DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

Auto white balance in phone cameras kills real color in wildfire photos

Sep 11, 2020 by Dunja Djudjic 4 Comments

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Massive wildfires are currently raging in the US West Coast. The skies have been colored orange and red, but you might not be able to accurately capture it with your phone camera. Many people have noticed that auto white balance on phone cameras is severely affecting orange and red hues. This makes this whole tragedy look way less dramatic and alarming than it is.

Some Twitter users shared photos and videos from Oregon and California that show what the skies really look like. I think that we can all agree how scary and devastating this is.

https://twitter.com/odie1kenodi/status/1303446101987676164

https://twitter.com/csochannel/status/1303499087971381248

This is nuts. Downtown Stayton at 12:22pm. Be safe, everyone. #KGW #Oregon #Fire #Smoke #LionsheadFire @KGWNews pic.twitter.com/ff4MKKU4qm

— Christine Pitawanich (@CPitawanichKGW) September 8, 2020

However, there are many people who noticed that something was off when they tried capturing the scene with their phone camera. Twitter user @teriarchibbles shared a few photos and wrote:  “Fun fact. Had to take that picture with my Canon camera because my phone keeps auto color correcting it and doesn’t show just how gross outside it actually is.” The photo taken with her camera shows what it really looks like outside. In the photos taken with her phone, it looks like there’s a heavy storm or smog outside.

Welp Daly City looking apocalyptic today. pic.twitter.com/FTvtWDkvf7

— ✨Teri ✨ (@teriarchibbles) September 9, 2020

Fun fact. Had to take that picture with my Canon camera because my phone keeps auto color correcting it and doesn’t show just how gross outside it actually is. pic.twitter.com/68uhYkwTW4

— ✨Teri ✨ (@teriarchibbles) September 9, 2020

Enjoy some horror aesthetics from my work from home space today. pic.twitter.com/nVZTb8cqd2

— ✨Teri ✨ (@teriarchibbles) September 10, 2020

Other Twitter users started responding with their own examples. I find this one the most striking because it truly shows the difference between color-corrected images and reality:

I took a photo with my bfs phone of my phone, to show how badly mine color corrects it too pic.twitter.com/0KLqDWHlYN

— K (@blackbloodridge) September 10, 2020

Judging from some tweets I read, it looks like iPhone users have the biggest problem with color correction. When they wanted to snap accurate photos, they had to either use a “real camera,” or a third-party camera app like Halide that would disable iPhone’s auto white-balance. Here are a few more examples:

https://twitter.com/jachristian/status/1303707221415440384

Yep – had to download a separate camera app that allowed me to override the phone’s auto white balance. pic.twitter.com/EO9TyC0VCp

— Jennifer Leahy (@jm_leahy) September 9, 2020

Ok, used an app to turn off the iPhone color correction. Here’s what it really looks like out there in San Francisco, at 10 in the morning. (It’s getting darker) pic.twitter.com/v8TKcBH1t3

— Sarah Frier (@sarahfrier) September 9, 2020

Like Gizmodo’s Victoria Song notes, getting a good photo of the current apocalypse may end up being the least of our worries. However, you may need to get accurate photos if you work as a journalist, for example. Or you just want to document this devastating moment in history. Whatever the reason may be, I guess that it would be clever to use a third-party camera app if you want to really depict what it looks like out there at the moment.

[via Gizmodo]

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

PSA: Amazon Photos auto-save might not be auto-saving all of your raw files Real-Time Digital Make Up Alters Real Faces In… Real-Time Use Color Burn and Color Dodge to quickly add color and contrast to your photos See What ‘Grand Theft Auto’ Would Look Like in Real Life

Filed Under: news Tagged With: phone photography, Smartphone (Gear), smartphone photography

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.net

About Dunja Djudjic

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

« Extraordinary photo of Andromeda Galaxy wins Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2020
9 behaviors of great photographers that you should embrace »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Learn photography

Recent Posts

  • AstrHori new 28mm f/13 2x Macro Periscope lens sees round corners
  • Sony World Photography Awards under fire for age limitations in Student contest
  • 5 ways to find inspiration when the weather is sad and grey
  • Photographers, keep an eye out for auroras around the world this weekend
  • How to make beautiful frozen soap bubble photos this winter

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy