White balance settings?

[Tintype_18]

Couldn't find the dog show photo. Someone edited it with proper WB. Is there a rule of thumb for setting WB or set to Auto? I had used the shade icon as the exhibition center is shaded but open sides and artificial lighting.

[kvbarkley]

The rule is to set it for the lighting you have. Mixed lighting is the toughest.

Most here will say to shoot raw and fix it in post. I usually use Auto and forget about it, and I shoot jpegs.

[rs-eos]

Shooting in RAW will not bake in any white balance.  Thus, you can freely edit it in post.

I still try to get within the ballpark though as the current white balance setting _will be used_ for JPEG (which is used for the back-of-camera preview too).

For light from a single source (or predominantly from a single source), I use the presets (tungsten, daylight, shade, etc.).

For mixed lighting, I'll use a custom white balance,

For ultimate control, when capturing proper color is critical, I will use a color chart.  Personally I use a Datacolor SpyderCHECKR Color Chart.   For each set of images under the same lighting, I'll capture one image with the chart.  I use Lightroom and there's a post workflow I use that creates a custom profile from the captured color chart.  I then apply that to all the other images in that "set".  Where "set" refers to a group of images all captured under the same lighting conditions.

[Tintype_18]

Ricky, where is the colot chart available? i find this interesting.

[rs-eos]

I got mine at B&H Photo.  Another popular brand is x-rite.

[kvbarkley]

There is also the Whibal.

[FloridaDrafter]

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@rs-eos wrote:

I got mine at B&H Photo.  Another popular brand is x-rite.

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I used to use ColorMonki before X-rite got it. But it seems like when I used it, it was Color Monkey, but it's been a while and could be a totally different program. I worked, for a while, as a graphic artist making logos and brochures for project solicitation. I worked with CorelDraw and Adobe Illustrator.

Newton

[kvbarkley]

Isn't Color-Munki a display proffiling system? That is not what we are talking about here. We are refering to portable color / white-balance standards that you can take to the field to give yourself a reference you can use during post.

[johnrmoyer]

I use auto white balance, but I almost always change the white balance in DPP. When indoors under artificial light that is not changing, I have photographed something white or gray and used that to create a custom white balance, but I am usually outdoors and often end up using daylight, cloudy, shade, or auto white priority.

Since my photos are usually viewed on a screen and if printed I do not control the printing process, I do not bother to calibrate my monitor. Also, before cataract surgery colors looked very different to me than after cataract surgery so I sometimes trust the camera more than I trust my eyes unless there is some part of the image that I think I know what the colors should be.

Your circumstances are likely different and you might make different choices.

[ebiggs1]

"I use auto white balance, but I almost always change the white balance in DPP."

Spot on!

It is a little confusing when people say Raw doesn't set WB. It is true it isn't a saved setting, as are almost any setting, when you shoot Raw. 

However, your post editor whether it be DPP4 or LR or PS does use the jpg so-called tag file which does include your WB settings to make you a viewable image. Raw is not viewable until converted in to some other format. It is simply ones and zeros.

In most cases you don't need any extraordinary measures to set WB.  WB is pretty much a subjective look or feel anyway. I usually leave it on Auto WB. Almost every photo you take will have something at or near 18% neutral grey. Then a very simple process to adjust it in post edit. One click in levels in PS for instance. The other editors are just as simple. Plus if you did have a Raw file, you now have way, way more adjustment latitude to make any correction. That alone is why you should always shoot Raw.