Nikon D5100 Experience Manual page 55

Nikon D5100 Experience
Figure 34 – Fluorescent White Balance options in the Shooting Menu under White Balance
When accessing the WB settings in the Shooting Menu, you can fine-tune your selected setting
(such as Incandescent or Fluorescent) along the green-magenta axis and/ or blue-amber axis.
This is an advanced feature that is not commonly needed, but can be used if you are working in
very precise lighting situations and wish to eliminate color casts.
White Balance can also be use creatively. On a sunny day, you can set it to Cloudy or even to
Shade to warm up the color of the images. Or you can use Incandescent outside to create images
with a cooler, bluer color temperature appearance, such as for snow scenes or a dynamic twilight
sky. Note that if you are shooting with a Speedlight flash, it is best and easiest to gel (color
filter) your flash to match the ambient light, then set the White Balance according to the ambient
light source. That way both your subjects and your backgrounds will have the same white
balance or color cast. Do this with the Rosco Strobist Collection gels and accessories described
in the Photography Accessories section below.
Preset Manual (Custom) White Balance
If one of the standard WB settings is not giving you accurate White Balance, or you are shooting
studio type shots with consistent lighting and you want a more precise White Balance, or if you
are working in a situation with mixed lighting sources, you may wish to set a Preset Manual
custom White Balance. To set a Preset Manual White Balance, place a digital grey card or plain
white object such as a piece of paper in the scene you wish to shoot, with the lighting you wish
to shoot in, and with the proper exposure set. (A digital grey card is preferred because the color
tone of "white" varies between different types of paper. A digital grey card is not the same as an
18% grey card from film days.) You can then choose to either measure the WB of the card with
the camera (Measure method) or to take a photo of it and use the photo to set the custom WB
(Use Photo method).
Measure – To use the Measure method, access the Shooting Menu, select White Balance, then
PRE Preset manual, and then select Measure. After making this selection, the camera will let
you know it is ready to measure when PRE flashes in the viewfinder and on the Information
Display. Place the grey card in your desired lighting, frame the grey card so that it fills the
viewfinder, then fully press the Shutter-Release Button. The Information Display will now
display "Data acquired" and the viewfinder will flash Gd (or no Gd if the measurement did not
54