Uploaded December 2016 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Understanding and mastering the art of Kelvin White Balance is key to taking great nocturnal street and urban long exposure photography. When you start out with photography the use of the Manual Default White Balance settings are acceptable enough. However as that path continues into the art of imaging it’s only normal for people to want to have more manual control, and thus creative freedom from their photography. In an urban setting nocturnal street photography is an aspect that many of us try. That mental picture of how we see an image in our minds eye differs greatly from that which is accomplished by the camera for the simple reason that we have been physiologically ‘programmed’ to visually filter out the ambient lighting situations to always be able to understand the standard colour spectrum as we understand it to be. A camera is a machine and thus doesn’t have that option, we have to manipulate it to be able to replicate what it sees and captures to match our vision. We accomplish that with the manual manipulation of the White Balance particularly in the Kelvin Temperature range.
To get a better idea of that I’ve pieced together this short video to initially discuss and eventually head out into the streets of Yokohama, Japan, where I will take you through the real world shooting scenario for a nocturnal urban shoot.
Comments please, N-EYE-Kon of NIK-on for the way you pronounce that particular camera brand!
Gear used for this shoot:
Camera - Canon EOS5DSr
GoPro Hero4 Black
Canon EOSM2
Lenses - 15mm f2.8 Irix Lens
Tamron 90mm f2.8 Di Macro
Canon EF-M 15-55mm f3-5.6
Lighting - 2 x Lume Cubes
Audio - Zoom H2n Audio Recorder
Audio Technica Lavalier Microphone
Tripods - Manfrotto 055XProB
Gitzo Carbon x6
Manfrotto Table Tripod
Video Editing - Final Cut Pro 10.2.2 - FCPx
Photo Editing - Adobe Photoshop CS / Lightroom CC
Motion Graphic Title - MotionVFX
Please feel free to SUBSCRIBE!
Follow my journey on Social Media:
Twitter - twitter.com/seawildearth
Periscope - periscope.tv/themoceanvibe/1eaJblXoAvXKX
Instagram - instagram.com/seawildearth
Google Plus - plus.google.com/u/0/b/107760455409555327745/+seawildearth/posts
Facebook - facebook.com/thepixelhobo
500px - 500px.com/seawildearth
Understanding and mastering the art of Kelvin White Balance is key to taking great nocturnal street and urban long exposure photography. When you start out with photography the use of the Manual Default White Balance settings are acceptable enough. However as that path continues into the art of imaging it’s only normal for people to want to have more manual control, and thus creative freedom from their photography. In an urban setting nocturnal street photography is an aspect that many of us try. That mental picture of how we see an image in our minds eye differs greatly from that which is accomplished by the camera for the simple reason that we have been physiologically ‘programmed’ to visually filter out the ambient lighting situations to always be able to understand the standard colour spectrum as we understand it to be. A camera is a machine and thus doesn’t have that option, we have to manipulate it to be able to replicate what it sees and captures to match our vision. We accomplish that with the manual manipulation of the White Balance particularly in the Kelvin Temperature range.
To get a better idea of that I’ve pieced together this short video to initially discuss and eventually head out into the streets of Yokohama, Japan, where I will take you through the real world shooting scenario for a nocturnal urban shoot.
Comments please, N-EYE-Kon of NIK-on for the way you pronounce that particular camera brand!
Gear used for this shoot:
Camera - Canon EOS5DSr
GoPro Hero4 Black
Canon EOSM2
Lenses - 15mm f2.8 Irix Lens
Tamron 90mm f2.8 Di Macro
Canon EF-M 15-55mm f3-5.6
Lighting - 2 x Lume Cubes
Audio - Zoom H2n Audio Recorder
Audio Technica Lavalier Microphone
Tripods - Manfrotto 055XProB
Gitzo Carbon x6
Manfrotto Table Tripod
Video Editing - Final Cut Pro 10.2.2 - FCPx
Photo Editing - Adobe Photoshop CS / Lightroom CC
Motion Graphic Title - MotionVFX
Please feel free to SUBSCRIBE!
Follow my journey on Social Media:
Twitter - twitter.com/seawildearth
Periscope - periscope.tv/themoceanvibe/1eaJblXoAvXKX
Instagram - instagram.com/seawildearth
Google Plus - plus.google.com/u/0/b/107760455409555327745/+seawildearth/posts
Facebook - facebook.com/thepixelhobo
500px - 500px.com/seawildearth
