Vote for Becky!!!

Our very own Becky Novacek is in the running to be named Omaha's best photographer! Who could be more deserving??? If you have a spare minute, please vote for her HERE!

And now here is Becky's tip for us this week:

Hi everyone! Becky Novacek here, sharing a photography tip today. There are so many different ideas I had when I was trying to decide what to talk about….how to dress for the best photos, lighting/no flash, focus tips….but I decided to share a tip about white balance. I know that a lot of people struggle with getting their white balance right.

So, here’s my photography tip: Use custom white balance every time. I literally never choose auto white balance. For those of you who don’t have a clue what I’m talking about, white balance determines the warmth (yellow tones) or coolness (blue tones) of your image. We’ve all had photos turn out really yellow or really blue, that’s what I’m referring to. If you’re not shooting in RAW, this can be a real problem. The first thing you will need to do is find the custom white balance setting on your camera. Then get to know your camera, by trying the different settings. It really is basically common sense, set your white balance on the sun setting if you are shooting on a sunny day, the cloud setting for a cloudy day, etc…

For indoor shots, you can experiment with your tungsten and fluorescent settings. Sometimes you will be in a situation with both, so you will need to know how your camera works. Much of it is trial and error at first. After a bit of practice, it will be much easier. I rarely have to give it much more than a brief thought now.

The time you will save editing your images will be worth the effort of choosing a custom white balance setting.

Here’s an example of a custom white balance shot that needed very little editing. This shot was taken with lots of sunlight coming through a wall of windows. The custom setting was sun:

Here’s an example taken at sunset with a partly cloudy custom white balance setting:

The colors are true and flattering. Skin tones don’t look too blue or too yellow.

I hope you are able to use this photography tip (if you aren’t already) and it improves your photos!

And FYI . . . Becky, Doris, and Jenni now have projects uploaded into their August galleries. Check back Monday for some new additions! Also, the blurbs have been added to everyone's galleries. I know I just love reading those. I'm always so curious to hear about the designers' inspirations and learn a little more about how they put their layouts together.