Gray Cards and Color Casts

Speaking of gray cards and color casts, one technique often mentioned to remove color casts from an image is to use curves in Adobe Photoshop to make a pictured gray card, in a second image, gray. While this is a great idea and technique for product or portrait photography, removing the color of the ambient light from a landscape picture is generally counter productive. We get up early and stay out late for the very reason of catching great light with beautiful color casts! During this late afternoon sun the clouds were lit up with warm yellow light, and the color cast is just the way I like it. Look at the sky above and the water below. The water has a much stronger color cast imparted by the setting sun, and I would not want that removed.

Clouds Over West Seattle #2

Gray cards can be great tools for exposure, but not for color in landscapes. With histograms, though, gray cards are less and less needed for exposure. I keep mentioning histograms, and will write more on them soon.