In This Chapter
With all the options for setting and refining color on the Rebel T1i/500D, you'll get excellent color in any type of light. Getting great color begins during shooting by selecting a white balance and Picture Style. And you can choose a color space to best match your printing needs. In this chapter, you learn how each option is useful in different shooting scenarios as well as learning some techniques for ensuring accurate color in any light. But before we talk about camera controls and options that ensure accurate color, it's important to understand the concepts of light and its colors.
One of the characteristics that will set your images apart from others is great light — looking and waiting for or setting up beautiful light makes all the difference. In addition, you can use the qualities of light to set the mood; control the viewer's emotional response to the subject; reveal or subdue the subject's shape, form, texture, and detail; and render scene colors as vibrant or subdued. This section provides the basics for exploring and using the characteristics of light.
Few people think of light as having color until the color becomes obvious, such as at sunrise and sunset when the sun's low angle causes light to pass through more of the earth's atmosphere, creating visible and often dramatic color. However, regardless of the time of day, natural light has a color temperature, and each color, or hue, of sunlight renders subjects differently. Likewise, household and commercial light bulbs, candlelight, flashlights, and electronic flashes all have distinct color temperatures.
The color of the light is not always obvious to us. As humans, our eyes automatically adjust to the changing colors of light so that white appears white, regardless of the type of light in which we view it. Digital image sensors are not, however, as adaptable as the human eye. For example, when the Rebel T1i/500D is set to Daylight White Balance, it renders color in a scene most accurately in the light at noon on a sunny, cloudless day. But the Daylight White Balance setting does not render color as accurately under household light because the temperature of the light is different.
Because different times of day and different light sources have different color temperatures, the camera must be set to match the temperature of the light in the scene to get accurate color in images.
Color temperature is measured on the Kelvin temperature scale and is expressed in units that are abbreviated simply as K. For example, sunlight on a clear day can range between 5200K and 5500K, and the Daylight White Balance setting on the Rebel is roughly set to that temperature range.
Figure 3.1. Late-afternoon light provided bright light and high contrast for this image of spring flowers. Exposure: ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/1000 second.
When learning about color temperatures, keep in mind this general principle: The higher the color temperature is, the cooler (or bluer) the light; the lower the color temperature is, the warmer (or yellower/redder) the light.
On the T1i/500D, setting the white balance tells the camera the general range of the light temperature so that it can render white as white, or neutral, in the final image. The more faithful you are in setting the correct white balance or in setting a custom white balance, the less color correction you have to do on the computer.
The color temperature of natural light changes throughout the day. By knowing the predominant color temperature shifts throughout the day, you can adjust settings to ensure accurate color, to enhance the predominant color, and, of course, to use color creatively to create striking photos. Studio and flash light have specific color temperatures, and they can be adjusted for on the camera as well.
Here is a brief overview of different types of light and their characteristics.
In predawn hours, the cobalt and purple hues of the night sky dominate but they change to warm gold and red hues as the sun rises over the horizon. During this time of day, the green color of grass, tree leaves, and other foliage is enhanced, while earth tones take on a cool hue. Although you can use the AWB (Automatic White Balance) setting, you get better color if you set a custom white balance. The preset white balance settings and setting a custom white balance are detailed later in this chapter.
During midday hours, the warm and cool hues of light equalize to create a light the human eye sees as white or neutral. On a cloudless day, midday light often is considered too harsh and contrasty for many types of photography, such as portraiture. However, midday light is effective for photographing images of graphic shadow patterns, flower petals and plant leaves made translucent against the sun, and images of natural and man-made structures. For midday pictures, the Daylight White Balance setting on the Rebel T1i/500D is a reliable choice.
During the time just before, during, and just after sunset, the warmest and most intense color hues of natural light occur. The predominantly red, yellow, and gold hues create vibrant colors, while the low angle of the sun creates soft contrasts that define and enhance textures and shapes. Sunset colors create rich landscape, cityscape, and wildlife photographs. For sunset pictures, the Cloudy or AWB settings are good choices.
On overcast or foggy days, the light is diffused and tends toward cool color hues. Diffusion spreads light over a larger area, making it softer and usually reducing or eliminating shadows. Light can be diffused by clouds; an overcast sky; atmospheric conditions including fog, mist, dust, pollution, and haze; or objects such as awnings or shade from trees or vegetation. Diffused light renders colors as rich and saturated, and it creates subdued highlights and soft-edged shadows. Because overcast and cloudy conditions commonly are between 6000K and 8000K, the Cloudy White Balance setting on the T1i/500D provides accurate color in overcast and cloudy conditions.
Most on-camera electronic flashes are balanced for the neutral color of midday light, or 5500K to 6000K. Because the light from an electronic flash is neutral, it reproduces colors accurately. Flash is useful in low-light situations, and it is also handy outdoors to fill or eliminate deep shadow areas caused by strong top lighting. On the T1i/500D, the Flash White Balance setting, is the best option to reproduce colors accurately.
Tungsten is typically the light provided by household lights and lamps. This light has a warmer hue than daylight and produces a yellow/orange cast in photos. In moderation, the yellow hue is valued for the warm feeling it lends to images. Setting the T1i/500D to the Tungsten White Balance setting retains the warm hue of tungsten light while rendering colors with reasonable accuracy. If you want neutral colors without the warm hue of tungsten, then set a custom white balance.
Commonly used in offices and public places, fluorescent light ranges from a yellow to a blue-green hue. Other types of lighting include mercury-vapor and sodium-vapor lights found in public arenas and auditoriums that have a green-yellow cast in unfiltered/uncorrected photos. You should either use Auto White Balance, or set a custom white balance on the T1i/500D in this type of light. Light from fire and candles creates a red-orange-yellow color hue. In most cases, the color hue is warm and inviting and you can modify it to suit your taste on the computer.
Note
To learn more about light, visit Canon's Web site at www.canon.com/technology/s_labo/light/003/01.html.
Light is the basis for all photographic exposures, and to make a proper exposure, the camera must first measure the amount of light in a scene. Measuring or "metering" light is done by using the Rebel T1i/500D's onboard light meter as detailed in Chapter 2.
In any scene, the light meter sees tones ranging from black to white and all shades of gray between. The meter measures how much light that these shades of gray, plus black and white reflect back to it. Objects that are neutral gray, or an even mix of black and white, reflect 18 percent of the light falling on them and absorb the rest of the light. In the black-and-white world of a camera's light meter, objects that are white reflect 72 to 90 percent of the light and absorb the remainder. Objects that are black absorb virtually all of the light.
Because the camera's light meter sees only monotone, you may wonder how that translates to color. Simply stated, all of the colors that you see translate to a percentage or shade of gray. In color scenes, the light and dark values of color correspond to the swatches of gray on the grayscale. A shade of red, for example, has a corresponding shade of gray on a grayscale. The lighter the color's shade, the more light it reflects. Predictably, intermediate percentages between black and white reflect and absorb different amounts of light.
Figure 3.3. A single strobe and a silver reflector lit these red tulips. Exposure: ISO 100, f/22, 1/125 second.
Because light has varying temperatures, you can help ensure accurate color by choosing the white balance setting that matches the type of light in which you're shooting. The following sections detail the options you can choose on the Rebel T1i/500D.
White balance settings tell the Rebel what type of light is in the scene so that it can render colors accurately in images. Using white balance settings can help you spend more time shooting and less time color-correcting images. On the Rebel T1i/500D, you can choose one of seven preset white balance options, or you can set a custom white balance.
Figure 3.4. This image was taken using the Automatic White Balance (AWB) setting. Exposure: ISO 100, f/8, 1/200 second.
Figure 3.5. This image was captured using the Daylight White Balance setting and the Standard Picture Style.
Tip
If you shoot RAW images, you can set and adjust the white balance in the RAW conversion program after the image is captured.
Because the Rebel T1i/500D offers two basic approaches to setting white balance, you may find that you use different approaches in different situations. For most scenes where there is clearly defined light, the preset white balance options such as Daylight, Cloudy, and so on, provide accurate color. In mixed lighting situations, you'll get the most accurate image color by setting the white balance to Custom. The choice also depends on the amount of time you have. If you don't have time to set a custom white balance, then use the Auto White Balance that's designed to work well in any type of light.
Whatever your approach to white balance options, the time you spend using and understanding them and how they can enhance your images is time that you'll save color-correcting images on the computer.
To change to a preset white balance option such as Daylight, Tungsten, Shade, and so on, follow these steps:
Set the Mode dial to P, Av, Tv, M, or A-DEP, and then press the WB button on the back of the camera. The WB button is the up cross key. The White balance screen appears.
Press the left or right cross key to select a white balance setting, and then press the Set button. Because the white balance option you set remains in effect until you change it, remember to reset it when you start shooting in different light.
Mixed-light scenes, such as tungsten and daylight, can wreak havoc on getting accurate or visually pleasing image color. In mixed-lighting scenes, setting a custom white balance balances colors for the specific light or combination of light types in the scene. A custom white balance is relatively easy to set, and it's an excellent way to ensure accurate color.
Note
You can learn more about setting custom white balance at www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/white-balance.htm.
Another advantage to custom white balance is that it works whether you're shooting JPEG or RAW capture in P, Tv, Av, M, or A-DEP mode. Just remember that if light changes, you need to set a new custom white balance to get accurate color.
To set a custom white balance, follow these steps:
Set the camera to P, Av, Tv, M, or A-DEP shooting mode, and ensure that the Picture Style is not set to Monochrome. To check the Picture Style, press the Picture Style button (the down cross key) on the back of the camera. The Picture Style screen is displayed. To change from Monochrome, which is denoted on the Picture Style screen with an "M," press the left or right cross key to select another style, and then press the Set button. Also have the white balance set to any setting except Custom.
With the subject in the light you'll be shooting in, position a piece of unlined white paper so that it fills the center of the viewfinder (the Spot metering circle), and take a picture. If the camera cannot focus, switch the lens to MF (manual focus) and focus on the paper. Also ensure that the exposure is neither underexposed nor overexposed such as by having Exposure Compensation set.
Press the Menu button, and then turn the Main dial to select the Shooting 2 (red) menu.
Press the up or down cross key to highlight Custom WB, and then press the Set button. The camera displays the last image captured (the white piece of paper) with a Custom White Balance icon in the upper left of the display. If the image of the white paper is not displayed, press the left cross key until it is.
Press the Set button again. The T1i/500D displays a confirmation screen asking if you want to use the white balance data from this image for the custom white balance.
Press the right cross key to highlight OK, and then press the Set button. A second confirmation screen appears.
Press the Set button to select OK, and then press the Shutter button to dismiss the menu. The camera imports the white balance data from the selected image.
Press the WB button on the back of the camera, and then press the right cross key to select Custom White Balance. The White balance screen appears. The Custom White Balance setting is identified with text and is denoted by an icon with two triangles on their sides with a black dot between them.
Press the Set button. You can begin shooting now and get custom color in the images as long as the light doesn't change. The Custom White Balance remains in effect until you change it by setting another white balance.
When you finish shooting in the light for which you set Custom White Balance and move to a different area or subject, remember to reset the white balance option.
Given the range of indoor tungsten, fluorescent, and other types of lights that are available, the preset white balance options may or may not be spot-on accurate for the type of light in the scene. Alternately, you may prefer a bit more of a green or blue bias to the overall image color. With the Rebel T1i/500D, you can use White Balance Auto Bracketing to get a set of three images, each a slightly different color bias up to plus/minus three levels in one-step increments.
White Balance Auto Bracketing is handy when you don't know which color bias will give the most pleasing color or when you don't have time to set a manual white balance correction. The white balance bracketed sequence gives you three images from which you can choose the most visually pleasing color.
Note
White Balance Auto Bracketing reduces the maximum burst rate of the Rebel T1i/500D by one-third because each press of the Shutter button records three images.
To set White Balance Auto Bracketing, follow these steps:
With the camera set to P, Tv, Av, M, or A-DEP shooting mode, press the Menu button, and then turn the Main dial until the Shooting 2 (red) menu appears.
Press the down cross key to highlight WB SHIFT/BKT, and then press the Set button. The WB Correction/WB Bracketing screen appears.
Turn the Main dial clockwise to set Blue/Amber bias, or counterclockwise to set a Magenta/Green bias. As you turn the Main dial, three squares appear and the distance between them increases as you continue to turn the dial. The distance between the squares sets the amount of bias. On the right side of the screen, the camera indicates the bracketing direction and level under BKT. You can set up to plus/minus three levels of bias. If you change your mind and want to start again, press the Display (DISP.) button on the back of the camera.
Press the Set button. The Shooting 2 (red) menu appears with the amount of bracketing displayed next to the menu item.
Lightly press the Shutter button to dismiss the menu.
If you're in One-shot drive mode, press the Shutter button three times to capture the three bracketed images, or if you're in Continuous drive mode, press and hold the Shutter button to capture the three bracketed images. With a blue/amber bias, the standard white balance is captured first, and then the bluer and more amber bias shots are captured. If magenta/green bias is set, then the image-capture sequence is the standard, then more magenta, then more green bias. White Balance Bracketing continues in effect until you remove it or the camera is turned off.
Note
You can combine White Balance Bracketing with Auto Exposure Bracketing. If you do this, a total of nine images are taken for each shot. Bracketing also slows the process of writing images to the SD/SDHC card.
Similar to White Balance Auto Bracketing, you can also manually set the color bias of images to a single bias by using White Balance Correction. The color can be biased toward blue (B), amber (A), magenta (M), or green (G) in plus/minus nine levels measured as mireds, or densities. Each level of color correction that you set is equivalent to five mireds of a color-temperature conversion filter. When you set a color correction or bias, it is used for all images until you change the setting.
Note
On the Rebel T1i/500D, color compensation is measured in mireds, a measure of the density of a color-temperature conversion filter, which is similar to densities of color-correction filters used in film photography that range from 0.025 to 0.5. Shifting one level of blue/amber correction is equivalent to five mireds of a color-temperature conversion filter.
To set White Balance Correction, follow these steps:
Press the Menu button, and then turn the Main dial to select the Shooting 2 (red) menu.
Press the down cross key to highlight WB SHIFT/BKT, and then press the Set button. The WB Correction/WB Bracketing screen appears.
Press a cross key to set the color bias and amount that you want — toward blue, amber, magenta, or green. On the right of the screen, the SHIFT panel shows the bias and correction amount. For example, A2, G1 shows a two-level amber correction with a one-level green correction. If you change your mind and want to start again, press the Display button on the back of the camera.
Press the Set button. The Shooting 2 menu appears. The color shift you set remains in effect until you change it. To turn off White Balance Correction, repeat Steps 1 and 2, and in Step 3, press the Display button to return the setting to zero.
The first step to good color is choosing the correct White Balance option. The second step is to set the color tone, saturation, and image contrast by choosing a Picture Style. A Picture Style is the foundation for how images are rendered, and regardless of the shooting mode you choose, a Picture Style is applied. Individual styles offer different "looks," just as different films do. For example, the Landscape Picture Style has vivid color saturation similar to Fuji Velvia film, while the Portrait Picture Style, similar to Kodak Portra film, renders portraits with warm, soft skin tones and subdued color saturation.
The Rebel T1i/500D offers six Picture Styles, which are detailed in Table 3.1. The camera uses the Standard Picture Style as the default style for P, Tv, Av, M, and A-DEP shooting modes, and for all Basic Zone modes except Portrait and Landscape shooting modes. Each Picture Style has settings for sharpness, contrast, color saturation, and color tone that you can use as is or you can modify them to suit your preferences. In addition, you can create up to three User Defined Styles that are based on one of Canon's Picture Styles.
Figures 3.11 through 3.17 show how Picture Styles change image renderings. The differences may not be as apparent in this book due to commercial printing, but they give you a starting point for evaluating differences in Picture Styles. The collection of objects in each image is designed to help you evaluate how each style affects a range of colors and skin tones. The images were shot using a custom white balance.
Besides forming the basis of image rendering, Picture Styles are designed to give you good prints with little or no post-processing so that you can print JPEG images directly from the SD/SDHC card. If you shoot RAW capture, you can't print directly from the SD/SDHC card, and the Picture Style is noted for the file, but it's not applied unless you use Canon's Digital Photo Professional program. You can also apply a Picture Style during RAW-image conversion using Canon's Digital Photo Professional conversion program.
Tip
Be sure to test Picture Styles first, and then choose the ones that provide the best prints for your JPEG images.
In addition, you can modify a Picture Style on the computer using Canon's Picture Style Editor detailed later in this chapter.
Choosing and customizing Picture Styles helps you get the kind of color results out of the camera that you want. If you find that you want to adjust a Picture Style, here are the adjustments that you can modify when you're shooting in P, Tv, Av, M, and A-DEP shooting modes.
Sharpness: 0 to 7. Level zero applies no sharpening and renders a very soft look, whereas level 7 is the highest sharpening setting. If you print images directly from the SD/SDHC card, a moderate amount of sharpening, such as level 3, produces sharp images. But if your workflow includes sharpening images after editing and sizing them in an editing program, then you may want to set a lower sharpening level for the Picture Style in the camera to avoid oversharpening.
Contrast. This setting affects the image contrast as well as the vividness of the color. For images printed directly from the SD/SDHC card, a 0 (zero) to level 1 setting produces snappy contrast in prints. A negative adjustment produces a flatter look and a positive setting increases the contrast.
Saturation. This setting affects the strength or intensity of the color with a negative setting producing low saturation and vice versa. A zero or +1 setting is adequate for snappy JPEG images destined for direct printing.
Color Tone. This control primarily affects skin tone colors. Negative adjustments to color tone settings produce redder skin tones while positive settings produce yellower skin tones.
With the Monochrome Picture Style, only the sharpness and contrast parameters are adjustable, but you can add toning effects, as detailed in Table 3.1. Default settings are listed in order of sharpness, contrast, color saturation, and color tone.
Table 3.1. EOS T1i/500D Picture Styles
Picture Style | Description | Sharpness | Color Saturation | Default Settings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Standard | Vivid, sharp, crisp images that are suitable for direct printing from the SD/SDHC card | Moderate | High | 3,0,0,0 |
Portrait | Enhanced skin tones, soft texture rendering | Low | Low | 2,0,0,0 |
Landscape | Vivid blues and greens, high sharpness | High | High saturation for greens and blues | 4,0,0,0 |
Neutral | Allows latitude for image editing and has low saturation and contrast | None | Low | 0,0,0,0 |
Faithful | True rendition of colors with no increase in specific colors. No sharpness applied. | None | Low | 0,0,0,0 |
Monochrome | Black-and-white or toned images with slightly high sharpness | Moderate | Yellow, orange, red, and green filter effects available | 3,0, NA, NA |
You can choose a Picture Style by following these steps:
Press the Picture Style button on the back of the camera. The Picture Style button is the down cross key. The Picture Style screen appears with the current Picture Style highlighted. The screen also shows the default setting for the style.
Press the left or right cross key to highlight the Picture Style you want, and then press the Set button.
After using, evaluating, and printing with different Picture Styles, you may want to change the default parameters to get the rendition that you want. Alternately, you may want to create a custom style. You can create up to three Picture Styles that are based on an existing style.
After much experimentation, I settled on a modified Neutral Picture Style that provides pleasing results for any images that I shoot in JPEG format. Here is how I've modified the Neutral Picture Style settings.
Sharpness. +2
Contrast. +1
Saturation. +1
Color tone. 0
These settings provide excellent skin tones provided that the image isn't underexposed and the lighting isn't flat. You can try this variation and modify it to suit your work.
To modify a Picture Style, follow these steps:
With the camera set to P, Tv, Av, M, or A-DEP shooting mode, press the Menu button, and then turn the Main dial to select the Shooting 2 (red) menu.
Press the up or down cross key to highlight Picture Style, and then press the Set button. The Picture Style screen appears with a list of the preset Picture Styles.
Press the down cross key to highlight the Picture Style you want to modify, and then press the Display button. The Detail set. screen for the selected Picture Style appears.
To change the Sharpness parameter, which is selected by default, press the Set button. The Sharpness control is activated.
Press the left or right cross key to change the parameter, and then press the Set button. For all the parameter adjustments, negative settings decrease sharpness, contrast, and saturation, and positive settings provide higher sharpness, contrast, and saturation. Negative color tone settings provide reddish tones, and positive settings provide yellowish skin tones.
Press the down cross key to move to the Contrast parameter, and then press the Set button. The camera activates the control.
Press the left or right cross key to adjust the parameter, and then press the Set button.
Repeat Steps 5 through 7 to change additional parameters.
Press the Menu button. The Picture Style screen appears where you can modify other Picture Styles. The Picture Style changes are saved, changes are shown in blue, and the changes remain in effect until you change them. Press the Set button to return to the Shooting 2 (red) menu, or lightly press the Shutter button to dismiss the menu.
With an understanding of the settings that you can change with Picture Styles, you can create a Picture Style to suit your preferences. Each style that you create is based on one of Canon's existing styles, which you can choose as a base style.
And because you can create three User Defined Styles, there is latitude to set up styles for different types of shooting situations. For example, you might want to create your own Picture Style for everyday photography that is less contrasty than the Standard Picture Style. While you could modify the existing Standard style, you may want to use it when you know that you're going to print images directly from the SD card and use the User Defined Picture Style for images you want to edit on the computer before printing.
To create and register a User Defined Picture Style, follow these steps:
With the camera set to P, Tv, Av, M, or A-DEP shooting mode, press the Menu button, and then turn the Main dial to select the Shooting 2 (red) menu.
Press the down cross key to select Picture Style, and then press the Set button. The Picture Style screen appears.
Press the down cross key to highlight User Def. 1, and then press the Display button. The Detail set. User Def. 1 screen appears with the currently selected Picture Style listed.
Press the Set button. The Standard Picture Style control is activated so that you can choose a different base Picture Style if you want.
Press the up or down cross key to select a base Picture Style, and then press the Set button.
Press the down cross key to highlight the parameter you want to change, and then press the Set button. The camera activates the parameter's control.
Press the left or right cross key to set the parameter and then press the Set button.
Repeat Steps 6 and 7 to change the remaining settings. The remaining parameters are Contrast, Saturation, and Color tone.
Press the Menu button to register the style. The Picture Style changes are saved, the Picture Style name is displayed in blue, and the changes remain in effect until you change them. Press the Set button to return to the Shooting 2 (red) menu, or lightly press the Shutter button to dismiss the menu.
You can repeat these steps to set up User Def. 2 and 3 styles.
One approach to getting Picture Styles that are to your liking is to set or modify one of the styles provided in the camera. But that approach is experimental: You set the style, capture the image, and then check the results on the camera and in prints until you get the results you want.
If you're an experienced photographer who likes precise results, then Canon provides the Picture Style Editor on the disc that comes with the camera. With it, you can make precise custom changes to Picture Styles. This is a more efficient approach than using trial and error. The process is to open a RAW image that you've already captured in the Picture Style Editor program, apply a Picture Style, and then make changes to the style while watching the effect of the changes as you work. Then you save the changes as a Picture Style file (.PF2), and use the EOS Utility, also provided on the disc, to register the file in the camera and apply it to images.
The Picture Style Editor looks deceptively simple, but it offers powerful and exact control over the style. Because the goal of working with the Picture Style Editor is to create a Picture Style file that you can register in the camera, the adjustments that you make to the sample RAW image are not applied to the image. Rather, the adjustments are saved as a file with a .PF2 extension. However, you can apply the style in Digital Photo Professional after saving the settings as a PF2 file.
While the full details of using the Picture Style Editor are beyond the scope of this book, I encourage you to read the Picture Style Editor descriptions on the Canon Web site at http://web.canon.jp/imaging/picturestyle/editor/index.html.
Be sure you install the EOS Digital Solution Disk programs before you begin. To start the Picture Style Editor, follow these steps:
On your computer, start the Picture Style Editor. On a PC, the Picture Style Editor application is located in the Canon Utilities folder. On the Mac, look in the Applications folder for the Canon Utilities folder. The Picture Style Editor main window appears.
Click and drag a RAW CR2 image onto the main window. You can also choose File
To choose a style other than the default Standard style, click the arrow next to Base Picture Style on the Tools Palette.
At the bottom left of the main window, click one of the split screen icons to show the original image and the image with the changes you make side by side. You can choose to split the screen horizontally or vertically. Or if you want to switch back to a single image display, click the icon at the far-left bottom of the window.
Click Advanced in the Tool palette to display the parameters for Sharpness, Contrast, Color saturation, and Color tone. These are the same settings that you can change on the camera. But with the Picture Style Editor, you can watch the effect of the changes as you apply them to the RAW image.
Make the changes you want, and then click OK.
Adjust the color, tonal range, and curve using the palette tools. If you are familiar with image-editing programs, or with Digital Photo Professional, most of the tools will be familiar. Additionally, you can go to the Canon Web site at
http://web.canon.jp/imaging/picturestyle/editor/functions.htmlfor a detailed description of the functions.
When you modify the style to your liking, you can save it and register it to use in the T1i/500D. However, when you save the PF2 file, I recommend saving two versions of it. During the process of saving the file, you can select the Disable subsequent editing option, which prevents disclosing the adjustments that have been made in the Picture Style Editor as well as captions and copyright information. This is the option to turn on when you save a style for use in the T1i/500D and in the Digital Photo Professional program. But by selecting that option, the style file no longer can be used in the Picture Style Editor.
For that reason, you'll likely want to save a second copy of the PF2 file without selecting the Disable subsequent editing option in the Save Picture Style File dialog box. That way, if you later decide to modify the style, you can use the Picture Style Editor to make adjustments to this copy of the PF2 file.
Before you begin, ensure that you've installed the EOS Digital Solution Disk programs on your computer.
To save a custom Picture Style, follow these steps:
Click the Save Picture Style File icon at the top far right of the Picture Style Editor Tool palette or choose it from the menu. The Save Picture Style File dialog box appears.
Navigate to the folder where you want to save the file.
To save a file to use in the T1i/500D, select the Disable subsequent editing option at the bottom of the dialog box. To save a file that you can edit again in the Picture Style Editor, do not select this option.
Type a name for the file, and then click Save. The file is saved in the location you specified with a .PF2 file extension.
To install the custom Picture Style on the Rebel T1i/500D, follow these steps. Before you begin, be sure that you have the USB cable that came with the camera available.
Connect the camera to the computer using the USB cable supplied in the T1i/500D box.
On your computer, start the Canon EOS Utility program. The EOS Utility program is located in the Canon Utilities folder on your computer. The EOS Utility screen appears.
Click Camera settings/Remote shooting under the Connect Camera tab in the EOS Utility. The capture window appears.
Click the camera icon in the red toolbar, and then click Picture Style. The Picture Style window appears.
Click Detail set at the bottom of the Picture Style list. The Picture Style settings screen appears.
Click the arrow next to Picture Style, and then click User Defined 1, 2, or 3 from the drop-down menu that appears. If a Picture Style file was previously registered to this option, the new style overwrites the previous style. When you select User Defined, additional options appear.
Click Open. The Open dialog box appears.
Navigate to the folder where you saved the Picture Style file that you modified in the Picture Style Editor, and click Open. The Picture Style settings dialog box appears with the User Defined Picture Style displaying the modified style you opened. If necessary, you can make further adjustments to the file before applying it.
Click Apply. The modified style is registered in the T1i/500D. It's a good idea to verify that the style was copied by pressing the Picture Style button on the back of the T1i/500D, and then selecting the User Defined Style you registered to see if the settings are as you adjusted them.
In addition to creating your own styles, you can download additional Picture Styles from Canon's Web site at http://web.canon.jp/imaging/picturestyle/index.html.
A color space defines the range of colors that can be reproduced and the way that a device such as a digital camera, a monitor, or a printer reproduces color. Of the two color space options offered on the Rebel T1i/500D, the Adobe RGB (Red, Green, Blue) color space is richer because it supports a wider gamut, or range, of colors than the sRGB (standard RGB) color space option. And in digital photography, the more data captured, or, in this case, the more colors the camera captures, the richer and more robust the file. It follows that the richer the file, the more bits that you have to work with whether you're capturing RAW or JPEG images. And with the T1i/500D's 14-bit analog/digital conversion, you get a rich 16,384 colors per channel when you shoot in RAW capture.
The following histograms show the difference between a large and small color space in terms of image data. Spikes on the left and right of the histogram indicate colors that will be clipped, or discarded, from the image.
Note
For details on evaluating histograms, see Chapter 2.
Much more image data is retained by using the wider Adobe RGB color space. Richer files can withstand editing, which is by nature destructive, much better than smaller files with less color data and resolution. So if you routinely edit images on the computer, rather than printing directly from the SD/SDHC card, then Adobe RGB is a good choice to provide richer files. But if you don't edit images on the computer, and if you want to print and display images straight from the camera on the Web or in e-mail, then sRGB is the color space to choose.
Figure 3.18. This RAW image was converted in Adobe Camera Raw and edited in Photoshop CS3. The inset histograms show the image in the Adobe RGB color space on the left and in sRGB color space on the right. Notice that the shadows block up much more in the sRGB color space than in Adobe RGB. Exposure: ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/320 second with −1/3-stop Exposure Compensation.
For printing images, Adobe RGB is the color space of choice for printing on inkjet printers and for printing by some commercial printers, although other commercial printing services use sRGB. If you print at a commercial lab, check with them to see which color space they use.
For images destined for online use in e-mail or Web display, sRGB provides the best image color display. While this may sound like a conflict in choosing color spaces, for most photographers it translates into using Adobe RGB for capture in the camera, and for editing and printing. Then when an image is needed for the Web or e-mail, you can make a copy of the image and convert it to sRGB in an image-editing program such as Photoshop.
On the T1i/500D, you can select one of two color spaces for shooting in the P, Tv, Av, M, and A-DEP shooting modes. The options are Adobe RGB or sRGB. The color space you choose applies to both JPEG and RAW files shot in Creative Zone modes. In all Basic Zone modes, the camera automatically selects sRGB.
If you choose Adobe RGB, image filenames are appended with _MG_.
Note
The Rebel T1i/500D does not append an ICC (International Color Consortium) profile with the image so you will need to embed it when you're editing the file in an editing program. An ICC profile identifies the color space so that it is read by other devices, such as monitors and printers that support ICC profiles.
To set the color space on the T1i/500D for Creative Zone modes, follow these steps:
Set the Mode dial to a Creative Zone mode: P, Tv, Av, M, or A-DEP.
Press the Menu button, and then turn the Main dial to select the Shooting 2 (red) menu.
Press the up or down cross key to highlight Color space, and then press the Set button. The camera displays two color space options.
Press the up or down cross key to highlight the color space you want, either sRGB or Adobe RGB, and then press the Set button. The color space remains in effect until you change it or switch to a Basic Zone mode.