To get perfect colors in our images, we need to get the white balance right. White balance is so often overlooked because it sounds technical. In reality, it takes only a few minutes to set up, and it is one of the quickest ways to make customers say wow when they see their horse looking like their horse.
Why indoor arenas are tricky
Arena lights come in many types and every type has its own color. Some lean orange, some green, some blue, and older lights may shift color as they warm up. Mixed lighting is common too: skylights on one end, big doors open on the other and several kinds of fixtures overhead. Auto white balance tries to guess, and it often guesses differently from frame to frame. That means a sorrel horse might look red in one picture and brown in the next.
Set a custom white balance
Before the first run, place a grey card or a white balance target where the action will happen and photograph it so it fills most of the frame. Use your camera menu to set that picture as the custom white balance. Now every frame starts from neutral, and colors stay consistent across the whole class. Redo it if the light changes, such as when doors are opened or the sun sets through the windows.
Or dial in Kelvin
If you prefer, set white balance manually in Kelvin. Take a test shot, look at a white shirt or a grey fence, and adjust until it looks neutral. Write the number down for that arena; next time you will be most of the way there before you even arrive.
Match your flash to the arena
Strobes are close to daylight in color, while many arena lights are warmer. When the two mix, you get a white rider with an orange background. A colored gel over the flash brings its color closer to the ambient light, so you can set one white balance for the whole scene and both subject and background look natural.
Shoot RAW when you can
RAW files keep the full color information, which makes adjusting white balance afterward easy and lossless. Even so, getting it right in camera saves hours of editing when you are delivering hundreds of images.
A few minutes of setup gives you colors you can trust, faster editing and happier customers. It is time well spent.
