Exercise 31. Judging colour temperature 2

This exercise is to challenge me to decide on what correction if any a scene needs when looking at colour temperature.
The study guide tells me that the midday sun is a neutral light, the low sun light is orange and the light in shade is on the bluish side. 
I am to shoot three different scenes, each set to have three images taken with varying white balance alterations:

1. Daylight (sunshine)
2. Shade
3. Auto

I am to look at the images and select my preferred white balance setting in each of the three sets.
This set of images are to be of a subject similar to that in exercise 30, but due to the chaotic life I have at the moment this has been impossible, for one set I used the same subject as the previous exercise but the other two sets were taken whilst on travels when I had the opportunity.

First set of images - taken in  full sun,  are from the newly installed sunken garden at Kensington Palace London, during my brief visit to the city. The garden is a profusion of colour achieved by the spectacular planting of Tulips and wallflowers in every shade of purple.  Complimented by the green planting and water feature.
The weather was glorious with lots of sunshine overhead and blue skies.

I was able to locate a low wall, through the hornbeam pergola surrounding the garden which gave me the opportunity to compose my image by resting the camera steadily, and myself kneeling on the floor.
Settings used for these images

ISO 100
Aperture Priority
f/16.0
Centre weighted Metering mode
18 - 105 Lens
No post production changes have been made to any of these images.
 

Fig 1.        White Balance -  Sunshine

Shutter speed 1/30sec

 

This is my preferred image..I chose to darken the image slightly by altering the exposure value to -1, prior to finally taking the photograph.  The final image has very clear sharp colours which are true to the scene. 







 

Fig 2.    White Balance - Shade

Shutter speed 1/45sec

 

The image above has a colour cast which is warm and predominantly orange and is not to my liking.



  

Fig 3.   White Balance - Auto

Shutter speed 1/60sec

 

This image has an abundance of colour both warm and cool and I feel that the Auto white balance has compensated for this and the image appears to have a cool bluish colour cast.



Second set of images, taken again in Kensington gardens and my viewpoint for this set was deep shade, which was provided by a large canopy of treetops. These images were taken early afternoon which I know is not the best time of day to take photographs, but I tried to add a soft framing around the top of the tree in the centre of the image to add interest, and the soft dappled light through the leaves added a further interest.

I chose to use these settings.
ISO 160
Aperture Priority - f/16.0
Centre weighted metering.
18-105 lens



Fig 1.  Sunlight    1/60sec.  Neutral light
 

No clipping in this image and the colours are as I noted them down.  Deep green and blue throughout and true to scene. The shade from the tree is darker than in other images and the trees in the background are less defined.

 

Fig 2.  Shade     1/60sec

 

An autumnal image has been created here, with the orange cast from this setting.  The trunk of the tree is richer in colour too.

 

Fig 3.  Auto White Balance    1/45sec

My preferred image

 

There is clipping in the white clouds at the top right of this image.  The foliage in the overhanging tree has a very slight blue tinge to it.  I am pleasantly surprised that there was no clipping on the sunlight catching the leaves in the foreground.   The shadow thrown by the light is less dominant in this image.



My third set of images were taken on my return to Oman on the waters edge as the sun was going down behind the mountains behind me and in full sun at sunset.  The light in the sky as the sun was lowering was more yellow than orange.

Manual setting
ISO 100
f/4.8
Centre weighted metering
60 mm lens

Fig1. Daylight/Sunlight white balance

 

A dominant strong colour of orange is seen throughout this image.







 

Fig 2.  Shade white balance

 

 There are blue tones in this image, it is much cooler than the above image, but the sky above the horizon is more straw coloured.  My preferred image, as the image is clear, the light on the face has created shadows and there is a fair amount of detail to be seen.

 

Fig 3.  Auto white balance.





 

This image is as close to the colour temperature I saw at the time of taking this photograph.  There was a little warmth over the horizon and the skin tones are true to colour. The blueness in the face is reflected from the blue sky and sea.