White balance tools?? eg. Grey card, expo disk

Greetings to all,


As a keen beginner i would be interested in some feedback from the more experienced and (those beginners that have discovered "the best way") on this forum as to the preferred White Balance setting methods. I have a grey card and use it when I get around to it. More often than not I leave the7D set on AWB and when I sort through the images later, I adjust white balance in Photoshop if I think it needs it. There are so many things to play around with that after I have "messed" with an image I sometimes wonder if I have helped or hindered.


Is there a preferred methos for setting WB that you guys just reach for, because you know it works and it is easy to use.


Thanks for any comments.


Steve

Hi Steve,


First off, one of the best things you can do for white balance is to shoot in RAW format, if you aren't already. If you are shooting in JPG and adjusting WB and other things in Photoshop, "messed with" can become "messed up" since each change steals away a little bit of image quality. If you shoot RAW, you can set the white balance how you like (including click-WB from a gray card), without penalty.


I have tired several methods - a ColorRight to set an in-camera custom WB being one. That is important for tricky lighting if you're shooting JPG, but for RAW I don't bother. I sometimes include a DataColor SpyderCube or an X-Rite Color Checker Passport in one image in a series, if I'll be shooting a whole set under similar lighting (indoor portraits, for example, especially if it's a mix of ambient and flash lighting).


But mostly, I use AWB and adjust in post. Frequently I'll end up with Cloudy for outdoor shots, for a little extra warmth (even on sunny days), Tungsten indoors (or Flash, if that's the main light source). If it doesn't look right on my calibrated display, I set a Kelvin temperature.


Hope that helps...


--John

Neuro nailed it. Color accuracy is a sliding scale between easy and hard; inaccurate and accurate:

• easiest: JPEG+AWB
• easier: RAW+AWB
• easy: white balance dropper on anything reasonably neutral in the frame.
• medium: take some effort to ensure there is something reasonably white in the frame (e.g. any old piece of white paper).
• accurate: get something in the frame that is *very* neutral (e.g. purpose-built white balance cards, expo disc, etc.)
• very accurate: take a colorchecker shot of the general lighting conditions, change the white balance for each specific shot, and build one profile for the set.
• crazy: build a separate color checker profile for each and every change in lighting.

Personally, I find that any old white piece of paper is usually accurate enough for most of my shots. I only bring out the color chart and profile-building software if color accuracy is particularly important.


Of course, after you achieve "accurate" color, the next step is "pleasing" color, but that's pretty much all just in post.

I have a colorchecker and a gray (actually white/gray/black) card. Sadly, I rarely use the colorchecker, mostly because used it "once" to create a profile and after that I only need a gray card. (The colorchecker profiles aren

Depends on what you are shooting, how many photos you are taking and how much time you want to spend in post processing. I love the ExpoDisc and here's why. I often shoot indoor hockey. One of the worst lighting situations I have encountered. The lights can be of many types and couldbe mixed depending on what was available during bulb replacement. The white ice can reak havoc with a digital sensor and fool the camera into thinking there is more light available then there really is. A simple shot in P mode at the light sourceused to createa custom fuction in-camera setting and I am good to go in manual mode. PP a couple hundred RAW shots for parents who want to catch their kid in action just isn't practicle. I've seen shots by other photogs who shot hockey RAW and they can't nail the "natural" look. The ice is usually way too white and the uniform and skin color is jacked way up too. Without setting a custom function or using AWB you can count on dull dingy gray ice. Same thing will happen outdoors in snow or on the beach. Ever notice how nice the sky and water look but the faces are too dark when someone posts a beach shot set in full auto?


Now if you are looking for that one special shot that you want to sell or hang on the wall at home by all means RAW has advantages. But if you are loading your HDD with thousands of shots and you have no outlet for them, then I have to wonder if it is worth it. If you have the time and really enjoy it then then try both ways, it is a call only you can make.


Tom

Thank you one and all, this is exactly the type of help and comments I wanted. I recently did some shots in a restaurant with a rented lens and was not happy with the results. It was the "perfect storm" for things to go wrong, White balance way off, there were a few camera fans there and they wanted to look through the camera and try the big lens(85mm) so somehow, I didn

I am a wedding photographer.


I use my expodisc when I am shooting a series of shots in one location.


This involves setting the white balance.


There is always the chance that you forget to reset or go back to AWB when you change locations.


But the expodisc saves a lot of post processing time.