Saturday 28 August 2010

What is white balance?

Welcome to the 11th weekly edition.
I wanted to show you the photograph below. I had forgotten how beautiful it was until I saw it again recently. On his first time of seeing it Henri Cartier-Bresson said, "I couldn't believe that such a thing could be caught on camera, so I grabbed my Leica and went out into the street." In 1952, he published 'The Decisive Moment' in which he wrote: 'It is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as a precise organisation of forms, which give that event its proper expression'. 


Martin Munkacsi
Martin Munkacsi's easy image is such a fine example of  life giving us pictures.  'The precise organisation of forms' so aptly described is still as important today as it was in 1931 when the photograph was taken. This is probably the first of its kind and is a reference point for many when looking at this type of picture. Many photographers have taken similar pictures to this but  this was the impulse for many.
Photographic inspiration takes all forms from film to surrealist art.
As photographers we have seen images that filled us with a sense of awe and amazement. This photograph inspired one of the greatest documentray photographers ever and I hope you like it.

What is White Balance?
The pdf below explains what white balance is and how you can improve your photographs by understanding it. The important thing to remember is that a pure white does not exist.  If you are photographing a white plate on a white table cloth you will notice there is a difference in the tone between the two. If you are lighting this with daylight as the brightness of the sun changes so does the colour reflected down the lens. This shift in colour is caused by the 'White Balance.'
"The camera is my tool. Through it I give a reason to everything around me." Andre Kertesz

What is White Balance? -

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