White balance.


If you are like me, and you're not quite so good with producing great photos on skill and equipment alone, you tend to work a lot in "post". In post, white balance is a very necessary step in make sure the colors and light levels are accurate. In the past it's something I used to do as a first step, but it was something I fell away from with my new software since I have a plethora of levels adjustment options and I wanted to wield the extra power. However this was over-complicating the process and producing less than stellar results since I do not have the ultra keen eye that professions have for discerning proper levels.

So, it so happened that at Anthrocon, I was thinking about this while taking photos. While taking photos of  kealianwolf , I made a joke about white fur on fursuits, particularly in the eyes, and likening fursuit photos to muskets (don't shoot until you see the white of their eyes!). Well, Kealian was kind enough to provide me with a broader swath of white to work with, when it comes to white balancing. Through a series of poses and positions, he volunteered himself for photos while showing off as much white as he could, in an effort to give me the opportunity to practice white balancing both there in the moment, and later in post.

In this series of photographs, I provide the results of this exercise. Some white balancing worked better than others. It is definitely a skill I need to refine, and something I need to spot better with the naked eye. Interestingly, I found that white balancing to best match the true colors of the fursuit, regardless of the surrounding environment, made for a very lively subject that really "popped" out well from said environment. But, it almost looks unreal, almost like a cartoon. On the other hand, white balancing that best represented what the subject looked like to the naked eye at the time, in a way which the environmental lighting effected the levels and colors of the suit, made for an overall much more pleasing shot and is more likely to be the method I use going forward.

As I post these photos, be sure to let me know which type of balancing you've found to be most pleasing! I look forward to your feedback.

In this final image, I used white balancing that provided the best synergy between the subject and the surroundings. The entire image is lively and full of joyous color, and this is why I'm more keen on this type of balancing.