New Product Improves D-SRL White Balance

Over Easter weekend I had the opportunity to test out a new product on the market – The ColorRight Pro white balance corrector.  I had never heard of anything like this and after spending about 15 minutes learning how to use it (there is a tutorial video on the website), I was able to start shooting.

It took me a few tries to figure everything out, but it’s very easy to use.  You hold the product over your lens and take a photo pointing towards the light you want to use (the Auto Focus must be off for this part).  The photo will look like a gray scale.  You then change your white balance setting to use the last photo taken.  Then, you shoot the subject as you normally would.  When you change lighting situations, you have to re-calibrate the white balance.

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In my photos, the difference was subtle but noticeable (in the photo above, the change is most apparent in the wall and skin) and I think this product would save a lot of time in post-production.  I must admit that at first I was not blown away by the ColorRight Pro, but in the past few days, I’ve realized how beneficial this product would be in constant light.  I can especially see this as a useful product for portrait photographers and others who use light that doesn’t change.  As a budding photojournalist, I can see this as being more useful when shooting indoor events.  Because it does take a few minutes to set up, it wouldn’t be ideal when shooting outdoor, news situations.  Overall, I had a blast trying out a new product and was fascinated that this little doohickey actually worked!

Have you used a ColorRight or another product like this?  What did you think of it?

(www.colorright.com)

Just Another Day At the Coffee Shop…

Relaxing on the stairs at Cool Beans.

Last week, I wrangled my friend Apoorva and took some portraits of her at a local coffee shop, Cool Beans, for an assignment in my photo class.  I don’t have much experience with strobes so I had a lot of fun practicing bouncing light, etc.  Lucky for me, she was a very patient model and overcame her camera shyness relatively quickly – two necessary traits when you’re the friend of a photographer!

I wanted to shoot at Cool Beans because I loved the color of their walls and I thought the plethora of window light at the shop would be nice in the portraits.  It’s also a place Apoorva loves (as do I) and I wanted to photograph her in a place where she was comfortable.  The relaxing vibe of the shop is also evident in the photos.

I like these two photos, they show her personality – she’s always smiling and enjoying herself.  I’m disappointed by the feet on the stairs. Though, they bother me less and less every time I analyze the photo so I thought I’d go ahead and post the photo.  I think this close-up is nice – I love the three simple yet vibrant colors and the shadow on the wall.

I hope to continue working with strobes, I enjoyed them more than I expected and loved the possibilities it opened up for me.

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