Removing Streetlamp Casts from Night Shots

I’ve been doing a lot of night shots lately and after a lot of long exposures in light polluted areas, you get used to seeing that orange glow brought about by the street lighting.

Whilst out on a night shoot lately I used a function on the Canon EOS 300D to help combat the effects of the orange cast. The technique uses in camera White Balance correction.

First, Here’s a test shot, on Tungsten white balance, which is actually the bluest (hottest?) of the white balances

The orangeness of the shot is typical of city street shots, the picture doesn’t really represent the real colours of the objects. My camera allows me to take a shot of a neutral area in the lighting conditions present and then use the colour information in that sot to set White Balance.

This shot is a neutral, i.e. gray flat area shot under a street lamp. Don’t worry about focus e.t.c, but shoot on Auto White Balance. In the Canon menus, you can then select the Custom WB and then choose this test shot.

The next shot shows the result…

The colours are more realistic and the cast is gone. Don’t forget, shoot RAW and you can always change this is post production to get the look you want. This method allows you to see the shot white balance corrected before you get back to your computer.

Now all I gotta do is find another more abstract use for this and then we’re off!!