V1.02
Thom Hogan’s Complete Guide to the Nikon D300
Page 319
the sun and sky, so the color temperature on those portions of
the building was high (5500K to 6000K based upon my
observation). The spots under the eaves that are orange were
lit by incandescent light that was close to 3400K. Thus, if the
rest of the building is rendered correctly, those spots turn
orange.
This illustrates a common problem: in many scenes, there is
no single color temperature of light that affects everything. An
area in shade on an otherwise sunny day may be slightly
higher color temperature than that in direct sun. Indoors you
may find both incandescent and fluorescent bulbs lighting
different areas. If the different lighting sources are equally
mixed on your subject, you can use the
Preset
method of
setting white balance and measure the value off a gray card
(see below). Better still, use the Live View capabilities of the
camera to adjust white balance (see below).
But if the areas of different lighting are separate—
incandescent lighting a foreground subject and fluorescent
lighting a background, for example, you have to pick a color
temperature and live with the results, as I did in the photo
outside the Lincoln Memorial
95
.
õ
To set the white balance: press and hold the
WB
button
while rotating the Rear Command Dial until the icon for the
desired method is shown on the top LCD. The Front
Command Dial can be used to control the fine tuning of white
balance (setting
A6
to
B6
increments on the basic value—more
on that in a bit).
95
Other solutions exist. You could filter one or other of the light sources, add light of
a different color (e.g. flash) to overwhelm the poor color, turn the troublesome light
off, and more.
