# OK I'm frustrated



## Don Farr (Feb 14, 2009)

Just finished my photo booth. White nylon cover. 250 watt halogen lights on each side and the picture is worst than before. Where the %&*^$#@ did all the yellow come from?


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## Pen Maker (Feb 14, 2009)

Your camera is set to AUTO. Come out of AUTO and try FLUORESCENT or DAYLIGHT


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## Neal Addy (Feb 14, 2009)

Yep, white balance is the problem but that can easily be fixed.  See this page for a brief description of WB.

Does your camera have a white balance setting for "incandescent"?  If so, give that a try.  Halogen is incandescent.

What type of camera is it?

EDIT:  Never mind.  I see it's a Canon Powershot A590.   Sweet.  You don't have a setting for incandescent but you do have something even better.  

You have a "manual" or custom WB setting that is the most accurate way to set WB.  Check page 102 in your manual.

If possible, shoot in a dark room with nothing but your halogen lights as a source. Then follow the instructions.  You basically put the camera in a "preset" mode and shoot a pic of a piece of white paper.  This sets the camera's WB automatically and is good for as long as your lighting stays consistent.  Remember to put your WB back in auto when you're done.

Let us know how this works out!


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## Don Farr (Feb 14, 2009)

Thanks for the info. I am entertaining my valentine this evening:biggrin: so I will try out some of your suggestions tomorrow.

Don


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## Neal Addy (Feb 14, 2009)

You've got your priorities right!


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## Daniel (Feb 14, 2009)

White balance. your camera needs to be set for incandescent lighting for halogen lights.
you probably can get the color correction in your photo editor as well. I've never tried that one though
Next.

OOPS i sort of took your post as you wrote it but when i looked at teh photo in blown up view, the color says it could be a florescent setting you want. it has a pink to it.

with a camera on auto, you will get a yellowish brown with incandescent lights, and a blue with florescent. some types of florescents will cause this pinkish look. just try all the settings until the colors look the closest to right.


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## Ned B (Feb 15, 2009)

all good advice, but I wonder what you're using to process the image. I'm lucky in that I have adobe on my work computer. your image cleaned up nicely by the way.


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## Don Farr (Feb 15, 2009)

Ned B said:


> all good advice, but I wonder what you're using to process the image. I'm lucky in that I have adobe on my work computer. your image cleaned up nicely by the way.



I was wondering about that. I use Paint Shop Pro 8.0. It is kind of an old program and not real easy to use. What's the easiest and best out there? 
I bet I will get a lot of different opinions on that.


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## Neal Addy (Feb 15, 2009)

LOL!  Yep, you will.

Easiest and best are two different things.  Photoshop is the most powerful, hands down, for image manipulation.  But it's outrageously expensive, not that easy to learn, and probably overkill for just touching up web shots.

I've used older versions of Paintshop Pro and liked it.  Haven't seen the newer versions but I'm sure it still handles basic functions just fine.

There are several free packages available such as Picasa, GIMP, and IrfanView.  These handle basic manipulation pretty well.  GIMP is probably the most powerful of this group.

Still, the better your original images are the less software processing you'll have to do.  Getting a good white balance setting is key.  You can always adjust exposure compensation but correcting improper WB is a bit trickier.  Ned has done a great job on this one.
*
*


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## DougMPhoto (Feb 15, 2009)

I am a pro photographer and Adobe Photoshop is the way to go. I have been using it since version 2.5. You can get Photoshop Elements for about $100 or so and it does most of what Pro Photoshop does. I'd look into that before trying others.


And like the others said...WHITE BALANCE.  

Doug


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## Rudy Vey (Feb 16, 2009)

Don Farr said:


> I was wondering about that. I use Paint Shop Pro 8.0. It is kind of an old program and not real easy to use. What's the easiest and best out there?
> I bet I will get a lot of different opinions on that.


I use Picasa 3 that is free and easy to work with.


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## Rmartin (Feb 16, 2009)

I bought a Wacom tablet years ago, and it came with Elements 3. I think they are up to version 6 or 7 now, It's the best photo program hands down. There is a steep learning curve. I've been a paying member of an Elements board  (hundreds of videos and tips) for two years and I'm still learning and finding new ways to produce professional quality images.


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