Odd lighting issue - Maybe white balance?

[audrey97]

I have a very inexpensive home setup to do my very non-professional shoots of friends. It's basically 2 north facing windows for great indirect light and 2 sets of 2 500w hallogen work lights (yes, like the ones you get at home depot) plus a little fill flash. This photo is from my first attempt with this setup. It seems very red. I tried playing with the white balance but nothing seems to make it look right. Does anyone have a clue off the top of their heads what I'm doing wrong? BTW - this is totally unaltered. Thanks in advance!

[JPalmer]

Well... part of the problem is your have wildly different temps of light competing with each other.

And, by underexposing by a full stop (exp. comp -1) you'll deepen the problems with the white balance.

Luckily... it's nothing that photoshop can't handle with relative ease.

Use the curves tool with the white-point dropper and hit the brightest spot on their teeth for a starter reference... and adjust from there.

[JohnT]

Audrey, I took your image into Adobe Camera Raw, clicked Auto WB, Auto Exposure (backed it down to +.30), and this was the result. It could still use a little work, but just that quick edit improved it a bunch.

[audrey97]

Originally Posted by JPalmer

Well... part of the problem is your have wildly different temps of light competing with each other.

And, by underexposing by a full stop (exp. comp -1) you'll deepen the problems with the white balance.

Luckily... it's nothing that photoshop can't handle with relative ease.

Use the curves tool with the white-point dropper and hit the brightest spot on their teeth for a starter reference... and adjust from there.

Thanks for the quick response!

Should I close off the blinds and eliminate the competing natural light?

[audrey97]

Originally Posted by JohnT

Audrey, I took your image into Adobe Camera Raw, clicked Auto WB, Auto Exposure (backed it down to +.30), and this was the result. It could still use a little work, but just that quick edit improved it a bunch.

Beautiful, John! And, so simple. Thanks for the pointer! I never thought about using Adobe Camera Raw.