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White balance grey card? white card? or color passport?


12 years 1 month ago #210040 by maghat
When I do photo-shoot with strobes I use the in camera flash white balance.

I get fairly good results then I edit one photo in lightroom and apply the setting to the others. I know it is not very smart to do this.

So what is your best way in setting up the white balance?

and what is the different between the grey card and the white card?

I tried the custom white balance in my camera and I took an Image of a white board under the same light condition for the original photo but it always fails.. it gives me strange colors.
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12 years 1 month ago #210042 by Photo Joe
99.9% of the time I shoot WB in 'Auto' and adjust in post to achieve the look I want. When true colors are absolutely critical, then I use an Expo Disc and shoot a custom WB.
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12 years 1 month ago #210043 by maghat

Photo Joe wrote: 99.9% of the time I shoot WB in 'Auto' and adjust in post to achieve the look I want. When true colors are absolutely critical, then I use an Expo Disc and shoot a custom WB.


Does the expo disc really work?
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12 years 1 month ago #210044 by serious series

maghat wrote:
I tried the custom white balance in my camera and I took an Image of a white board under the same light condition for the original photo but it always fails.. it gives me strange colors.


No doubt. Your brain makes adjustments to meet your expectations of what white is supposed to look like in the available light.

But, that is not accurate.

To a digital camera there is only one white - R = 255, G = 255, B = 255, anything else has a color cast.

The advantage of using a quality gray card is an accurate custom white balance.

The X-RITE ColorChecker Passport is very helpful when you have people in an image, so you can accurately set skin tones. I also use a Whibal card when I don't need the ColorChecker.
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12 years 1 month ago #210045 by Photo Joe

maghat wrote:

Photo Joe wrote: 99.9% of the time I shoot WB in 'Auto' and adjust in post to achieve the look I want. When true colors are absolutely critical, then I use an Expo Disc and shoot a custom WB.


Does the expo disc really work?


It works very well, BUT it is expensive, IMO and getting a custom WB in dim light can be difficult, especially if you don't have a fast lens.
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12 years 1 month ago #210046 by maghat

serious series wrote: The advantage of using a quality gray card is an accurate custom white balance.


how to use this small grey card?
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12 years 1 month ago #210047 by serious series
You take a photo with the gray card in it. In post processing you use the gray card to set the white balance. It's really simple.
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12 years 1 month ago #210157 by Henry Peach

maghat wrote: So what is your best way in setting up the white balance?


I shoot raw, and adjust by eye to taste on a calibrated monitor. I am not interested in accurate color, I want the most aesthetically pleasing color.

maghat wrote: what is the different between the grey card and the white card?


As long as they are color neutral (don't trust your eyes, you should use a card that is known to be color neutral) there should be no difference for white balance. The gray card is also used for exposure as light meters are calibrated to middle gray.
mattneedham.zenfolio.com
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12 years 1 month ago #210158 by Henry Peach

maghat wrote:

serious series wrote: The advantage of using a quality gray card is an accurate custom white balance.


how to use this small grey card?


Read your camera manual. I think with my Canon DSLRs I pull up the gray card shot, select custom wb (or the other way around), and the camera will guide me through the rest, but since I never use custom wb I'm not sure about that. You could also use wb picker tools commonly available in processing software, and then apply that same wb to other photos taken in the same lighting.
mattneedham.zenfolio.com
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12 years 1 month ago #210168 by Johnnie
I use the whi-bal studio card. Inexpensive and works great.
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