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Using a white balance card while using a flash


10 years 6 months ago #299989 by Martin
I finally picked up a white balance card and all seems to be good till use it with a flash. My white balance is all screwed up. I'm taking the photos in Raw, and think it must be the white balance setting on the camera is off. When you are using a white balance card, what setting do you have your white balance set to?
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10 years 6 months ago #300005 by KCook
WB cards are mainly for ambient light, not flash. Unless you are using a color filter with your flash.

Where flash provides the main light, I simply set my camera's WB to flash (duh). If the flash is just being used for fill or as a kicker, that can get more complicated, and a WB card may be useful.

For RAW, the WB card can be a simple reference for post processing. No need to fuss with the camera's WB setting. Sweating the camera's WB setting is for JPGs, not RAW. For RAW I normally leave my camera's WB on Auto.

Kelly Cook
Canon 50D, Olympus PL2
kellycook.zenfolio.com/
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10 years 6 months ago #300022 by Joves
Well Kelly is right in using the Flash setting. When you tried to measure using the card, how far were you from the card? If you are too close then it will read on the hot side of the scale. Is this the popup flash, or is it a speed light? You can get the value with a flash by setting the card further away, and using a longer lens to get card to fill the whole frame. I have not tried it but it should work in theory. Or even using a diffuser would help. Direct flash on the card is going to be harsh which throws off the meter.
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10 years 6 months ago #300043 by garyrhook
Since I know that I'm going to run all my images (RAW) through LR, and with feedback from a fellow photographer, i:
  1. Leave WB on daylight all the time.
  2. Take a picture of my WhiBal card for use in PP. I have set a custom WB, but it's more complex than snapping an image because the image doesn't have to be in focus, and as long as I hold the card at arms length a capture is extremely quick.

Once I get the WB on one image, all the rest in that set will match. Easy peasy.

This approach works with flash as well. Just have your subject hold the card for you.
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