walls come out yellow

[slaw1962]

I have an EOS Rebel SL1. i love the camera. but when i am taking pics at my church the walls come out yellow in the background. the subjects are fine in the pic. it's just the walls. what can i do? i am still learning abt the settings, ie. white balance, f stop, etc. will i just have to "play" with the different settings? where do i need to start witht the setting numbers?

[diverhank]

The default AWB (auto white balance) is usually good only for daylight.  Indoors, the temperature of the light is lower and the camera AWB does not do a very good job compensating for it.  The result is the yellowish hues on a white wall instead of white.  

There are a couple of ways:

1. Use of flash. The flash light will appear more correct (but not perfect).  Drawback is sometimes flash are not allowed and the flash pictures may not look as nice - unless you really know what you're doing.

2. You manually set the white balance.  First you change to manual balance, then you decrease the K temperature to 3000 or so.  Turn on live view and adjust the temperature up/down until the white wall looks white.  The downside is it will be right only for that area.  If you go outside without resetting the white balance, everything will be ghostly blue...

3.  You use the custom white balance.  First you take a picture of a white wall (or 18% gray - that's why photogs use gray card).  Then you set the white balance to custom.  The camera will find the picture of the white wall you just took and ask you if you want to use it for your custom balance.  Say yes and the colors get adjusted to show a white wall.  The downside is just like # 2.

Edit: A great many people change the colors in post processing.  It is easier to do it in RAW and this is one of the reasons RAW should be used.  I prefer to get it right in the camera - it's the pride thing and it also saves editing time.  The above procedures sounds like (and is) a pain but it is a good skill to learn and it keeps you focused on what is needed to get good photos - white balance is just one of the many considerations.  With practice, it takes seconds to set up. I just do # 2 unless it's too difficult to manually adjust due to mixed lighting.

[kvbarkley]

However, if the colors on the subjects look good, don't muck with the white balance to get the walls to come out right! By all means try to readjust the white balance, but if it yields bad colors on the subjects, switch it back and live with yellow walls.

Note too, that the new T6 has (according to Canon) finally fixed the white balance issue with interior lights yielding warm colors.

[Waddizzle]

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@slaw1962 wrote:

I have an EOS Rebel SL1. i love the camera. but when i am taking pics at my church the walls come out yellow in the background. the subjects are fine in the pic. it's just the walls. what can i do? i am still learning abt the settings, ie. white balance, f stop, etc. will i just have to "play" with the different settings?

where do i need to start witht the setting numbers?

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Here's a useful link that will introduce you to the basic concepts of photography.  Consult your camera's instruction manual for details on how to set your camera to the described settings.

http://www.learn.usa.canon.com/galleries/galleries/tutorials/eos101_cll.shtml

I think the best shooting mode to learn how to use your camera is "P".  Use the "Q" button to observe the exposure settings that the camera chooses to use.  You can even make some small changes of your own in this mode.

[TTMartin]

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@slaw1962 wrote:

I have an EOS Rebel SL1. i love the camera. but when i am taking pics at my church the walls come out yellow in the background. the subjects are fine in the pic. it's just the walls. what can i do? i am still learning abt the settings, ie. white balance, f stop, etc. will i just have to "play" with the different settings? where do i need to start witht the setting numbers?

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If you are using your flash to illuminate your subject, it will often be a different color temperature than the interior lights of a building (a church). While shooting RAW allows you to adjust the overall color temperature of the photo, it becomes much more complicated to try and adjust two different sections with two different white balances.

The solution to this is to add a color filter to your flash so it is the same color as the interior lights of your church. Google 'Strobist' for more information on how this is done.

[ScottyP · Accepted solution]

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@TTMartin wrote:

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@slaw1962 wrote:

I have an EOS Rebel SL1. i love the camera. but when i am taking pics at my church the walls come out yellow in the background. the subjects are fine in the pic. it's just the walls. what can i do? i am still learning abt the settings, ie. white balance, f stop, etc. will i just have to "play" with the different settings? where do i need to start witht the setting numbers?

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If you are using your flash to illuminate your subject, it will often be a different color temperature than the interior lights of a building (a church). While shooting RAW allows you to adjust the overall color temperature of the photo, it becomes much more complicated to try and adjust two different sections with two different white balances.

The solution to this is to add a color filter to your flash so it is the same color as the interior lights of your church. Google 'Strobist' for more information on how this is done.

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This is it exactly.  Your flash is a bluer white than the indoor lighting in the church. The little flash has only a short range and the power of its light drops off very quickly with distance. The camera's auto white balance knows you are using flash so it selects a color that makes the flash lit subject look good but the background will be off.  

There are little light modifiers for popup flash.  Most are diffusers but some can change the color I think.  You may be a lot happier just buying a Speedlite flash instead. It has longer range and there are many many color modifiers available for them. 

[slaw1962]

thank u

[slaw1962]

This info is so helpful. I do have an extended flash but is not a speedlite.

[Waddizzle]

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@slaw1962 wrote:

This info is so helpful. I do have an extended flash but is not a speedlite.

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Are familiar with "guide numbers" for flash units? 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guide_number

Do a web search for "flash guide numbers", and you will come up with better links than what I posted.  Bascially, a guide number will tell you at what maximum distance [and at what f/stop] your flash can achieve a proper exposure.

[slaw1962]

good info