too.
And, yes, you should spend some time getting to know how your camera handles color. Each model can be a bit different. You'd do well to shoot a bunch of test shots with AWB, Custom WB and, if you wish, the various presets... to see how they perform.
Of course, you don't always have time to think about or make settings... sometimes to catch fleeting light you have to run to catch an image quickly, shoot RAW and "fix it later" in post-processing!
If you haven't already done so, you might want to calibrate your computer monitor. As concerned as you are about rendering accurate color or manipulating it the way you want it, in case you are unaware of it... your computer monitor is lying to you. All computer monitors are different, none are really very accurate and virtually all are way too bright. If you make prints using an uncalibrated monitor, you will usually find them coming out too dark. This is because an overly bright monitor causes you to adjust the image too dark. If you don't already have them, you might want to get computer calibration software and hardware and use them regularly (about once every month or two, usually... monitors change over time and with use).
The way the calibration device works is by first running a test on your particular monitor, and then providing a profile that the computer will use when rendering images on the display. Some of the more sophisticated calibration suites can also be used to develop printing profiles (unique for each ink/paper/printer combination), projectors and other viewing devices. (I use a Datacolor Spyder, one of several different calibration devices/softwares available).
Hope this helps!
Alan Myers
San Jose, Calif., USA
"Walk softly and carry a big lens."
GEAR: 5DII, 7D(x2), 50D(x3), some other cameras, various lenses & accessories
FLICKR & PRINTROOM

Tethered and White Balance question

I am using the latest Aperture and also the latest Aperture Hot Folder to shoot tethered using my Canon5d to my powerbook g4 1.67ghz. The issue is shooting images with the same white balance applied as I shoot. Is there an obvious way to do this that I am missing? Or does anyone have an idea how to do this using Applescript? My main app to shoot is CaptureOne and white balance is quite easy to do using this app. I am trying to integrate Aperture into my shooting workflow not just my post workflow. Any ideas would be appreciated.
- Rudy

i don't know what your canon is like, but the D200 also has the ability to 'read' a white balance setting (probably from the same sort of calibration card that you're talking about... i've never tried one, but often want one). this calibrates the in-camera white balance setting based on the light you're shooting with. this again would hopefully get you close to correct without software post production (this is a theme for me: shoot correctly and then spend less time correcting).
and you've still got the ability to tweak if its not perfect and then lift/stamp those tweaks everywhere else. i like the fact that CapOne had thought of that for tethered shooting, but i also don't like to stretch and pull my image data any further away from the raw data than necessary.
keep us posted on how you finalize the workflow
scott
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A question about grub and USB

Hi All
I have a quick question about grub and USB that I can't quite find the answer to by searching. Most of the FAQs discuss booting a full linux dristribution from USB. My situation is this. I am getting a new computer with two drives, the second will be arch and the first will be Vista (for my wife). I want the computer to boot the same way that my wife's machine boots at work so I don't want to install grub on the MBR. So, is there a way to have all of the grub config files and kernels installed on the second drive and simply install to grub boot loader to the MBR of a USB stick? My goal would be to simply plug the USB stick into the new PC and boot arch from the second drive.
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Kev

i cant say for hp's
havent worked on any in a while
recent machines have been coupleof dell's , vaio & emachine
which dells do offer it at least the ones i tried , my laptop does(dell)
all home pc's are built by me which do offer to boot individual drives
what hp you getting it may tell in specs
are both discs sata? if so it might not offer this option with 2 drives of same interface
check your power supply alot of these preconfigured machines put cheap under reated power supplies in there
& will burn your motherboard i just replaced PS(250 watt) & mobo(845gvsr) in an emachines <cheap stuff<
i hope you researched the pc before buying ie : mobo, power supply are the biggest concerns
i find it much more benificial to build my own machine gives me peace at mind. the cost is sometimes more in $ but not always , your biggest expense is time researching hardware
if you live in usa the best places to start looking are bensbargains.net & pricewatch.com
i am not affiliated with either & niether sell the hardware they are just advertisers a place to buy
for costomized machines that i would trust is unitedmicro.com theyll asemble & test before shipping
i have gotten 2 machines so far from them with NO PROBLEMS with hardware (knock knock)
you may want to consider this in your next venture for pc

I have a Macbook Pro june 2011... I have 8GB ram but I only have 256mb VRAM... I've read some other questions about this and I realized... Why do I not have 560mb of VRAM since I have 8GB of RAM? Is there any way to get more VRAM to play games on steam?

I have a Macbook Pro june 2011... I have 8GB ram but I only have 256mb VRAM...
I've read some other questions about this and I realized... Why do I not have 560mb of VRAM since I have 8GB of RAM?
Is there any way to get more VRAM to play games on steam?
I've learned by reading other topics that I can't upgrade my graphics card on my Macbook Pro because it's soldered into the motherboard or somthing like that, but please tell me if there is any way to get more video ram by chaning some setting or upgrading something else. I'd also like to know why I only have 256MB of VRAM when I have 8GB of RAM, since I have 8GB of RAM I thought I was supposed to have 560mb of VRAM...
So the two questions are...
Is there any way to upgrade my VRAM, so that I can play games on steam?
Why do I only have 256MB VRAM when I have 8GB total RAM?
Other Info:
I have a quad core i7 Processor.
My graphcics card is the AMD Radeon HD 6490M.
I am also trying to play games on my BOOTCAMPed side of my mac, or my Windows 7 Professional side.
THANK YOU SO MUCH IF YOU CAN REPLY,
Dylan

The only two items that a user can change on a MBP are the RAM and HDD (Retinas not included). You have what the unit came with and the only way you will be able to change that is to purchase a MBP with superior graphics
If you are very much into gaming, the I suggest A PC. They are far superior for that type of application to a MBP.
Ciao.

A few questions about MacBooks and Parallels Desktop.

I have a few questions about MacBooks and Parallels Desktop.
1) I understand I need at least 1GB of RAM to run Parallels Desktop but what about the hard drive, is the stock 60GB drive big enough?
2) Related to question 1, even if it was big enough to allow me to install and run Windows would the 60GB drive be enough if I wanted to install a Linux distribution as well?
3) This has nothing to do with Parallels Desktop but thought I'd ask it here anyway, do Apple Stores carry just the stock MacBooks, or do they carry other configurations?
Thanks
Keith

1. Depend on how intensive you use that HD for saving data on both Mac OS and XP. For standard installation on both OS X and XP, the space of 60 Gb is enough.
2. Same answer as no 1. You can install all three on that HD space, but the extra spacce available will be less and less for your data. You can save your data on external or back up on cd/dvd and erase it from the HD to keep the free space.
Remember to leave at least 2 or 3 Gb for virtual memory usage.
3. Just call them, maybe they don't have it in store stock, but by appointment they might configure one for you before your pick-up date.
Good Luck

One question about Pricing and Conditions puzzle me for a long time!

One question about Pricing and Conditions puzzle me for a long time.I take one example to explain my question:
1-First,my sale order use pricing procedure RVAA01.
2-Next,the pricing procedure RVAA01 have some condition type,such as EK01(Actual Costs),PR00(Price)....,and so on.
3-Next,the condition type PR00 define the Access Sequences PR00 as it's Access Sequences.
4-Next,the Access Sequences PR00 have some Condition tables,such as:
     table 118 : "Empties" Prices (Material-Dependent)
     table 5 : Customer/Material
     table 6 : Price List Type/Currency/Material
     table 4 : Material
5-Next,I need to maintain Condition tables's Records.Such as the table 5(Customer/Material).I guess the sap would supply one screen for me to input the data of table 5.At this screen,the sap would ask me to select one table,such as table 5.When I select the table 5,the sap would go to the screen to let me input the data of table 5.But when I use the T-CODE VK31 or VK32 to maintain Condition tables's Record,I found it's total different from my guess:
A-First,I can not found one place for me to open the table,such as table 5,to let me input the data?
B-Second,For example,when I select the VK31->Discounts/Surcharges->By Customer/Material,the sap show the grid view at the right side.At the each line of the grid view,you need to select the Condition Type at the first field.And this make me confused very much.Why the sap need me to select one Condition Type but not the Condition table?To the normal logic,it ought not to select Condition table but not the Condition Type!
Dear all,I'm a new one in sd.May be this is a very stupid question.But it did puzzle me for a long time.If any one can explain this question in detail and let me understand the concept,I will appreciate him/her very much.Thank you.

Hi,
You said that you are using the T.codes VK31 or VK32.
These transaction codes are used to enter condition records for standard condition types. As you can see a grid left side having all the standard condition types like price, discounts, taxes, frieghts.
Pl check using T.code VK11 OR VK12 (change mode)
Here you can enter the required condition type, in the intial screen. (like PR00, MWST, K004, K005 .....etc)
After giving the condition type, press enter or click on Combinations icon on top of the screen. Then you can see all the condition tables which you maintained for that condition type. Like as you said table 118, table 5, table 6 and table 4.
You can select any table and press enter, then you can go into the screen in which you have all the field cataglogues you maintained for that table. For example you selected combination of Customer/Material (table 5) then after you press enter then you can see customer field on top, and material fields.
You can give all the required values and save the conditon record.
Hope this is clear.
REWARD IF HELPFUL.
Regards,
praveen

Viewing ppi and white balance in exif??

Hi Folks
I'm wondering if it's possible to see ppi and white balance settings for an image in the metadata panel within LR. I don't see it now and I don't know if it's just not possible, or if I've overlooked a setting somewhere.
Thanks for your help!

> What I would like to see is what ppi a given image is at before exporting.
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I generally set 300 ppi for all but newspaper work, and check the box to not uprez any photos. The latter helps when I've severely cropped an image and later want to prep it for printing large-ish: Then when I open it, I see it doesn't have that many original pixels.

How do I include metadata information (aperture, shutter speed, ISO and white balance) to each image on contact sheet?

How do I include metadata information (aperture, shutter speed, ISO and white balance) to each image on contact sheet?

Just to expand JimHess reply. This are all the EXIF data you can include on a print. As far as I know, WB is not written to any standard EXIF fields.

My Vibrance and white balance tool have disappeared! Please help!

I ALWAYS use my vibrance and white balance tools on my side toolbar and now they're gone! I don't know how to get them back up and running. Thanks so much! By the way, this is in Lightroom 5. Thanks so much!

Rikk!!! I have spent hours trying to figure out how to get it back!! LOL. Thank you!!! What a silly, frusterating problem so easily solved. I really appreciate your reply!

Manual Exposure and White balance control?

What Webcams provide the ability to manually set the Exposure and White balance?
I know the nx pro ultra does, but I am having trouble connecting to it from my Java application.
Also are there any other wideangle webcams out there?

What Webcams provide the ability to manually set the Exposure and White balance?
I know the nx pro ultra does, but I am having trouble connecting to it from my Java application.
Also are there any other wideangle webcams out there?

2 question about GPU and Lens correction ,cs5

Hi
i have 2 questions about Gpu and lens correction in Cs5
1)Filter->lens correction->search online
i get often and almost every connection time out at the first click on search online , at the second click i get no online profile
is it normal?
2) question is about Gpu
it run faster , but talking about ajustament layer
like saturation or vibrance for example
i found with the gpu on , a light slow refresh compared with gpu off
i have set cache levels 6 ,history 20
i guess are the defaul
well i add a saturation layer and move the saturation slide ,increase o decrease saturation
with Gpu Off , the changes are immedially , i mean i can see in real time the increase o decrease of saturation
with Gpu On it takes a few(very few) time more
again is normal ?
don't be angry , i'm going to buy cs5 and i'm unsecure ... the price make a big role
thanks

For what it's worth, I also see a timeout on the first [ Search Online ] click, after about half a minute delay. Second click turns up results immediately. This happens each time Lens Correction is started, even without restarting Photoshop, and in both 32 and 64 bit versions. Also note that I started with one profile listed by default (though from the wrong camera) for my 40D with 28-135 zoom.
I alsow noticed that I was seeing progress bar activity in the Lens Correction dialog while I was typing this (even though Lens Correction was NOT the active window) every time I hit the 'L' key. Strange.
Windows 7 x64.
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Three questions about Java and Ftp

Hello, i've the following questions about Java and Ftp:
1- .netrc file is in $HOME directory but i can't access to this directory from java code. The following line producesan Exception (directory doesn't exists)
FileWriter file = new FileWriter ("$HOME/.netrc");
2- .netrc file must have the following permissions: -rw- --- --- but when i create the .netrc file the following permissions are on default: -rw- r-- r--, how can i change this permissions? (In java code, i can't use chmod.....)
3- Are there any way to pass parameters to a .netrc file? If i get to do this i needn't change the permissions because i can't modify or create/destroy this file.
Thanks in advanced!!!
Kike

1- .netrc file is in $HOME directory but i can't
access to this directory from java code. The
following line producesan Exception (directory
doesn't exists)
FileWriter file = new FileWriter ("$HOME/.netrc");$HOME would have to be replaced by a shell, I don't
think you can use it as part of a legal path.
Instead, use System.getProperty("user.home");
Ok, thanks
2- .netrc file must have the followingpermissions:
-rw- --- --- but when i create the .netrc file the
following permissions are on default: -rw- r--r--,
how can i change this permissions? (In java code,i
can't use chmod.....)Yes, you can: Runtime.exec("chmod ...");
I need to use estrictly the .netrc with -rw- --- --- permissions
Yes, i can use Runtime.exec ("chmod ..."); but i don't like very much this solution because is a slow solution, am i right?
3- Are there any way to pass parameters to a.netrc
file? If i get to do this i needn't change the
permissions because i can't modify orcreate/destroy
this file.I don't think so. Why do you need the .netrc file in
Java at all? Writing a GUI frontend?I want to use automatic ftp in a java program and FTP server, the files and path are not always the same, so i can:
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- destroy and create a new .netrc (is easier but i have permissions problem)
- use .netrc with parameters but i haven't found any help about it
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Kike

I am on Lightroom 5 and the exposure and white balance adjustment tools on the right side of the scr

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Basic question about storage and safety in iMovie '11

A very basic question about storage and safety:
I want to keep a backup of my raw footage on my external hard drive prior to begin working on the movie in iMovie. I want to do this:
1. Upload the digital files from my camcorder to my Desktop *(as opposed to iMovie)*
2. Duplicate that footage/clips.
3. Put the duplicate clips/footage into a folder labeled with the name of that footage (like "Fun At the Dentist" or "Jimmy Learns How to Yodel").
4. Drag the folder with the footage/clips into my external hard drive into a pre-existing folder titled "Backups/duplicates of all of my raw footage/clips." This big granddaddy folder will house all of the child folders of different movies.
5 Then, open up iMovie '11 and import the raw footage/clips from my Desktop rather than from my camcorder.
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I know that the original raw unedited footage will always be in iMovies '11 but I want the original to also exist immediately accessible in my external hard drive.
QUESTION:
Is this viable? Is it wise? (I know it goes an extra unnecessary step, but aside from that.)
*Do you have any precautionary advice?* Should I do something in my iMovies '11 preferences? What?
In earlier years with iMovie '04 or '06 (cannot recall) I made many novice errors and ended up losing audio to my finished movie. I also lost footage.
This time around with iMovie '11 I don't to make such novice, ignorant errors.
Thanks so much for any comments to this question.
-L

Yes I'm sure it will work great for you.
The iFrame format is something Apple has come up with. The reason for its existence is unknown to me so I can only speculate. But it seems to me that Apple "invented" this format in order to have devices such as Ipod/Ipad/Iphone/Ixxx create clips that are editable on consumer hardware such as already mentioned devices but also standard Mac computers, without the need for format conversion.
iMovie converts most input formats during import, which takes a lot of time, and this need for conversion often comes as a surprise to most people new to home video editing.
iFrame has a resolution of 960x540 which is long way from the common standards of 1920x1080 and 1280x720. If your end target is YouTube however, this may not be too bad though. However if you intend to go with YouTube HD, you may find iFrame footage to look wrong since they are effectively upscaled to a higher resolution.
Technically iFrame uses the H.264 algorithm, a smaller frame size (960x540) and a rather low compression scheme. This will result in large files, but the plus side is that the files are ready for editing without the need for any conversion and iMovie will natively edit the files.

A dumb question about kelvin and white balance in Lightroom

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