Photographers in cities like San Francisco and Portland have been sharing apocalyptic images of red/orange skies as wildfire smoke literally blots out the sun. But many smartphone photographers trying to do the same thing have tried and failed over and over. It turns out Auto White Balance is ruining their shots.
If you have friends or family in either of these cities, chances are you’ve been send a text with a photo and the caption “the photo doesn’t really capture it right… it’s way more red and ominous looking outside.” The issue has become so widespread that Gizmodo declared smartphones were “color correcting the apocalypse” and the LA Times published a tutorial on how to capture the proper color on your phone.
If you scroll through Twitter, you’ll find many complaints and examples like these:
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 @ to do list✨ (@teriarchibbles) September 9, 2020
Author: DL Cade
Source: Petapixel