Accessories for the best colours

Three techniques and kit to help you get the right colours

CUSTOM WHITE BALANCE

Digital cameras let you create a custom white balance and the process is advised when you want accurate colours in tricky situations, such as when there is a mix of lighting or you’re shooting in a coloured room where re ected light can cause a colour cast. The process involves taking a shot of a white or grey target in the situation you’re shooting in and using the data for the custom white balance. This device is the Lastolite XpoBalance, which costs £52 and folds down so it’s portable.

CREATE A CAMERA PROFILE

To achieve accurate colours, include a test target, such as those available from Calibrite and Datacolor, in your  rst shot, making sure that it is receiving the same light as the subject. The Calibrite ColorChecker Passport Photo 2 costs £106 and has targets for exposure control, white balance, camera pro ling and creative enhancements. Using the supplied software or the Adobe Lightroom plugin, a pro le can be applied to all the shots taken in that lighting scenario.

MONITOR CALIBRATION DEVICE

Your colour images might look perfect on your monitor, but not on someone else’s screen or when you print them. Calibrating your monitor will get round the former and help with the latter when partnered with the appropriate paper pro le. The Datacolor Spyder X Elite monitor calibrator shown here costs £149 and the Calibrite Display SL is £159. The calibration process is simple and takes a few minutes and should be performed regularly (you can set a reminder) to keep your colours on point.