topic Re: how can I reset the white balance when I am in the snow the white comes out blue in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

how can I reset the white balance when I am in the snow the white comes out blue

berman1 — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 19:51:33 GMT

I was on a glacer last year and the photos turned out having a blue color. Is there a way to correct the color balance

Re: how can I reset the white balance when I am in the snow the white comes out blue

Stephen — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 20:02:40 GMT

Hi berman1! So that the Community can better assist you, which model camera are you using?

Thanks and have a great day!

Re: how can I reset the white balance when I am in the snow the white comes out blue

cicopo — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 20:32:13 GMT

It's more likely due to underexposure than a white balance problem. Snow (or ice) really fools the light meter so the general rule of thumb is to overexpose one to 2 stops. The brighter the day the more you need to overexpose so multiple shots at different settings is advised.

This is what I came home to after my vacation, standard exposure followed by a shot with 2 stop of exposure compensation added.

Edited to add If you had shot in RAW you may be able to both correct the exposure & / or change the white balance to get a more desirable look.

Re: how can I reset the white balance when I am in the snow the white comes out blue

ScottyP — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 21:54:50 GMT

Hi Berman,

Agree 100% with what Cicopo said about +1 or +2 Exposure Compensation for snow, because the camera literally TRIES to make white snow grey; that is just how a camera thinks. If they dominate the image, a totally white snowscape or a totally black tuxedo will both be rendered by the camera as close to neutral grey if you leave it up to the camera to decide the exposure.

Ditto his observation that shooting RAW instead of JPG is better for those not-so-rare occasions when one fails to get it just right in camera. RAW allows you to get White Balance totally wrong and just fix it in a few seconds in post processing, and also to be able to increase exposure by a stop or more without messing up the image.

What software do you use for post-processing, and how familar are you with it? I use Lightroom 4, and it really is about as important as anything in my camera bag.