First maternity Shoot WB issues

Okay, i had my first shoot about 2 weeks ago and it took me forever to get set up and have even lighting. I had trouble with setting a custom white balance! I tried taking a pic of a white card like everyone suggests and saving it, but it only made the pictures have a strong blue hue to them. I used the same lighting i would for the subject when i shot the pic of the white paper. So i ended up having to use AWB, which worked okay on some pics as far as skin tone, and alittle cooler on others.

What color temp should i have dialed in when setting the CWB? my strobe manual says 5600K, so i dialed that in when i used AWB.

All in all, i was very pleased with the way the photos turned out, and i got a very happy recipient (too bad the shoot was for free, but who can charge family huh )

If you guys can run by the tips on how to acheive correct CWB , that would be great. I've read the threads but i want a fresh reply. I am suppose to take the pic under the same lighting as the subject would be right??? any reason why my CWB mad e the pics blue????

Oh, wanna know how my luck runs.......it turned out that after i shot the pics, my Censor on my 30D was dirty so i had to spend a full 12 hours photoshoping them out (tons of dirty specs on the skin and background). What an experience! God i love photography!

By the way, how do you insert a pic if you dont have a URL address? Is it still possible.

Ericka

I am suppose to take the pic under the same lighting as the subject would be right Yes.
any reason why my CWB mad e the pics blue You did set the cam to "CustomWB", right?

Yes, i set it to cwb but maybe i did something wrong. Im using the 30D so its just like your 20D. I also set the color temp to what my strobe manual said they were...5600K. was that necessary? Could that effect it?

I guess ill have to mess with my strobes and cam more to get the right effect.

was that necessary? No.
Could that effect it? YES!

Okay, then what is the normal temp to try it at? 3000?

Most strobes are in the 5000-5800K range - 3000K is very warm (so yellow it's not far from tungsten).

I'd set white balance by taking a shot under the strobes where a neutral object, such as a grey card, fills the partial circle in your viewfinder. Select that shot, choose Custom WB on the menu. Then set the camera to custom white balance - you should be perfectly white balanced.

David

Thanks, I'll try it. I have a 18% grey card that should work.