What is the best metering and white balance mode for indoor photography with flash?

Hi all,


I would like to know which is the best metering mode (Evaluative / Center-weighted average) for taking indoor dinner event full of tungsten lights, with 580EX II. Sometimes I found that the camera was confused by lighting condition/background lights or color of subjects' clothing, overexposed or underexposed the scene.


Should I use flash white balance or automatic white balance in the same situation? Which white balance is best to be used?

For metering, evaluative is likely your best bet.


For white balance, it depends on which light source is providing the most light, but it's going to be a compromise no matter what. In that situation, you'll be best off doing two things - 1) shoot in RAW, where you can tweak the WB in post processing with no IQ penalty and 2) gel your flash. Although gels are often used for interesting/artistic color effects, one of their main uses is to balance the color of the flash to the ambient light. Flash is close to daylight color temperature. A CTO (color temperature orange) gel will balance the flash to tungsten to match the indoor lighting, then you'd set WB to tungsten (I'd still shoot RAW, though). If the indoor light was fluorescent tubes (old style, not the newer 'soft white' ones), you'd use a window green gel and set WB to fluorescent.

I find that the 580exII on newer canon bodies (latest Xd bodies, haven't tried any XXd bodies), gives decent results with auto white balance. The 580exII measures, and sends white balance info back to the camera body.


Then shoot raw, and tweak as needed in post.

I set the camera on manuel, shutter at 125 or 160, f5 or 5.6, ETTLII on Center-weighted average, AWB, ISO 400, my 580EXII with sto-phen omni bounce. With this setting the only light for the exposure is the flash and AWB handles this well. Play with the bounce and see how you like the light.


Mark

If you are using ambient light for part of your overall shot(s), you should use a white balance setting that matches/enhances the ambient. You should then gel the flash to match/enhance the ambient. Look up the Strobist gel pack for samples.


With a Canon on-camera flash and WB auto (probably also WB flash), the flash will report its color temperature to the camera, and the camera will use that value no matter what else it might know about the scene. That causes the orange ambient look you were getting.


Speaking of which, what exposure mode were you using? That changes how the camera chooses to "light" the scene.

I use center-weight metering most of the time and like the results. I find have better light on my subject, especially with lights/candles, etc. in the background. As far as tungsten, I shoot in standard or neutral and use DPP to make the adjustment in processing.