White Balance Settings for Stage Lights

Big_Al

I am taking some shots of my granddaughter's school production this week. Obviously it would be too intrusive to use the flash, and probably wouldn't need it, as there should be sufficient available light. My speedlight SB400 wouldn't have the range anyway. Should I set the white balance for incandescent or auto in hopes that the the camera recognises any change in the temperature of the available light? As a safety net I shall shoot in RAW allowing me to make any necessary tweaks in post processing.

Many thanks, proud grandad!

Moose

Howdy @Big_Al - School productions can be a challenge. What might seem like "plenty" of light to your eyes, it's generally not enough for your camera. Which lens are you planning on using?

As for the white balance, yes, I would set a custom white balance before the recital starts...all you need is a white sheet of paper or a white wall. If you don't have access to either, then experiment with fluorescent and incandescent.

As you stated, shooting in RAW will allow you to change the white balance in post-processing if you need to correct it.

Happy shooting! :)

Big_Al

Thanks Moose. I will be using my 55-200mm so not very fast unfortunately, however I will give your advice a go and see how it goes. Great forum by the way.

Many thanks.

Moose

@Big_Al - Yep, as you pointed out, the 55-200mm isn't very "fast"...for our beginners out there, this particular lens has a maximum aperture range of f/4-5.6 which doesn't let much light to enter the camera, thus giving you slower shutter speeds in low light situations.

To combat this, you'll need to use higher ISO's 1600 to 3200 and also move as close as you can to your subject. If you can stay near the 55mm focal length of your lens, you'll be able to obtain faster shutter speeds than at the 200mm end of your lens.

Another trick is to employ the use of spot metering, which will evaluate the exposure based on your subject versus the entire stage. Generally speaking, this will give you faster shutter speeds when shooting in low light.

Also, don't forget to enable continuous (burst) mode. This will allow you to rattle off a series of shots in quick succession, increasing your odds of a keeper. Happy shooting! :)